Teamwork and Teambuilding - Employee Development

Team selection, especially team leader selection is important. It’s best not to select the most senior member, who may be a member of the executive committee or guidance team (to use the Ritz-Carlton term) because other team members will simply agree with whatever the senior manager says. It’s better to select another team
member.
A good example of creating a successful team was at a major resort hotel where the servers at the Beach Club reported to two different departments.
Guest comments alerted management to a challenge (which
sounds better than problem) of poor time liness in the delivery of food and beverage orders, yet the service received an outstanding
score.
The pool and beach attendants
reported to one department and the bartenders and cooks to another. When both groups were united to form one team, there was some initial resentment, but as
the teamwork improved so did the tips. Figure 7.3 illustrates the elements of a successful team.
FIGURE 7.3 Elements of a Successful Team
CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL TEAMS..
Having described the creation of successful teams we can now take a look at how a successful team looks and behaves. There are ten main characteristics of successful
teams:
1. The team understands and is committed to the vision, mission, and goals of the company and the department.
2. The team is mature—not necessarily in age—but in realizing that members sometimes need to place the team before their personal interests.
3. The team works to continually improve how it operates.
4. Team members treat each other with respect: they listen and feel free to express their thoughts.
5. Differences are handled in a professional manner.
6. Members have respect for their
supervisor.
7. Members are consulted and their input is requested in decision making.
8. Members encourage and assist other team members to succeed .
9. The team meets or exceeds its goals.
10. There is a synergy where the output of the team is greater than the input ofeach team member.
In order to become successful, teams need to have the skills required for the job. They also need to be empowered to do the
job and to be held accountable for their performance. Teams should be rewarded for meeting or exceeding goals. In the
fastpaced hospitality industry people with insufficient skills are quickly discovered—they
need to be trained or replaced for the benefit of team the other members— otherwise
the team morale will suffer.
Total Quality Management
Given an increasingly competitive market and fluctuations in guest service levels in many hospitality organizations, it is no wonder that so many companies have adopted
a Total Quality Management (TQM)
continuous improvement process. TQM is a concept that works well in the hospitality industry, because its goal is to ensure continuous quality improvement of services
and products for guests.
With TQM the word guest is preferred over customer, the inference being that, if we treat customers like guests, we will
exceed their expectations. Successful and progressive companies realize that quality
and service go hand in hand. A good meal poorly served results in guest dissatisfaction and a consequent loss of revenue.
TQM works best when top management, middle management, supervisors, and
hourly employees all believe in the
philosophy and concept of TQM. It is a neverending journey of continuous improvement, not a
destination.
Source : The Hotel mule..