When is the right time "Right Now"

Have you ever had those times of frustration at work where you wish you had enough time to change something in your restaurant, hotel, office etc ?

Well now is the time !

You may think but how? work is closed due to Covid-19 outbreak and you have been sent home, (well unless you have quarantine or the area is locked down) this should not stop you! If you think about it the work place right now is it at its quietest if not quiet it is closed. But you do have to open sometime correct ? So instead of sitting at home watching the news harp on about Corona Virus or watching Netflix or seeing you family go crazy on social media, start to brain storm about what you could actually do in your place of work at this lean time, what it would need to be done (don't expect to sit around and be a manager you are going to get your hands dirty on this one), what resources and a potential period of time.

But wait there are a few things you have to do first.

1) You need to get permission from your boss for it to be done

2) What will the payment be for the staff -

1. Will it be a team building exercise
2. Agreed hourly wage
3. food provided

3) Safety of the staff

4) Be prepared to work hard

Currently I have undertaken work in my current hotel, I have taken it upon myself to stay in the hotel during closure and help maintain the property. So my first role is stripping our ugly black tables and chairs and sanding them down then using wood filler to seal the cracks, sanding again and then painting them in a lighter natural colour

As you can see they are really not in the best of shape and its really in a sad state

It is a long arduous task but at the end of the operation it will give a uplift to the venue. (64 chairs and 16 black tables) I still have a lot of work on my hands as I am doing this alone due to restrictions in travel for the staff and also because I am not being paid for this. Also we have a time frame put in place so I have a nice marker (with UK locked until the end of April and USA having a rough time) of around 2 months to finish my work and much much more.

My hotel is helping me out through this time and has not laid me off, but are paying me a smaller wage, so my thanks is to repay them by doing things like this and not lounging around at home (I would go mad, I cannot sit around and there is only so much you can do at home), we as a industry need to be ready for business when the travel restrictions resume and people become mobile again. So why wait for the re-opening before you do something? get out of your chair, of your sofa or bed and make the gesture to improve your life and the life you want at work in, you know your abilities so get it done and make it happen, I am sure you have some staff who are itching to do something. Why wait ?

This will also give you a good idea of who your true staff are, the ones you can trust and the ones who make the engine run in your business, granted some are not able to but the ones that do assist should be rewarded in some way. At the same time this is a good team building exercise to have your colleagues assist in your vision so the finished article will give them a improved place to work, it gives the proud factor as well that I did that.

So don't always think Maintanence and engineering should be the ones to fix something or housekeeping to clean up for you, pick up those tools and equipment and get your hands dirty. An active mind is a positive mind and to get people after weeks sitting around doing nothing is not easy.

But remember don't forget the principles we have learned about this horrible virus, wear face masks, sanitise, be clean, take precautionary measures, make sure all people are healthy before assisting you and work in small teams, depending on the size of the operation.

So NOW IS THE TIME do something now that you will regret that you never tried before, you have the best possible time to do something when it will cost little to do. I am doing it so can you and I am feeling good but also proud that I am help my hotel.

I hope some of you out there take this amazing opportunity to do something to help your hotel out when they are helping you.....