Well, hello all you hospitality gang out there. Your resident self-appointed hospitality cheerleader here! It’s been great to get some lovely messages on my last column, so in the spirit of appreciation here’s another insight into my thought’s memories and ruminations on hospitality past, present and future.
When considering the theme for this month’s reflections I thought about what’s happening in the industry and in my life at this moment to hopefully demonstrate some authenticity. There is a lot going on all around me at the minute, October seems to be one of those months in hospitality where nothing happens, but everything happens. I’ll explain, so let’s loosely entitle this one “Preparation”.
As said, October is a weird month for me filled with key dates and anniversaries. Some worth celebrating and others you will never forget. It always makes the month feel longer than it is (although 31 days is long enough for anyone). It feels the same in hospitality too. Every year October was our “calm before the storm” month. It’s that time of year when the reality of the ensuing festive season starts to feel very real. As most hospitality businesses make most of their profit in the summer months, it’s those few weeks around the Christmas holidays which can go some way to supporting the more challenging months ahead in the new year. It’s a real “make hay” scenario which all too often creeps up on us and we spend our January’s reflecting on what we could have done better. In my experience the difference is when great preparation happens.
Every year we reflect on the previous year’s activity and performance, plans are made (although that happens much earlier in the year) and we sit around a table to conduct our final round of things to check. Numbers of bookings, pre-orders, party planning, stock ordering, menu management, staffing levels, contingency planning etc etc. The list is endless and invariably we run out of time. We default back to tried and tested methods of doing things to minimise our stress levels. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it always feels a little disorganised and all too frantic. Now, me saying be prepared is nothing revolutionary. Indeed, the Scouts live by that mantra, but I’ve never been in the Scouts. I was asked to leave the Brownies after a heated discussion with Brown Owl but that’s a story for another column dealing with “issues with authority”. My challenge with being prepared is that we walk that balance between getting it right and doing it better.
Canadian Ice hockey great Wayne Gretzky said “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” and its mentality that really fires up my preparation. You see I love a plan. I like to get all the facts, lay out a clear strategy build the capabilities of those tasked with delivering it, identify our goals and really get to celebrate our success. The problem is when I get all that in place the maverick in me still wants to deviate from the plan. There is comfort here – a great plan is your security blanket. It will guide you to success, but sometimes the biggest wins are the ones you just didn’t see coming. The opportunities you never expected. The shots you didn’t expect to take.
How do you open yourself out to these opportunities? in my experience it’s about being open to look at situations from different perspectives. Seeing things through the eyes of your customers really does help you make great decisions in business.
I was recently reminded of the importance of this in my everyday life. I’ve just arrived home from a 5 day trip to New York. I love New York and have visited it many times over many, many years. I know it. I know where to go, what to do and it’s always a success.
This trip was different though. This trip was with my lovely mum Jean to celebrate her 80th birthday. It was her first trip to New York, indeed her first trip to America. I lined all up the greats, the Empire State, The Statue of Liberty even a Broadway show. Now she loved all that and it was all the right component parts of a great trip (or plan) but the best memories are the ones we didn’t expect. The opportunities just out of the corner of our eye which change the direction of our plan that become game-changers.
One such idea came when we sat having a lovely lunch outside of the Radio City Music Hall. When we looked over, we noticed Barry Manilow was playing five nights and tomorrow would be his last show there. My mum loves Barry Manilow. I quickly looked for tickets and to my surprise managed to get two great seats for the last show. Our plans were quickly changed and the next day I found myself dancing with my mum to Copa Cabana in New York. I am delighted to say that this change of plan has become my favourite memory of my mum ever!!
Sure a plan is important, vital even, but we have to keep on the lookout for new opportunities and ways to keep the things and places we love relevant to the people who matter most.
So where does all this bring me to?
Well as we prepare to really maximise the festive season I encourage us all to take a moment to step back, breathe and look around. Speak to the people who count, get their view. See the situation from their perspective. What do they really want, and can we do it? Then I guess it’s all about having a go, trying new things safe in knowledge that the plan will get you the rest of the way there.
Being open for a change of direction is what makes the hospitality sector truly special. You don’t have to look back far to see the masters of this in hospitality during the pandemic and post covid landscape. Every day we started with a plan to help our businesses survive these unprecedented times. Every day we would go full throttle to get these plans in place and then every day at 5pm another curve ball would throw those plans into chaos. We, in the sector didn’t have to time to cry over the lost work, hours of wasted planning we simply had to change the plan again. We became experts of the ‘no plan plan’! We found the opportunity, we looked for the innovation and creativity. We searched for solutions like our livelihoods depended on them because it did. Now no one wants to go back to those days, but my reflection is that we should have a little more confidence in our ability to adapt and make the most of it. That’s what we do. That’s the marvel of true hospitality. So in summation, don’t just be a cope-a-co-planner (sorry Mr Manilow). Be open for the plan to change.
