Question

Hospitality Human Resources Management

What can be a reaction to problem solving or decision making in the workplace? How can a boss help you (not help you) work through a problem? How comfortable are you making decisions/taking initiative in the workplace and is your boss supportive/encouraging of this behavior?

What is the relevance of that experience in the hospitality industry? Meaning, why is it important to learn problem solving and decision making skills?

What is your responsibility when dealing with this type of situation?

Answer 1

“Problem-solving is a method to analyze and use data or evidence to find the perfect solution to a problem. Decision making is defined as the process it takes to gather information, thinks, and come to a decision.”

The boss can help in solving a problem as follows:

• Listen to your problem
• Facilitate a quick resolution by removing the obstacles
• Helping you analyze the data
• Share his perspective.

I am very comfortable in making decisions and solving the problem at my workplace. The boss is very supportive and allows me to make decisions and helps analyze the problem and come to the right conclusion by following the steps as follows:

• Doing a root cause analysis
• Collecting evidence
• Gathering information
• Analyzing available data
• Brainstorming the matter with all data and associated team members
• Finalize a solution
• Make a decision.

Decision making and problem-solving are critical in the hospitality industry as follows:

• You face the guest on a daily basis
• The team management
• Motivating the staff members
• Maintaining the staff roster
• Ensuring excellent customer service

The responsibilities include motivating the team, ensuring the staff availability, ensuring strict discipline and excellent customer service, staff training identification and new members onboarding.

Decision making and problem-solving skills are required for the following reasons:

• To detect a problem for example symptoms that are visible like the rude behavior of the front desk executive.
• Analyze and arrive at the exact problem for example whether it’s a legitimate problem or just a complaint.
• Generate ideas to resolve the problem by idea sharing, collecting information by listening and doing a root cause analysis
• Evaluate and identify the various options their impact, strengths, and weakness of the options.
• Decide and implement the decision and manage any conflict arising out of the decision.
• Analyze the results of the decision, measure it and take corrective decisions if required.

To sum it up the problem solving has to be done in a systematic manner taking into account all available information and decision is based on step by step elimination of the available options and arriving at the best decision.