What are the best ways to stay focused and calm while solving hospitality problems?

Leaders have to be prepared ahead of time. We know things can happen, and at some point, they will happen. I aim to be prepared and have a problem-solving mindset from the beginning so that the incident is just one piece of my day, not the all-consuming crisis that panic creates.

In my experience, being able to make the time to take deep breath is crucial when it comes to hospitality. Whether you are a manager or an employee, being emotionally agile is your biggest strength. Your ability to clear your mind and act from a calm state will help you to make the right decisions in order to solve whatever you are facing.

As a young hospitality entrepreneur, Eisenhowers' matrix has been a life changing way to tackle every day tasks. Whether it is about helping yourself go through a bad day simply by going through the matrix with your tasks as a check-list or to help you and your team be able to see how you can delegate each others' tasks based on everyone's strengths. The goal is to facilitate the workflow and get the tasks of the day done in the most convenient manner without forgetting anything.

Set smaller goals. Consider all goals to smaller pieces that can be accomplished more easily. This can keep us more focus. While doing all this sleep properly, reward yourself and take a walk.

Communication is the CORE of any business. Whether with your colleagues, employees or your guests, you must learn to be a good communicator. To show that you care, that you are an active learner and to be able to ask for clarifications in order to better understand what is expected of you. It is fundamental for a company to be able to build trust within the employees in order for employees to build trust with the guests and get them to become loyal.

The SWOT analysis is a great tool to solving a problem that we are facing. The ability of this tool to view the problem from each and every business angle is key to finding solutions and taking steps that will better the business. Using the SWOT analysis also helps us to be sure that what we are implementing is the right decision for the organization.

Hospitality tends to already be a highly structured operation with standards, SOPs and shift check-lists which are exceptional when it comes to deliverables of the departments. However, a real hotelier has a mind of his own and should be able to make an impact on a guests stay because of an experience they shared, a recommendation, a small attention that was thought of outside of what is written in the handbooks and the trainings. If a guest comes back to a specific property because of a specific employee and their ability to make them feel seen, heard and understood is how real hospitality is made.

Hospitality requires us to become proactive, sometimes even taking on tasks and responsibilities outside of our roles. This is completely understandable so long as the action is beneficial to the organisation and does not compromise the guest's satisfaction. The best way to find out is to evaluate the outcome and if the desired outcome is suitable, it is crucial to follow up with the guest or a manager. Feedback is the key to improve quality service. Based on their feedback you gain trust and they will appreciate the attention.