HRT 382

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HRT 382
Team Work Putting it All Together

• Dr. Ben Dewald
• Collins School of Hospitality Management

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Reference

• Cullen, N. (2001). Life Beyond the Line. Team
  Work Putting it All Together, Chapter 26,
  pp267-284, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
• Cal Poly Library
• TX911.3.M27 C8497 2001 

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Outline

• Guest service Facts
• What is a team
• Successful teams
• Communication
• Making teams work
• Getting the best from team meetings

• Team training
• Understanding team behaviors
• Resolving conflict within the team
• Recognizing team members

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Guest Service Facts

• If 20 guests are dissatisfied with the
  foodservice product, 19 wont tell, and 14 of 20
  will take their business elsewhere
• Dissatisfied guests tell an average of 10 other
  people about their bad experience
• Satisfied guests will tell an average of 5 people
  about their positive experience
• It costs 5 times more money to attract a new
  guest
• Up to 90 of dissatisfied guests will not call
  again
• Quality of service is one of the few variables
  that can distinguish any foodservice organization
  from its competition.

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What is a team

• Together
• Everyone
• Achieves
• More
• A group of people working together to achieve a
  common goal.

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Successful Teams

• What do we want from teamwork?
• The most effective, rewarding, and productive way
  of working together
• Team building involves getting employees to feel
  a sense of belonging and ownership in what they
  are doing as a group.
• To be successful in the hospitality industry,
  teamwork within and between all departments is
  essential.

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Communication

• Presentation of information
• important to get message across.
• Select best way
• Words are main communication vehicle
• Words alone inadequate to present a picture to a
  group of people, they will all receive a
  different picture, even though the all hear the
  same words.

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Definitions

• Communicate to give share of, to impart to
  reveal to bestow to have something in common
  with another to succeed in conveying ones
  meaning to others.
• Communication transmission, imparting giving of
  information messages etc. means of communicating
  system of transmitting messages.

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What is Communication?

• Communication can be as simple as
• a hand raised in a classroom
• an answering nod
• but often much more complicated.

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Four/Five Stages of Successful Communication

• The Senders Idea
• His/Her Expression of the Idea
• The Receipt of the Idea
• The Response to the Idea - ACTION
• There may be a fifth item - FEEDBACK - from
  receiver to sender

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One/Two Way Communication

• ONE WAY
• Fast for speaker but dissatisfied receiver
• Results less accurate
• Pleasant experience for communicator
• Lower level of confidence of hearers

• TWO WAY
• More difficult to prepare more time needed
• Results more accurate
• More pleasant experience for receiver
• Higher level of confidence.

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The Raw Materials

• For person to person communication the possible
  tools (select the best) include
• SPEECH
• WRITTEN WORD
• SIGNS AND GESTURES

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The Rules Of Communication

• FORMULATE MESSAGE
• be clear to the point
• TRANSMIT
• state purpose, create interest
• INTERFERENCE
• beware of noise
• RECEIVE INTERPRET
• listen, ask questions, purpose, action needed.

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The Method

• KEEP TO THE POINT
• be as precise as possible
• KEEP IT SIMPLE
• use easy words
• SAY WHAT YOU MEAN
• there will still be questions
• PLAN YOUR CAMPAIGN
• choose best time, mode e.g. bulletin board and
  speech

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The Barriers

• LANGUAGE BARRIER
• avoid long word, jargon, local dialect
• HABIT BARRIER
• dont do everything the same
• DISTRACTION BARRIER
• try to remove them or make allowances
• MISUNDERSTANDING BARRIER
• slow down and double check.

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Communication - Basic Rules (1)

• Feedback from receiver - (build it in)
• Observation - be aware of non verbal signs of
  receiver
• For clarity - diagrams can help
• Break it down - dont overload
• Try to assess knowledge of receiver
• Pace - a little slower using familiar language

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Communication - Basic Rules (2)

• Dont break down too much
• Notes - notes needed, given or taken
• Listening - important
• Interference - take into account
• Time - adjust to each person.

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Developing a Positive Team Work Climate

• Clarify each team members role and sort through
  any interpersonal conflict
• Setting aside time to learn and apply quality
  improvement methods and reviewing work methods
  which affect team member performance and quality
• Listening, receiving, and reacting to team input.

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Team Activities Should

• Stimulate thinking,
• Create enthusiasm, and
• Assist in analyzing different approaches to
  quality service.

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Great Team Environment

• An informal relaxed atmosphere
• Understanding of the total quality philosophy
• Willingness to act as a group, communicate, and
  listen to each other
• Willingness to share new ideas
• A focus on differences about concepts not about
  team members
• A readiness for action once a course of action
  has been arrived at through consensus.

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Training Individuals in Teamwork

• For teamwork to be successful, the members of the
  team must be trained for the task.
• Role playing or simulations
• Simulations provide imaginary or real-life
  situations that a team member figures out how to
  solve (HRT 382)
• Feedback from the facilitator
• Case studies

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Getting the Best from Team Meetings

• Keep meetings to under 12 people
• Start meetings on time
• Be informal key to putting the team at ease
• Respect the contribution of each team member,
  avoid arguments
• Encourage everybody to participate
• Control meeting, interrupt, summarize points
• Ask debatable questions which is a better
  method?
• Take minutes and decide on actions

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Team Training

• Job Talk speech by team leader
• Team Meetings group discussions
• Role Playing assuming parts in a realistic
  situation
• Demonstrations actual equipment used to
  demonstrate action
• Case Study written narrative of real situation
  propose solution(s) and make decisions
• Apprenticeship trainees work under guidance
• On the Job training (OJT) repeated instruction
  and supervised practice.

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Difficult People Teamwork

• Team member will disagree. Balance emotional and
  rational reactions to behavior that upsets you
• Take a break
• Count to 10 if official break is not possible
• Consult a third party
• Acknowledge and talk about your emotions
• Accept responsibility and apologize if an
  argument erupt
• Prepare yourself when you know an emotional
  situation is likely.

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Human Characteristics

• Hostile-aggressive bully and overwhelm others
• Complainers gripe incessantly but do nothing
• Silent unresponsives respond to every question
  and plea for help with a yes, a no or a grunt.
• Superagreeables reasonable, sincere and
  supportive in presence of others but do not
  produce
• Negativists It wont work deflate other
  optimism
• Know-it-all experts condescending, imposing (if
  they know) pompous (if they dont). Make other
  feel like idiots
• Indecisives stall major decisions until
  decisions are made for them. Cant let anything
  go until it is perfect, which means never.

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Resolving Conflict within the Team

• Conflict is inevitable within all teams.
• If handled correctly this might lead to greater
  creativity and innovation by challenging
  assumptions, values, and proposals.

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Causes of Conflict

• Confusion unclear team goal or objectives
• Perception interpretation based on past
  experiences
• Emotions and egos cloud judgment, confuse facts
  and feeling, and get things out of proportion.
  (Also a tremendous source of energy and morale,
  should not be ignored)
• Communication both verbal and non-verbal
  provides an opportunity for misinterpretation.

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Overcome Resolve Conflict

• Present issues unemotionally use I message
  and ask team members for help. Can we agree to
  work together on this? I really need your help.
• Clarify and define the issue. Here is how I see
  the problem, what do you think is the issue?
• Understand the other persons position, listen
  without judgment or rebuttal, ask for
  clarification (probe), can you tell me more
  about that?
• Give your point of view. Use I statements, test
  for understanding
• Develop common objectives or conditions.What are
  we all after?
• Brainstorm alternatives, put judgment on hold
• Jointly choose one alternative
• Finally decide how each member will know if
  solution is working.

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Recognizing Team Members

• Send letter to thank team members for help
• Develop behind the scenes award
• Create best idea of the day/year/quarter/project
  
• Honor helpful peers in a meeting/briefing
• Create a visibility wall to display information,
  posters, pictures, thanking individuals and
  describing their contributions, team picture
• Take interest in a team members development
• Have stock of small gifts to give to people you
  catch doing things right.

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Review Questions

1. Describe the benefits of a team approach in the
   food service industry
2. Outline attributes of successful teams
3. Describe why effective communication is vital in
   the food service industry
4. Explain the steps in conducting effective
   meetings
5. Outline benefits and elements associated with
   teamwork and training
6. Explain the complexities involved with
   understanding team member behaviors, and discuss
   how to deal with difficult people and resolve
   conflict.