An effective methodology for front office training: Case study method

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What is Management? Is it a science or art or a mixture of both. Whatever we are learning is a mixture of both because of its dynamic nature. When we develop a concept- It is science, we simultaneously develop the system of delivery - Which is art.

Front office management being an objective oriented subject, involves planning, decision making, innovation, revenue maximization, controlling and customer focused services. It is all about great ideas, people and achievement and therefore requires the mixture of both; art and science.

A front office personnel plays a key role in meeting the guest?s needs. He/ she effectively meet various challenges which help the hotel to satisfy its guests and when their training is conducted inefficiently, after completion it seems as if the trainee?s have donated their blood and they are completely drained out. Nowadays, trainees demand innovation in learning.

Case studies are a pace to move forward to advance teaching. It presents a new dimension to the trainees by giving broader concept of the operations. From the time a guest makes a reservation and arrives at a hotel through the time he or she departs, may form various cases. For example, guest turning to front office with questions, requests, comments and complaints. It brings together the theoretical inputs and hand on practical exercises and divert the trainee?s mind beyond their thinking level.

A case study is a puzzle that has to be solved to achieve best possible option in respective situation. A good case study makes the trainees realize as if they are the part of the scenario and commence them to think for more innovative ideas. The case should have enough information in it that readers can understand what the problem is and after thinking and analyzing the information; the readers should be able to come up with a proposed solution. Mostly real case studies put more strength than fictitious cases as they are the real examples of an organization which includes the relevant data and adds to the trainee?s interest. which includes the relevant data and adds to the trainee?s interest.

Just Imagine, if a trainer says, ?This is my real life example when I was with XYZ hotel, please tell me what you would have done if it ever came to you?. Don?t you think they would provide us more innovative ideas to defeat us?

Before conducting a case study in the training, it is very crucial to properly select a case. Should the case study be related to Customer Service, PMS, Reservation of a group or welcoming a walk-in? We must try to relate it with the previous topic discussed as well as with the current one. It will help the trainee?s to recall and brush up all the topics with a LIVE example. Case study research excels at bringing us to an understanding of a complex issue and can extend experience or add strength to what is already known through previous research.

It is a good practice to distribute the case study at the end of the session and ask them to go through and discourse it next day, which will help them to grasp more and more ideas. As per a research, a case study requires a minimum of two hours to hash out.

Before starting to refer a case, first think of several important ?design? questions:
What are theories or concepts of hospitality you are going to teach through the case?
How would trainees react to the case? Is it sufficiently challenging and interesting?
Is the case relevant for all the theoretical inputs required to learn a topic?
Would the case help in brain storming of the trainees?
Do we have the proper solution to the questions of the case?
Will the case study help the trainee?s in relating it with other topics as well?
Case will need a conclusion. Rather than putting answer in the case, leave the trainee?s with some more questions. It is not about correction in the answers given by the audience, as everyone has different skills to handle a situation. And since no two guests, two hotels are ever the same and so no manager has the same qualities; they have their different opinion about a situation and different strength to handle it. The variety of talent and skills are needed to satisfy guest needs which makes to front office work exciting and challenging.

The case method is a powerful approach to teaching and learning hospitality subjects. Its main advantage is that it is ?problem-oriented?, as opposed to solution-based, approach to teaching and learning. It allows trainees to participate in ?real-life? decision making processes by first identifying the major ?problem? in the case before formulating appropriate solutions.

Seeing the nature and importance of front office department, case study is one of the best methodologies to produce empowered staff, who can take correct decisions in different situations.

Case Study:

Is overbooking important than frequent-stay guest?

Occupancy has been so high that year, that the hotels had regretted a large number of reservations.

In 2006, a group of eight men from a leading MNC group did not agree to check in, due to poor efficiency of front office department to reserve rooms for them. Seven single rooms were booked for these guests, one month prior to the date of arrival at a corporate rate. When they reached the hotel for check in at the reception at 2 am, the hotel refused to provide accommodation to four of the guests, due to non-availability of room.

The guests from the same company refused to check in, as the reservation was made for the entire group and not for four of them. The condition was worse because they were Frequent-Stay Guest (FSG) and this was not expected from the hotel.

The only suggestion the duty manager could give was to accommodate four of them in a double deluxe room (two double beds in a room). The guests were irritated and asked to call front office manager, who was not available. They started shouting, ?We had already received confirmation from you. Does it make no sense to you? We are not going to check in, till your manager comes to the hotel.?

They all sat in the lobby, waiting for the front office manager to come. The front office manager was called by the duty manager in the night, and he spoke to the guest, apologised for the same and somehow the guests were accommodated in the same suite room and assured that they will be shifted to their reserved status room early morning and the check in was made accordingly.

The problem arose due to overbooking of rooms, due to which all rooms were occupied and led to guest dissatisfaction.

Questions
What do you think the front office manager would have said the guests?
Was the management failure here; if so what?
What further long-run action should management take?
What measures can you take to avoid the situation?
What should be the action of night shift staff for morning shift?