Answer a telephone

Today I'm in charge of the admin office, my responsibility for today is to answers all telephone calls and then deal with the enquiries of request in a appropriate way.

Here is some good telephone etiquette:

1. Answer within 3 rings
2. Smile when you are answering it change your tone of voice
3. Answer by saying your companies name, your department and your name
4. Say How can I assist you/how may I help you?
5. Listen carefully
6. Dont let anything take off your concentration and think about the situation
7. Speak in a loud and clear manner
8. Use the appropriate language
9. Always be friendly
10. Give your feedback
11. Make sure you have the correct information
12. In the end say have a nice day and thank you.


Whenever you feel that you can’t assist a customer and that you are not the appropriate person then you must handled it to a more senior person or refer it to the appropriate person.

Inventory

Today I designed an inventory for a new Makhato lodge, I basically checked all equipment, linen, cutlery, crockery etc. in the house and then typed it on a list that is going in their envelope when they are checking in. The guest then checks everything and make sure it is correct. It was quite challenging because you ...must put everything on the list and make sure that the right quantity is in the lodge.

Identify the resources to deliver an accommodation service

Today I've learnt how to identify resources required to provide a service. I’m using an example on a staff building (office) that is not in a good condition and needs to be upgraded. The types of resources that you will need:
1. Manpower
Manpower is your staff. You need to know who are your staff and what is their
Responsibility. You must also have a plan and a schedule in action to prevent
poor performance.
2. Materials
You must identify the materials and see if there is materials in stock and if they
have everything they need.
3. Financial
When you are upgrading a building then your must have plan a budget for it and see
if it is possible or not.
4. Time
Time-management is very important. You must have a schedule for the staff. It is
important to do some research to see when is your establishment busy and when not,
you must also look at the time of the year so that you can see if the weather is
not going to have an influence in your work.
5. Management and control
You must follow up on the staff to see if the job is done in the correct way and
to control them on the job that is busy taking place.
6. Use of computers
It is always good to have a neatly typed plan and a design to show to management
what is your plan and how you are going to do it. It is neater and much more
Organised.

Weekend of 20-21 March 2010

This weekend I've worked at the housekeeping department. Friday night we did Guest welcoming at their chalets. What we do is, we go to each chalet and welcome the guest and ask if everything if fine and in order. We asked the guest questions like, was the chalet clean and if the inventory is correct. If we do have problems then we immediately apologize and take immedial action. We then report the situation to the appropriate person for example maintenance or the manager on duty.

My responsibility for the weekend was the storerooms. The maintenance did their issues by me, the major stuff I've issued was a new fridge and 2 televisions.

I've enjoyed my weekend to work with the team and I also kept my ears open to hear if there was 'n problem and what happened there after. If it was a problem with housekeeping then I listened and followed up on the problem by Lucy our executive housekeeper.

Overview of a Hospitality Industry

Today we've learnt how every department in a hotel/resort works together and cannot function without each other. There is a lot of documents and paperwork that must be completed to give a good service so that every departments know what their responsibility is and what must be done. To be able to give a good customer service you must know your company's policies and procedures. There are a lot of steps to follow so that you know everything is in order and that the other department can do their work. The departments that goes hand and hand is Reservations, Reception, Accommodation services and Food & Beverage service.

Food and Beverage department

I've spent a few months at Piccinini's restaurant here at Sondela. I've enjoyed it very much, because I like to be very busy and organise. When you are working at a restaurant you must be very neat and organised. It is important to have a time schedule for everything you do, otherwise your customer service will be affected.

Accommodation services

Housekeeping is a very important department in a hospitality industry. They have a lot of responsibilities and expectations. One of their responsibilities is , to make sure the hotel rooms/Chalets is clean and neat. In the other hand, their expectation is to keep their work up to a standard that is according to the establishment.

Frikkie Meyer school visit

Assessor and Coaching course

Sondela Academy gave us an opportunity to do an Assessor and coaching course. So when we have the qualification and we are qualified then we can assess a learner in the future or even coach them on something we know well. I’m still waiting for my results but it was surely an experience. I've learnt how everything works and what steps to follow on how to find someone competent or not yet competent.

Umkomaas Ocean View lodge

Reception Operations and services

Food and Beverage department

I've spent a few months at Piccinini's restaurant here at Sondela. I've enjoyed it very much, because I like to be very busy and organise. When you are working at a restaurant you must be very neat and organised. It is important to have a time schedule for everything you do, otherwise your customer service will be affected.

Accommodation services

Housekeeping is a very important department in a hospitality industry. They have a lot of responsibilities and expectations. One of their responsibilities is , to make sure the hotel rooms/Chalets is clean and neat. In the other hand, their expectation is to keep their work up to a standard that is according to the establishment.