6 Hotel Team Management Tips for New Hotel Managers

One of the joys for new Hotel Managers in Managing within a Hotel is supporting their team members. One of the challenges of managing Teams as a new Hotel Manager is navigating the many weaknesses you and your employees might develop in your relationships over time.

This article outlines six of the most common employee mistakes and offers guidance for the best way for new Hotel Managers to deal with them in a constructive manner.

Asking “What Should I Do” continuously Many employees are uncomfortable taking risks or doing something in a manner that disappoints or angers their Hotel Managers. However, if you always provide direction, you will become part of the reason why your workers do not feel empowered to make decisions.

• The Solution: When asked "What should I do?" respond with the very simple, straightforward, “I’m not certain. What do you think you should do?” Let the employee offer an answer. If it is some-what correct, offer, “That’s a good idea. Why don’t you try it.” Of course, if it is not quite right, instead of telling them what to do, ask questions that encourage them to think critically.

Not Communicating with You at the Right Level of Detail. Employees either share too much with you or not enough. Too much detail can be annoying and the too little can be potentially damaging to you if you are caught unaware of important issues.

• The Solution: Educate your employees on your communication preferences for detail. If you enjoy looking at the entire picture, encourage your employees to provide detailed briefings and reports. If you prefer just the top-level details and key points, let them know this.

Not Communicating with the Right Level of Frequency. Much like the “level of detail” described above, every manager has a preference for communication frequency with subordinates. Some managers prefer daily updates, whilst others prefer to engage periodically.

• The Solution: You owe it to your employees to highlight your communication preferences. Let them understand your style and needs and offer positive reinforcement as they adapt their habits to meet your needs. Also, remember to highlight to your employees that for emergencies and big problems, they should communicate with you immediately.

Not Sharing Bad News With You. If you’ve ever been caught by surprise about a problem one of your employees was involved in or knew about, you understand how aggravating this issue can be. Instead of being angry, follow the solution described here.

• The Solution: Once you’ve calmed down, open your discussion with an unemotional description of how not sharing the bad news prevented you from doing your job. Indicate that you were upset and that this was a mistake that cannot happen again. You must reinforce that it is both expected and safe for people to share bad news with you.

Gossiping. It’s nearly impossible to eliminate dialog about issues and people around the Hotel. However, we all know that gossip is potentially misleading and even malicious. If you observe employees gossiping, it offers an opportunity for you to reinforce your positive values.

• The Solution: Go out of your way to share with your team members the destructive potential of gossip. Reinforce that the subject of gossip is always at a disadvantage and that the individuals engaging in and spreading gossip are risking damage to their own reputations. Reinforce the need for people to ignore gossip.

Not Co-operating with Co-workers. If you’re not careful, you can end up serving as the referee for your employees. It is not uncommon in Hotels for employees to disagree. However, when they begin pleading with you to resolve their problems, it is time to take a different form of action.

• The Solution: Meet individually and then as a group to review their communication challenges. Again, drawing upon your best feedback skills, describe in specific detail how this behaviour detracts from Hotel performance and success. Tell each person involved that it detracts from their own performance.

And while these mistakes are potentially aggravating, your response to the mistakes serves as a powerful learning opportunity for your Hotel team members. And remember navigating the employee problems and mistakes is simply a part of your role as Hotel Manager. Always view the problems as opportunities to teach, train, coach, and improve yours and others performances.

Through his electronic writing, Stephen attempts to help those without the time or often the money to attend College by providing them with Learning.

Watching these vlogs and reading these blogs will assist hospitality students and workers in the Global Hospitality Industry to train and develop using Social Media.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Stephen Sawyers brings 20-years of Hotels and Hospitality Management to his book writing.

These blogs and vlogs are intended for hotel workers, supervisors and managers who are (or want to become) actively engaged in learning and development around the world.