As a hospitality manager, you know how important it is to have a high-performing team that delivers excellent service and meets their goals. But what if your team is struggling to achieve success? How can you help them overcome challenges, improve their skills, and boost their morale? Here are some tips to help you support your team and lead them to success.
The first step to help your team is to understand why they are struggling. Is it because of lack of resources, training, feedback, motivation, or communication? Is it because of unrealistic expectations, unclear roles, or conflicting priorities? Is it because of external factors, such as market changes, customer demands, or competition? By identifying the root causes of your team's difficulties, you can address them more effectively and tailor your solutions to their needs.
As in any situation, the same principle applies in the hospitality industry: if you are struggling, you need to identify the reason to be able to improve and make changes. In my personal experience, teams usually struggle to meet their goals due to the following reasons: - Being overloaded with tasks - Lack of practical and clear goals - Insufficient resources to achieve goals - Lack of practical support from management I almost never witness a situation where there is perfect management and a lacklustre team. Generally, everything starts with the quality of management!
Gemeinsam Ziele zu erreichen, ist besonders in Teams, die hybrid zusammenarbeiten, schwierig. Wenn dann die Führungskraft schlecht erreichbar ist und die Teammitglieder lange auf Entscheidungen warten müssen, wirkt das demotivierend. Ein ebenso einfacher wie effizienter Weg, deine Erreichbarkeit zu steigern: Der t?gliche, individuelle Ceck In: Jeden Morgen bist du für 30 Minuten für dein Team online erreichbar. Wer dich kurz sprechen m?chte, w?hlt sich in das Meeting ein. Damit Vertraulichkeit gewahrt ist, aktiviere den virtuellen Warteraum. Dauert die Besprechung einer Frage l?nger als ein paar Minuten, verabrede dich für ein Gespr?ch, sp?ter am Tag. So zeigst du, dass du für dein Team erreichbar bist!
Most teams don't meet their goals because of lack of opportunity to meet them. Set up a speed networking where they can meet their goals and find out more about their personality etc. Once that's done, they will have met their goals.
Finding an effective way to identify the root causes of problems in the business is key. I would highly recommend the Theory of Constraints - TOC. Using TOC can help to find a solution that breaks a core problem and build an effective change programme which can lead to a positive way forward for the business including staff and clients. The aim is, and must be, win:win.
Dig Deep: First up, play detective. Why is the team missing the mark? Is it unclear expectations, lack of resources, or skill gaps? Identifying the bottlenecks is step one. Have a chat to the person in the mirror: the bottleneck normally starts at the top.
One of the most common reasons why teams struggle is because they don't have clear and specific goals to guide their actions and measure their progress. As a manager, you need to provide your team with SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. SMART goals help your team focus on what matters, track their performance, and celebrate their achievements. They also help you monitor your team's results, provide feedback, and adjust your strategies if needed.
Beyond the obvious underperformance of a team member by not setting clear goals and monitoring their progress, this is such an important step as some leaders can be the cause of the team not achieving their goals by constantly changing the goal post. Making a decision today and changing it tomorrow doesn’t allow sufficient time for an action to produce results. By backtracking on decisions, this causes confusion and frustration for team members. Are the leaders also providing simple metrics and monitoring tools that allows the team members to better track and manage their own weekly performance or are they expected to come up with their own data? As a leader, be clear in sharing your expectations and always lend a helping hand.
Goal Setting: Get crystal clear on what success looks like. Break it down into bite-sized, achievable goals. Make sure everyone knows what they’re shooting for and why it matters.
Absolutely your goals are clear and reachable, each one should be:?Specific (simple, sensible, significant). Measurable (meaningful, motivating). Achievable (agreed, attainable).
Another way to help your team is to offer them training and coaching opportunities to enhance their skills and knowledge. Training can help your team learn new techniques, tools, or best practices that can improve their efficiency, quality, or creativity. Coaching can help your team develop their strengths, overcome their weaknesses, or solve their problems. You can provide training and coaching yourself, or use external experts, online courses, or peer mentoring. The key is to make sure your team has access to the resources and support they need to grow and excel.
Communication and collaboration are essential for any team to succeed. As a manager, you need to communicate with your team regularly, clearly, and respectfully. You need to share your vision, expectations, and feedback with your team, and listen to their ideas, concerns, and feedback. You also need to encourage your team to communicate and collaborate with each other, and foster a culture of trust, respect, and openness. By communicating and collaborating effectively, you can ensure your team is aligned, engaged, and productive.
Finally, one of the best ways to help your team is to recognize and reward their efforts and achievements. Recognition and reward can motivate your team, boost their morale, and increase their loyalty. You can recognize and reward your team in various ways, such as giving praise, appreciation, or feedback, offering incentives, bonuses, or perks, or creating opportunities for career advancement or learning. The important thing is to make sure your recognition and reward are sincere, timely, and relevant to your team's goals and values.
Very often in the hospitality industry, management communicates with the team only when there are problems or mistakes, but almost never when the team is doing great! Make it a habit to commend the team in ANY possible situation. In this way, they will be more open when changes are needed.
Your team is your reflection in the mirror! Remember this always! I almost never witness a situation where there is perfect management and a lacklustre team. Generally, everything starts with the quality of management! If a team struggles, it often means that the management is struggling.