Hotel Front Office Management, 3rd Edition

THE ROLE OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION 85Figure 3-4. Group analysis of jobs is an essential element in total quality management.(Photo courtesy of Radisson Hotels.)“how can we achieve the end result” thrusts employees into an atmosphere of cooperationthat may not have previously existed. First-shift and second-shift employees, who usuallydo not understand each other’s activities, find they do have common concerns aboutserving the guest. In the situation presented earlier, housekeeping and front desk employeeswould realize that a guest’s request for a late checkout plays havoc with delivery ofhospitality. Total quality management practices would ensure that the front office wouldcheck with housekeeping to determine room availability in such a situation. The bottomline is that interdepartmental communication is enhanced each time a team composed ofmembers of various departments meets to analyze a challenge to the delivery of hospitality.Figure 3-4 provides a view of the interaction that is necessary to make total qualitymanagement a success.An Example of Total Quality Management in a HotelTotal quality management in a hotel may be applied as follows: The general managerhas received numerous complaints about the messy appearance of the lobby—furnitureand pillows are out of place, ashtrays are overflowing, flowers are wilted, and trashreceptacles are overflowing. The front office manager recruits a total quality managementteam, which consists of a front desk clerk, a maid, a waiter, a cashier, and the director ofTLFeBOOK