The Purpose and Structure of Teams in Tourism and Hospitality - Assignment Example

ATTN: Ms Jayne Staines, Human Resources Manager FROM: Assistant HR Dear Ms Staines, Please find herewith the report on Teamwork: the operation of the Front Office Team in this hotel. Table of Contents Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………..3 PART I The structure of teams in hospitality and tourism……………………………………………….5 The purpose of teams in Tourism and Hospitality……………………………..……………….. 5 The factors which influence the effectiveness of teams…………………………………………7 PART II Roles and responsibilities within the team and how they relate………………...……………….9 The relationship between roles and responsibilities and the team objectives……..…………….10 Lines of authority and their purpose…………………………………….………………………12 References……………………………………...……………………………………………….. 13 TEAM WORK Introduction The Front Office Team The Front Office of our hotel has formed a team to help create a seamless and hustle-free welcoming experience for the hotel guests. The front office is presumably the moment -of-truth area for the paying guests, as it is the place of arrival and first contact with the hotel and the first welcome and check-in experience for the hotel guests. A delayed welcome, misplaced luggage, slow processing of room allocation and payment, misplaced keys, or congestion at reception could have disastrous consequences for the guests' perception of our hotel, and can negatively affect the decision of a guest to be a repeat visitor. Within the hospitality industry, as indeed within any other industry teamwork tends to produce more satisfactory results than individual effort in achieving set goals. Teamwork is the cooperation among team members to achieve positive outcomes quickly and efficiently, and a team is any group of people who share common values, goals and information and are headed by a team leader whose power to control team activities may derive from election by team members or may be an appointee of management. A team observes behavioral norms by which members conduct themselves to achieve harmony among members, and they may set smart objectives to increase synergy and cohesiveness as they seek to achieve their set goals and meet targets. Since a team is built around the collaborative efforts of a cohesive group sharing a common desire to achieve certain goals, it is imperative that the communication among team members be transparent, team selection be based on real synergy among prospective members, and the agreed team objectives derive from the collective inputs from all team members. This report seeks to demonstrate the effectiveness of team action in the Front Office as opposed to individual effort by exploring the operation of teams within the hospitality and tourism industry. PART I The structure of teams in Tourism and Hospitality Teams must always be headed by a team leader with demonstrable leadership qualities and who is respected by the rest of the team to lead the team's efforts towards the efficient achievement of team objectives. In this case the Front Office team is led by the Font Office Manager. The leadership role includes making sure the team is conversant with the vision and mission of the organization, and the culture and values of its corporate leaders, as well as the operational objectives of the department for which the team is working as directed or communicated by the departmental heads and supervisors. The activities of the teams must proceed in harmony and compliance with the organizational structures and policies. The other members of the Front Office include the concierge, the cashier, the desk clerk, bell boys, security guard, doorman, and the assistant manager. The purpose of teams in Tourism and Hospitality The main objective of the Front Office team is to create an excellent arrival and check-in experience for the hotel guests. This can be achieved if there is clear and transparent communication among team members, and a clear understanding by each member of the goals that the team aims to achieve. The perception of excellent service in the eyes of the guests is at the moment of truth encounter when they arrive at the hotel to check-in for their stay. The guests expect a friendly welcome and easy checking in that does not keep them waiting at reception for unreasonably long periods while the hotel is sorting out rooms and paperwork. The appearance of synergy and cooperative effort must create a seamless transition from check in to room occupancy that delights the guest and makes them feel cared for. The hospitality and tourism industry deals with paying guests who have reasonable expectations of service delivery. As services are intangible and subsist in the persona of the service delivery people it is very important that staff act as a team or as cross functional team members are individually allowed to give feedback on their experiences and observations of guest needs and wants (Bartlett, Probber, & Monammed, 1999; Frash Jr., Kline, & Stahura, 2004; Wolfe & Gould, 2001). . All problems must be documented for immediate and future redress and this is achieved through a combined effort of cross-functional teams. The Front Office team will act cooperatively with the security team, room service team, restaurants team and leisure and recreation teams to provide feedback to the hotel management on all issues affecting hotel guests with suggestions of improving service provision. As teams work cooperatively to achieve positive outcomes quickly and efficiently, they improve the customers’ perception of value and the overall visitor experience. A visitor whose experience is spoiled by a grumpy reception, wrong allocation of keys, or the late delivery of his luggage to the room will have a bad memory of his experience in a hotel which otherwise checked her in cheerfully, provided clean facilities, and possesses excellent recreation facilities for the guests. The problem of communication between the room service staff and the restaurant could create a sour note in the impression of the guests. The entire experience of the visit to the hotel creates a total picture in the mind of the guest and the evaluation of their stay is always going to be based on the least pleasant aspects of their visit, a blocked toilet not repaired in time, a sandwich delayed, an egg at breakfast not sunny side up as requested, and any other nuances that combine to form a pleasant visitor experience. It is the responsibility of team members to act in concert to create a seamless visitor experience in the interest of the visiting public, and to make the institution live up to its promise of value as advertised, and beyond. Lack of communication and cohesiveness among team members and poor or lax leadership shows up as poor service delivery and unpleasant guest experiences altogether souring the otherwise pleasant holiday experience of the visitors. The factors which influence the effectiveness of teams When members of a team get to know the likes and dislikes of each of their colleagues they get to understand each other's personalities and hence begin to break down any personality barriers that may exist between them and start to communicate with each other in a more friendly and cooperative manner. Only when an environment of trust and friendship born of open communication and joint social activities is created will the team begin to act in synergy and improve efficiency. Individual efforts become subordinated to the achievement of team goals and the delivery of team targets. The Front Office team will produce more efficient results when the team leader inspires in the team a sense of unity and cohesion borne of the leader's charisma, experience, knowledge of the work environment and clear communication across all levels of management to represent accurately the aspirations of the team and the organization. The team leader of the Front Office team must promote cooperation and respect among members, acting quickly to dissolve tensions and encouraging transparency of information flow among members. A team leader must also encourage positive and proactive action and discourage negativity and blame apportionment in the face of any problems encountered. A good team leader will also take ultimate responsibility for the outcomes of the team's efforts especially if there are questions as to the unsatisfactory elements of the team results. The more team exercises and bonding activities that the Front Office team perform together the more the cohesiveness and mutual respect will arise to improve cooperative spirit and communication among members and hence the synergy created by the team. All teams rely on the energizing influence of particular team members who are good at bringing clarity to complex issues, and those able to encourage others to persevere in times of adversity. A team leader must recognize the value of each of the team members and use their positive attributes to increase the team's synergy. It could be the desk clerk or the doorman who provides the galvanizing influence for the Front Office team, it does not matter the rank of the team member but only his contributory influence to the overall effectiveness of the team. There are team members who may struggle to pull their weight and tend to let the team down. A chain is as strong as its weakest link and this cliché is most applicable to the operation of teams. It is in management's interest to make sure that the recruitment process emphasizes vetting members in terms of background and experience to spot any problem applicants who may be unsuitable for the team (Colbeck, Campbell, & Bjorklund, 2000; LaLopa, Jacobs, & Countryman, 1999; Muir & Tracy, 1999; Susskind & Borchgrevink, 1999). Removal of delinquent members from teams serves not only to restore the team's efficacy but as a signal to others who may be playing truant and practicing 'social loafing' that they do not have a permanent position in the team (LaFasto & Larson, 2001; Walker & Angelo, 1998; Wolfe & Gould, 2001). PART II Roles and responsibilities within the team and how they relate Each member of the Front Office team has a specific role as a staff member, but has an added role within the team to help solve collective problems and also to create a seamless flow of action that helps move the guest from one place to the next without a glitch. Sometimes a member may recognize the need to step into the role of another team member who is temporarily indisposed so as to create a seamless transition for the guest, without compromising the integrity of the absent staff or his own job. The assistant manager may step in for the cashier, or the concierge can act as doorman and still keep the guests moving in an unhindered process flow. Such cooperative team action is part of the creativity and innovation expected of responsible team members, and which does not often happen when there is no team work. For teams to operate effectively there must be a clear assignment of roles and responsibilities. The team leader and all members of the team must know their areas of responsibility, authority, reporting structures within the team, across functional areas interdepartmentally, and within the hierarchy of the organization at large. It is well documented that there are several advantages of working as teams, but the roles and responsibilities of team members must be aligned to the overall objectives of the teams and the of the departments for which they work (Wolfe & Gould, 2001). Notably, communication among team members and between different teams tends to significantly improve because of well defined roles and clear hierarchies thus laying emphasis on improvement of interpersonal skills. Conflict resolution is an essential element of team interaction by dint of the interaction of staff members with differences in personalities, cultural backgrounds, educational backgrounds, gender and attitudes (Gardner & Korth, 1998). Team members will often tend to rely on the intervention skills of their team leaders, but generally all team members’ show marked improvements in ability to resolve conflicts expeditiously and fairly for the greater good of the team. Interpersonal skills also improve the more staff members work in close proximity. (Gardner & Korth, 1998; Jacobs et al., 2001; Siciliano, 1999; Wolfe & Gould, 2001). A good team will have a strong and influential leader. The leader must identify those he feels hold sway over other team members in terms of influence and charisma and use them as lieutenants in helping organize the team's programmes, rally team members to the cause of the team, and help to resolve internecine conflicts before they disrupt the smooth operations of the team. With all team members doing their best to achieve agreed goals with well communicated schedules and deadlines the team will excel in its endeavors and this will reflect as excellence in customer care. The customers will know that they are important to the organization and will feel well taken care of. The relationship between roles and responsibilities and the team objectives While the entire team may be working smoothly to achieve set goals and objectives the efficiency with which the team achieves these goals is determined by the performance of the least effective of the team members, thereby affirming the expression that a chain is as strong as its weakest link. Like a relay race in athletics the team that wins is on average the team with the strongest and quickest team members. Organizations must therefore carry out frequent team building seminars and training workshops to improve performance of staff and awareness of the requirements of team effort. A dysfunctional team will exhibit increased incidence of interpersonal conflict, poor communication within and across departments, clear boundaries between teams instead of a seamless connection required for good synergy, and generally poor performance at meeting set targets (Colbeck et al., 2000; Getty, 1996; Haas et al., 1998; LaLopa et al., 1999; Muir & Tracy, 1999; Susskind & Borchgrevnik, 1999). A review of the leadership and composition of the team would be required to determine the cause of the dysfunction and to correct it either by changing the team leader or by removing certain members who may be disrupting the harmonious operation of the team. Cross functional teams have the added responsibility to communicate effectively between and among teams and their members so as to improve efficiency and synergy. Frequent meetings with clear agendas must be held by cross-functional teams to ensure transparent dissemination of information to all members since they come from different departments. The Front Office will have a representative on each cross-functional team to input the views of the Front Office team members on that team's deliberations, and feedback the proceedings of the meet in to the rest of the team members during team meetings. Good communication among members of cross-functional teams improves the morale of staff, improves efficiency and delights the customer through resultant excellence in service delivery. The hotel and tourism sector depends for its survival on meeting customers' expectations, and these are always in flux and never the same, thus making the hotel a learning organization always seeking ways to cater for the changing needs of the guests. Each team member's observations must be considered with the same weight regardless of rank in the hierarchy to add to the database of information that can be used for decision making. All team members have a responsibility therefore to observe closely what customers demand in the different service areas and this information must be conveyed during team meetings as recommendations for organizational action. The organization must therefore be willing to change certain policies and procedures to adjust to the recommendations of and findings of cross-functional teams in the interests of the customer. Lines of authority and their purpose Ill defined hierarchies are the main cause of dysfunction within organizations, and poor leadership within teams leads to poor performance. When there are clear lines of authority and a clear reporting structure there is limited congestion of information flow as each superior has only to communicate with one boss and one subordinate to pass on and share information. This is convenient but limiting, and therefore the cross-functional team serves the purpose of converting this vertical hierarchy into a matrix structure for operational purposes. The team also serves to diffuse the pyramid structure of power which concentrates power at the apex with few people occupying the top of the pyramid, and the least power at the bottom of the pyramid comprising the workers with few or no subordinates. Membership to a team distributes power to almost all members and in cross functional teams a janitor can serve on the same committee as the operations manager to achieve team goals, with equal permission to put forward ideas and suggestions for the consideration of the team. . It is therefore recommended that team building be introduced to this organization as a major paradigm shift from the current tendency towards individual effort. Teams will surely reap greater rewards in efficiency, synergy, improved communication, sped of achievement of set goals, and a general improvement in interdepartmental and interpersonal communication. As this organization is a member of the hotel and tourism industry, only teamwork can produce the excellent rewards of improved customer service through synergy and efficiency. References Bartlett, A. L. B., Probber, J., & Monammed, S. (1999). The effect of teambuilding on team Process and performance. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, Vol 23 (3), pp. 299-311. Bass, B. M. (1980). Team productivity and individual member competence. Small Group Behavior, Vol 11 (4), pp. 431-504. Colbeck, C. L., Campbell, S. E., & Bjorklund, S. A. (2000). Grouping in the dark. Journal of Higher Education, Vol 71 (1), p. 60. Frash, Jr., R., Kline, S., & Stahura, J. (2004). Mitigating social loafing in team-based learning. Journal of Teaching in Travel and Tourism, Vol 3(4), pp. 57-77. Gardner, B. S., & Korth, S. J. (1998). A framework for learning to work in teams. Journal of Education for Business, Vol 74(1), 28-33. Jacobs, J. W., Jr., LaLopa, J. M., & Sorgule, P. (2001). Pilot testing a student-designed team Exam in an introduction to hospitality and tourism management course. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, Vol 13(3/4). LaFasto, F., & Larson, C. (2001). When teams work best. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. LaLopa, J. M., & Jacobs, J. W. Jr. (1998). Utilizing student teams to facilitate an introductory Tourism course in higher education. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, Vol 10(1), 26-31.Muir & Tracy, 1999 Siciliano, J. (1999). A template for managing teamwork in courses across the curriculum. Journal of Education for Business, Vol 74(5), 261-264. Susskind, A. M., & Borchgrevnik, C. P. (1999). Team-based interaction in the foodservice Instructional laboratory: An exploratory model of team composition, team-member interaction, and performance. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, Vol 10(4), 22-29. Walker, C., & Angelo, T. (1998). A collective effort classroom assessment technique: Promoting High performance in student teams. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, Vol 75, pp. 101-112. Wolfe, K., & Gould, R. (2001). Insights on team-based learning. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, Vol 13 (3/4), pp. 87-96. Read More