Hoteliers: Coronavirus isn’t the Death of our Creativity
When’s the last time you were in the house this much? For hoteliers, being in any place for an extended period of time can be torture: it can also dampen your creativity. When hotels were open and busy, every day we were forced to design creative solutions to meet guests’ needs. Let’s keep that creativity alive to reopen strong and inspire each other.
There are many news articles that are focused on how hospitality will never be the same. There is a lot of fear about what our industry looks like when we reopen…I am not here for all of that. I want to focus on how we can get creative during this time and reimagine hospitality and your hotel! You are unencumbered right now…for me that usually means I can get more innovative.
Let’s do an exercise together. You can do this alone or virtually with coworkers / friends.
Step 1: Grab a piece of paper or open a word document. In big, bold capital letters write: THE HOTEL
Step 2: Underneath THE HOTEL, write three categories. You will need space to write underneath each of these so leave plenty of room. Write down:
The Image
The Operation
The Employee Experience
Step 3: Pause. Close your eyes. Visualize walking up to your hotel. What does this hotel represent to your city, community, and market? Now imagine walking through the doors. What does it feel like in the building? What do you see and feel as you look around and walk to a guest room? Look around the guest room. Finally, think about what it is like to work at that hotel. What are the first words that come to mind? Feel free to write all of this down.
Step 4: Did you just skip Step 3? Seriously, give it a try! I promise you; you have time.
Once you complete the visualization, let’s start with The Image.
Write down emotions or feelings that you want your hotel to evoke.
List companies that are able to evoke those emotions/feelings and how they do it.
Draft ideal partnerships for your hotel, who do you want to work with?
Step 5: Under The Operation, you will design a unique operation, inspired by The Image above
First, create 3 operational values for your operation. Values are the beliefs that serve as the basis of your organization. Think about The Image and the actual operation you want to deliver. List out the terms that could inspire that. If you need some guidance, I love using this site.
Based on what you listed in The Image and your values, what types of new Best Practices could you create to inspire those emotions?
Consider your current operational practices, are they in line with your values and image? If you cannot tie it back to your values or image, it’s time to either redesign or cut it.
Step 6: Take a break. Step 5 is a lot to process. You are designing values and linking your operation back to those values. That is a lot of head work.
Step 7: Under The Employee Experience, imagine what it is like to work at the hotel.
Write down 2 more values that pertain to the employee experience.
Design a few employee programs that are in line with those values.
Consider the daily life of an employee, where can there be improvement? Better training? Reduced meetings? Increased celebrations?
This is just the beginning. The first hack at this, your mind may still be trapped in the way things were. But, if you keep considering those three categories, you start to birth new ideas. I like to look outside of the hotel industry for inspiration too!
While we are home, we have the chance to reimagine our buildings without the stress they typically give us. When you imagine walking through your building, what do you want to feel? See? Experience? Now is the time to design it.
P.S. If you enjoyed the above, consider doing the same but for you. On a new sheet write “ME” in caps at the top and then do three categories underneath.
Your Image
Your Operation
Your Employee Experience
Image: Consider how you come across to others and how you want to come across. Who inspires you?
Operation: What do you do well and where can you improve? Are your actions in line with the image you want?
Employee Experience: What is it like to work with/for you? Is it in line with the image you desire? If not, who does it well and what can you learn from them?
