Operational Planning Opening the House & Standard Operating Procedures

Operational Planning  The subject of planning for the opening of a hotel has thus far included staffing, scheduling, preparing job descriptions, using materials (e.g., supplies and equipment), and hiring, orienting, and training employees  These above includes the “who,” “what,” and “when” of planning  Procedures for ‘how’ things are to be done remains to be established

Operational Planning  Since housekeeping duties are largely routine, the use of FORMS is an excellent way to communicate how things are to be done (direction & control)  Standard Operating Procedures are documents that describe how tasks (routines) are to be done

Operational Planning  What is in a Standard Operating Procedure S.O.P.? Begins with a simple statement of policy Followed by paragraphs indicating directives, procedures, explanation of forms, records to be kept, positional responsibilities, and coordinating relationships

Operational Planning  One of the most common routines in housekeeping is the day-to-day delegation of the task of room cleaning to the staff; this is called “opening-the-house”  What are the events that take place during the opening of the house? Front desk provides housekeeping with the “Night Clerks Report to Housekeeping” This information is transferred to the “Supervisor’s Daily Work Report” If there is a section on the “Supervisor’s Daily Work Report” that does not have a GRA assigned to it, those rooms are assigned to other GRAs Then the information is transferred to documents for the individual GRAs

Operational Planning  Opening the House: Who picks up the “Night Clerk’s Report” and transfers the information to what? What does the “Supervisor’s Daily Work Report” contain? What is an “open section”? What is a “pickup room”? What does the “GRA’s Daily Report” contain? Who transfers information to the GRA’s Daily Report?

Operational Planning What role does the “Table of Personnel Requirements” and the “Tight Schedule” play in opening the house?

Operational Planning  Other suitable subjects for Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) include: Daily routine Night activities Key control Lost-and-found operations Inventory control procedures Linen-handling procedures Time card control Dilution control for chemicals used in cleaning

Operational Planning Inspection checklists Standards of performance Maintenance work-order program Control of guest loan items

Operational Planning  In addition to SOPs, management can also delegate by making a simple statement of what the results should be if a task has been completely properly, and by setting written performance standards as described in chapter one.  The intention of SOPs is not to stifle creativity or initiative. Employee should be rewarded if they can come up with a better method.