Hospitality is an industry where all sorts of people can be coming and going continually. Travelers check in and check out of accommodation, customers arrive and leave restaurants and cafes, and deliveries arrive and waste is disposed of. A profitable hospitality business is a hive of activity, and coordination of all of those activities is critical if people are not going to come into conflict. Cleaning must be done when it will not interfere with guests. Food must be supplied when it is needed, and while it is still hot (or cold).

Customers must not be kept waiting if a good reputation is to be maintained.

Any management operation can only be speedy and effective if, in advance of the operation, everyone's part in it is phased in, clearly stated, and understood.

There are three ways by which coordination can be achieved.  They are:

Coordination by Committee

A working definition of a committee is that it is a group of people that makes decisions or presents viewpoints and whose conduct is governed by a set of rules.

In some cases, a committee may have a purely advisory function. Thus a committee composed of the heads of the chief functions may meet regularly or irregularly to counsel the Managing Director on his decisions.  In this way he is assured of taking all points of view into account.  He can decide whether a course of action which may be advantageous for some phases of the business will be disadvantageous for other phases, and he can determine whether or not the advantages will offset the disadvantages.  Also, he may seek the committee's advice on some problem for which he has not yet been able to find a solution.

As opposed to the above, a committee may be a decision making body that can itself choose a course of action, or approve or disapprove a proposed course.  In such a case, it may decide, by a majority vote, or it may determine to act favourably on an idea only when it has reached unanimous agreement.  In the latter instance, the proposal may have to have considerable modification before consensus can be obtained.

Coordination by General Staff (Area Executives, District Managers, or Unit Managers)

The general staff man or a group can act as a clearing house, where it is necessary to coordinate the actions of many unit managers or line managers, who do not necessarily need to communicate with each other.  Each of the managers must decide which of the others should be informed of any proposed action.

If they make a practice of informing all managers in every instance, then an enormous number of useless reports and memoranda will be circulated, for not everyone will be interested in every proposal.

Moreover, if executives are continually receiving reports which are of no possible interest to them, they may fall into the habit of putting memoranda from their colleagues on one side, and in this way they may miss something important.

On the other hand, if a manager attempts to send his memoranda only to those who he thinks will be interested, then he may make some bad mistakes, because the more that tasks become specialised, the harder it is for the specialists to appreciate the effects of their projects on other functions.

Therefore, by using the Area Executive, he is informed directly of their plans, and he then becomes responsible for seeing that those who will be interested are promptly informed.  Because of the central position of the Area Executive, it can easily be judged which of the departments will be affected by any course of action.

Coordination by Special Coordinators

This is a device by which individuals are appointed to serve as special coordinators of various phases of the business.

One coordinating position which has become increasingly common in recent years is that of contract administrator.  When the organisation receives a large contract the work might be expected to flow smoothly from sales to engineering to production.  In practice, this is seldom the case.  The customer changes his mind regarding certain details of design and wishes to know how many the changes will cost him, or he wants additional work to be carried out, or he requires a quicker delivery date.  Up to the time of the signing of the contract, the customer's contact has been the salesman or sales engineer, but the latter cannot spare time from his marketing work to shepherd the changes through or to coordinate the engineering, estimating and production work required for the changes.  The contract administrator fills the gap.  He provides liaison and coordination between the customer and the production force.

Learn to Appreciate Hospitality Law

Legal issues involved in running a lodging operation can differ from one jurisdiction to another.

Laws will govern hospitality operations, pertaining to the hotel-guest relationship, the hotel's duties to guests and others, the hotel and its employees, and to general hotel operation.

Managers need to provide leadership through example to all employees with respect to the law.

All managers should also be highly conscious of the need for strong work-life balance initiatives in their organisation. Look to employ staff who are ethical and respectful when recruiting talent, retaining key staff and building capabilities for organisational growth and survival