Premium conference centre is one the top conference centre of UK. It’s the end of year and the annual appraisal is due and as a result company wants to pay the annual appraisal according to the quality of service provided by the team members of premium conference centre. As the part of team member I have got the challenge to prove and demonstrate myself as an effective team member. My manager wants me to prove myself in three different situations showing my ability to work both as a team member and a team leader.
I am leading the three team members of premium conference centre. They are:-
-Front of door
-House keeping
-Kitchen team
Front of door:-
It is the most vital position of any team. The effectiveness of the customer service provided by any team is firstly measured in terms of the quality of services provided by front of the house .The higher quality the service is provided by the front of the house members the effective is the customer service provided by the team as a whole. Front of door also consists of team members listed as below:-
-Manager
-Supervisor
-Cashier
-Telephone Operator
-Customer Relation officer
Housekeeping:-
Housekeeping mainly refers for the maintenance and claiming team. It means the service provides team to the customers. House keepers have direct contact with the customer most of times. They also play great role in uplifliting the quality of customer services provided by a conference centre team. Team of housekeeping are:-
-Cleaner
-House-keeping
-Laundry
-Security guards
-Room maid
-Bell-boy
Cleaner mainly is responsible for the cleaning of the conference halls, offices, rooms. Housekeeping is responsible for maintaining and fixing the positions of the equipments and materials of rooms and conference halls. Laundry cleans the dirty clothes whereas security guards are responsible for providing security. They are always alert for the security issues. Bell boy is a person who cares the luggage and bags of customers to their room. Since they are the service provider, their way of work and ability of providing quality service plays important role in customer services.
-Kitchen team:-
Kitchen team simply refers to food related team. This team is responsible for providing best quality of food and beverages to the customers. Team members of kitchen are listed below:-
-chef
-cook
-dish washer
-waiter
-contract food supplier
Chef is the head cook. Chef and cook are responsible in cooking food. Dishwasher is responsible for washing of dishes and cleaning the kitchen room. Waiter directly has contact with customers. The main responsibility of waiter is to take the orders, serve food and set the table. The waiter must be polite, well behaved and enthusiastic. Contract food supplier supplies food to our conference centre when needed. Contract food supplier supplies food as per the demand and needs made by the conference centre.
As a team member and as a first a team leader I must have choices for the collaboration of team members. I must have different alternatives to unite the team and perform tasks as a team. I must be always ready to save the misunderstanding within the team members and unite my team for achieving the target goal. I must be always ready to keep understanding within team members and keep them cool. One must have following needs to collaborate within the team members:-
- shared belief in the value and achievability of the team’s goals,
- awareness of the value of the individual’s own role and contribution,
- recognition of the value of other team members (whether they are key specialists or just non-specialist, junior assistants),
- desire to work collaboratively, sharing thoughts, ideas, concerns, etc,
- friendship – enjoying working together with a common purpose,
- supporting each other in recognition that the team’s success requires all members to be successful,
- coaching junior members rather than bossing them,
- listening to ideas and advice from other team members,
- making time to communicate with other team members
In good projects the team leader does not need to (and should not) exhibit dramatic, powerful, personal characteristics, but the organisation’s leadership may be more likely to recognise the talents of a team.
-Competing with pressure is very important for a team to be successful. Pressure can be within the team or outside the team. Establishing a ‘winning feeling’ when I have performed successfully is necessary to tackle the competing pressure. By prioritizing our responsibilities, I can clearly do a job which, when required which leads to stress less work. I should exhibit a unique blend of charisma, vision and character traits that attract people to follow me. I should recognize the need to attract followers. Team members must feel confidence in the direction in I am headed. They are enabled and empowered to do their part in accomplishing the stated objectives. For competing pressure following measures should be taken in consideration:-
- Treat every member of the team with respect
- Include everyone when sharing out the gratuities
- Offer other benefits where possible
- Always acknowledge a job well done
-I must be able able to show respect to other team members to have a perfect team. Motivation and co-ordination is necessary to have respect within the team members. I must observe the opinion of all the team members. I must listen to the views of all the team members. I must always keep the consideration to rights of team member. There show be no chance of discrimination within the team member and I should also not discriminate the team members. I should treat members similarly and equally.
-Leading a team is one of the major roles of a team leader. doesn’t just mean acting as overseer, to see that they get their work done satisfactorily. It means involving people throughout the team in a creative role, to ensure that together you are all able to succeed I must be always ready to lead the team. One of the most important responsibilities of a leader is being able to plan and run an effective team work. I must be a person others choose to follow. I must always provide vision to the future. I should always provide the inspiration. I must be able to show team members how much important they are important and appreciated. I must behave ethically. I must be able to set the pace and through my expectation and example. I must always set the environment for further improvement. I should always provide opportunity for team members to grow personally and professionally.
-Dealing with differences is one of the challenges within a team member. Conflict can be pretty much inevitable when you work with others. People have different viewpoints and under the right set of circumstances, those differences escalate to conflict. How I handle that conflict determines whether it works to the team’s advantage or contributes to its demise. . It’s clear that conflict has to be dealt with, but the question is how: It has to be dealt with constructively and with a plan, otherwise it’s too easy to get pulled into the argument and create an even larger mess. . Healthy and constructive conflict is a component of high functioning teams. Conflict arises from differences between people; the same differences that often make diverse teams more effective than those made up of people with similar experience. When people with varying viewpoints, experiences, skills, and opinions are tasked with a project or challenge, the combined effort can far surpass what any group of similar individual could achieve. Team members must be open to these differences and not let them rise into full-blown disputes. Understanding and appreciating the various viewpoints involved in conflict are key factors in its resolution. These are key skills for all team members to develop. The important thing is to maintain a healthy balance of constructive difference of opinion, and avoid negative conflict that’s destructive and disruptive.
-How I present myself plays an important role in success of my team. If I present myself as a positive team leader then my team can get the objective that we have kept in respect. I must present myself as a prefect leader but still have lots to learn. I must communicate with the team members clearly. I should always set a good example to my team members. I should always encourage team members to provide feedback. I should be decisive. I should present myself as a leader who can take prompt decision on time. I should always present myself as a patient leader this helps other team members to be patient in difficulties. I present myself as a leader who can provide professional guidance. I must present myself as a supportive, helpful, confident, flexible, responsible, reliable and displined person.
TASK 2
-Different team member have different characteristics .So front of house team member must have following characteristics:-
-front of house team member especially waiting staff and receptionist should welcome the customers perfectly. There shouldn’t be any delays in greeting the customers. They must be able to make customers the relaxed approach to the conference centre. Supervisor should be always responsible to supervise the whole team for their best service. Similarly cashier has his responsibilities in dealing with cash and must be prefect to keep the account clear and mistake free. Telephone operator should have good telephone skills. She/he must answer the calls and provide the necessary information to the customers. And the manager the head of the team should mange and direct he team to gain its main goal.
-A clean house is a happy house. Housekeeping team members also have responsibilities and duties to be performed. Conference room cleaner should make sure that the conference room is cleaned, tidied and re-stocked. The housekeeping team is responsible to make sure that every area of the building is kept clean and tidy. Security guard is always concerned with the security issue. He must always make that the security is perfect and there is no any danger to the customers. Laundry is responsible for the cleaning of the clothes and curtains of the room. Similarly bell boy is responsible to take the luggage of the customer to their respective room .
-Kitchen team is a team that directly deals with the food items. Head chef is responsible for making foods. He is also responsible that every work in kitchen is going as necessary because head chef is the head of the kitchen team. Assistant chef should help the head chef. He/she can help by cutting vegetables and other items. Dishwasher cleans the dishes whereas waiter takes order of food, serve food and set tables. Contract food supplier has to food to the hotel or conference centre as per their deal or agreement. They must be always ready to do so.
The overall roles and responsibility of the team members are as follows:-
-team members should understand the purpose and objectives of the team member.
-they must be able to ensure the balance work between project and non project works.
-they must work within the time limit and within the cost constraints.
-they must be reporting the progress of the team work.
-they must be able to identify the risks associated with the tram work.
-they must have the aim to work as a team not individually. They should always think team benefits not the personal benefits.
-they should contribute towards successful communication.
-they should contribute towards positive motivation and success of the team.
I analysed how the team worked together to provide the customer service. I analysed the strength and weakness of the teams working together. Everyone seemed clear about roles, responsibilities, deliverables and deadlines. So far it was very good. They always knew about the magnitude and velocity of the work that lied ahead, they realised how critical a well-orchestrated team communications plan was while getting the work done. They kept in mind a communications plan to make it easy for virtual team members to communicate and collaborate. As a whole their customer care skills were appreciable.
In a team conflict is common and we must always be ready to solve the conflict. I also faced a same situation while leading the team. It was a minor conflict but it created a great problem. My team was totally separated into two and I had to do hard homework to unite my team back again. The conflict was only about the racism. My team had both Blacks and Whites. Once of the white member called a black member as a chimpanzee. I was shocked to hear this . Due to this two groups were formed. First one was a black people group and the second one was the white people group. I totally dislike the racists. I as a responsible team leader investigated the problem and found the mistake of one of the white team member. I asked him to be sorry for what he did . He said sorry to the black member and I asked the black member to shake hands and it was all over. I was too happy to see my team reunited back again.
I found coaching/monitoring of individuals is necessary within the team members as all team members weren’t well trained and experienced. Professional coaching skills can be provide to the team members in which a coach may be employed .Instructing, coaching and mentoring is necessary. Instructors disseminate knowledge should be provide. Coaches build skills, mentors shape mentee attitudes should be developed within the team members. Alternately, instructors train to immediate tasks, coaches teach to mid-range goals can also be provided. Most of team members don’t have confidence to do what they know. So team members should be made sure to do what they know and how to do. Training is necessary for teaching individuals to do what they don’t know how to do. Individuals should be shown how they are really good at doing something do it. They must be encouraged in enabling them to use them to the best of their ability and it can be done by that increasing the independence within the individual and reducing reliance. But independence should be kept in view as more independence may lead team member away from the objective of team work.