A Typical Management Cycle - Case Study Example

1. A typical management cycle consists of: Planning-Organising-Leading/Directing-Staffing-Monitoring/Controlling. Planning: An operational plan with objective of 100% attendance of in–house customers and full potential use of restaurant is made. It includes coordination with Executive Chef to find out kitchen output and restaurant attendance. PERT and GANNT need to be developed for kitchen and restaurant control separately for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Key responsibilities as per PERT and GANNT chart are delegated to Service Director, Executive Chef, Executive Steward, and Beverage manager. Organizing: Work delegation, chain of command, accountability and communication channels are set up according to top down chart. Responsibility and authority are affixed with top down arrow and accountability is represented by bottom up arrow in the organizational chart. . Leading/Directing: Leadership is the ability of to get work done through others, while at the same time winning their confidence, respect, loyalty, and willing cooperation. The Food and Beverage Director is trained to lead and direct the entire team. They are also trained to be accountable for the actions of the team members. Staffing: Job analysis is carried out and tasks are identified in each job. Job position standards are set at all levels of the hierarchy. Recruitment is carried out as per job description in case a shortfall arises. Records regarding the employee performance are maintained. It is important to know the duties of supervisor in the employment and management function, to have the knowledge of employment laws, employment awards, classification and grades, internal and external effects on employment grades, statistical formulae, job analysis, performance standards, Job/position description, Job/Position Specification, Essential and Desirable Criteria for the ‘right’ applicant, recruitment, the job application, selection, employment interview, company orientation and job induction. Monitoring/Controlling: The Service Director, Executive Chef, Executive Steward and Beverage conduct quality control, quantity control, cost control, time control, people control, inventory control, safety control and report to the Food and Beverage Director who further reports to the Manager. Controls are grouped as Steering Controls, Screening Controls and Post action Controls. Steering controls highlight deviations from the set standard or the objective to be achieved before the activity is completed. Check points during the task can steer the worker in the correct direction toward the goal. Screening goals are referred to as Yes/No goals. They monitor particular aspects, often at specific points during an activity or a process. Screening controls highlight a need for corrective action before the deviation is too great and while the activity is still viable. These methods can be built into an activity or a process. Seven critical areas for Controlling are Quality Control, Quantity Control, Cost Control, Time Control, People Control, Inventory Control, Safety/Security Control. 2. The operational areas are i) Food ii) Drinks and Beverages iii) Service. The Food and Beverage Director will be asked to summarize the day’s activities and performance of different departments at the end of dinner timings. The F& B Director will ascertain facts and statistics regarding the day’s performance and statistics from the subordinates, who in turn would collect and compile data of day’s activity from Captain, Sommelier, Sous, Chef and Assistant Manager Food and Beverages. 3. Three skills of management are Task, People, and Conceptual Skills. The task skill consists of carrying out different tasks at different levels of hierarchy. A restaurant manager should not only be skilled at carrying out administrative work, but should also know how each task is to be carried out. People’s skill in management is to coordinate with junior staff to carry out job functions and report to the next hierarchical level about the performance of the restaurant. Conceptual Skills is intangible learning that a manager imbibes in their day to day functioning to move up the hierarchy. Interpersonal, Informational and Decision makers are three roles of a manager identified by Henry Mintzberg. In order to be skilled at a task, managers need to have the information about a task. This helps the employee to remain in ‘picture’. The manager thus distributes information inside and outside the organization. The interpersonal role relates to the people’s management skills. The manager can adopt the figurehead role, the leader role and the liaison role. When the manager moves up the hierarchical ladder, they acquire the decision making skills and become adept at people’s management. The manager can become a capable negotiator in and outside of the company. The manager can deal with breach of discipline, etc. As a resource allocator, the manager can decide who will do what, when, and how. The roles played by manager as a decision maker are entrepreneur role, disturbance-handler role, resource-allocator role and negotiator role. I have a moderate task skill and people’s skills and excellent conceptual skills. Task skills can be improved by being better functional knowledge of the operations carried out by colleagues and subordinates. People’s skills can be improved by greater involvement with the people. Conceptual skills can be further honed by tackling more real time problems and acquiring more job experience. 4. Flow Chart 5. Three different approaches to leadership are trait, behavioural and contingency. Trait approach in life differentiates leaders from non-leaders. Traits like confidence, intelligence, self confidence, charisma, etc. are inherent in an individual. Inherent qualities help in self development of a leader. Behavioural leadership is characterized by how the leaders behave under different circumstances. Certain management behaviours are more effective than others in a variety of settings. The four sub-categories of behavioural leadership are: Dictatorial, Authoritarian, Democratic and Laissez-faire. Contingency Leadership is context or situation dependent. Some leadership behaviours were more effective in some situations than others. According to Fredrick Fiedler’s Contingency Theory, following factors determined leadership style to be used in any given workplace situation. i) Leader-member relations: It denotes the trust, respect and confidence subordinates carry for their leader. ii) Task Structure: It is the degree to which established procedures must be followed. iii) Position Power: It is the leader’s power to influence the employee that goes with leader’s job. Contingency Theory should be used as a best practice as it is flexible in nature. This theory is flexible enough to be used in many different situations and is independent of the personal likes and dislikes of the leader. Circumstances and situations help evolve the needed qualities of the leaders. Contingency theory also helps in development of conceptual skills of the leaders. It also provides the followers right kind of experience and motivation to learn more. 6.1 Mission Statement We will put to use all our energies, qualities, and resources in our endeavour to provide the customer with the most unique and gratifying gourmet experience in the restaurant. The mission statement will continuously motivate the staff to put their best foot forward under all circumstances to achieve the customer’s delight. Constant improvement in services and provision of food and beverages will be the cornerstone of the restaurant services. 6.2 For promotion of food and beverages a standard, target or SMART goal is set up. SMART objectives are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Trackable. The goals can be in terms of time, money, quantitative and qualitative values. Key result areas are addressed to establish organizational objectives. Two SMART objectives that can be used to measure the success of promotional campaign are: a) Percentage increase in sales on food and beverages b) Percentage increase in volume of beverages sold. The four internal factors that need to be considered for the promotional campaign are: i) The percentage occupancy of rooms. ii) The performance of the employees. iii)The quality of food and beverages. iv) The quality of service. The four external factors that need to be considered while setting up SMART objectives: i) Increase Influx of tourists from overseas and other states into the city. ii) The type of competition in the neighbourhood. iii) The type of promotional schemes offered by the competitors. iv) The market fluctuations. Ten Tasks S. No Task Who would do it? Time Frame 1. To calculate the total current Manager 2 Days daily sales in $ 2. To assess the grey areas that Manager and Food and 3 Days need improvement in efficiency Beverages Director 3. Efficiency is improved Entire team 1 Week 3. To monitor work with Manager and Food and 3 Days improved efficiency Beverage Director 4. To plug gaps between Entire team 2 Days targeted efficiency and actual efficiency 5. To set up SMART objectives Manager and Food and 3 hours Beverages Directors 6. Prepare the promotional plan Manager and Food and 1 Day Beverages Director 7. Share the plan with the team Manager and Food and 3 hours Beverages Director 8. Share the plan with the hotel staff Manager 1 Day 9. Seek feedback Manger 1 Day 10 Make changes and implement the plan Manager and Food and Beverages Director --------- Modes of Communication Organizational Communication: The transmission of information and understanding of the information from one person or group to another is called the organization communication. Four modes of communication are: Formal Communication channels, Informal Channels for workplace Communication, Upward Communication and Downward Communication. Formal Communication: Formal communication channels follow policy, procedures and protocols. Protocols are agreed channels of communication for a particular group or industry. They are represented by communication/authority in the business’s structure in the form of an organization chart. Informal Channels of Workplace Communication: These are often used by the management and the supervisors due to barriers such as time constraints, and the need to get the information to the employees quickly. Informal channels in communication are frequently used to support and supplement the formal channels of communication; the informal channels can operate on the personal level also. The grapevine, for example, is an informal channel of communication. However, there are certain disadvantages of the grapevine communication. They can lead to spread of misinformation and misinterpretation. However, they are an effective medium to reach out to a large number of people on trivial issues. Upwards and Downward communication are two other modes of communication. Upward Communication The criteria for upwards communication are to keep communication lines open at all times. It needs planning the message, before it is communicated. The parties involved in communication must be receptive to new suggestions. Managers must be good listeners. Downward Communication Communication that is transmitted from supervisor to team members is the downward communication. Communicated information could be information on processes to be applied to completion of tasks, the reasons behind the tasks, the relevant organizational policies and procedures and how tasks relate to the corporate objectives. Four Strategies Four Strategies that can help motivate the team to work together: 1. Team Work: To foster team work for attainment of common objectives is an important strategy for a business organization. Any plan based on team work is much more stronger and has much more chances of success than the one that is based upon individual efforts. 2. Common Objectives: In business, it is important to realize common objectives and then make concerted efforts for their attainment. The organizational goals should be disseminated to the individual level and the linkage between the individual goals and organizational goals should be established firmly. 3. Planning: Proper planning is the most strategic tool for attainment of organizational goals. Before the start of any activity a blueprint should be laid wherein every team member can visualize their importance in the larger scheme of works. 4. Shared Success: The team members should be made to believe in shared success rather than run after individual aims. A feeling of shared success can only be fostered in the team if authority and responsibility are disseminated properly. Control Tools Three control tools that can be used effectively to monitor the promotion are: Customer Feedback forms, Suggestions for further improvements, Reporting on subordinate performance Read More