Amidst all the noise around revenue, distribution, parity and OTAs, it's easy to lose focus on the other, major part of many hoteliers' day-to-day responsibilities: management. Effective and efficient team organization and training can be as crucial as managing parity when it comes to maximizing your group's performance and driving continual success.
At Triptease, one of our core values is continuous learning - which means we're always encouraging our team to share the resources they find most useful. In the same spirit, we've curated a list of books and videos on management and teamwork, the principles of which we're constantly putting into practice at Triptease. From our team to yours, enjoy - and let us know what we missed!
David Marquet, Turn the Ship Around! A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders
Recommended by: Ben Dean, Customer Success
Penned by the Captain of a nuclear submarine, Turn the Ship Around! reveals how the principle of 'leadership at every level' took a crew from being the lowest-performing in its fleet to the most successful.
The book highlights the importance of empowering each member of a team, no matter their rank, to be able to make autonomous decisions. Allowing employees from every level responsibility over their own output, while it may feel counter-intuitive, creates a team of engaged 'leaders' proactively working to achieve one goal.
The book demonstrates the value of trust and belief among team members. If you trust and believe in your team, it suggests, they'll be likely to far exceed your own expectations.
Chip Conley, Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo From Maslow
Recommended by: Charlie Osmond, Chief Tease
CEO of boutique hotel brand Joie de Vivre for 24 years, author Chip Conley has no small amount of hospitality experience under his belt; he's been Head of Hospitality and Strategy at Airbnb for nearly five years. His 2007 book Peak has stood the test of time as a chronicle of the importance of understanding the motivations of your guests, employees, managers and even investors.
The book draws on psychologist Abraham Maslow's famous 'Hierarchy of Needs,' which posits that humans are driven by five essential levels of need. Conley applies this hierarchy to the paradigm of business, illustrating how it results in a more enthusiastic culture and a more profitable organization. Drawing on his experience at Joie de Vivre and informing his approach to life at Airbnb, this could be the essential leadership read for any hotelier.
Kim Scott, Radical Candor
Recommended by: Alexandra Zubko, Chief Customer Officer
"This book completely reversed 20 years of training about what good people management looks like!" Alexandra tells us. Radical Candor is all about the fundamental principal that you can 'challenge directly' and 'care personally' at the same time - or, as their website puts it, "say what you think while also giving a damn about the person you're saying it to."
'Radically candid criticism' is, according to Kim's book, both kind and clear. In a fast-paced industry such as hospitality where there is often little time to pause and take stock of how you're doing, creating a culture of regular, specific and sincere feedback could have a real impact.
Atul Gawande, The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right
Recommended by: Tom Damant, A/B Testing
This book draws on the author's experience as a surgeon to advocate for a new approach to complex tasks - whether they be heart surgery, building a skyscraper, or manning a hotel's front desk.
The amount of information we each have access to in the modern world far outweighs our ability to consistently, efficiently and safely put it into action, Gawande argues. Good checklists not only build safeguards into repetitive tasks, they also engender teamwork and co-operation. One example of this from the book is how one doctor's checklist for a surgical procedure includes each member of the surgery team introducing themselves at the beginning of the operation, whether they be the senior practitioner or the most junior nurse. This simple act of recognition empowers any member of the team to speak up when they see a potential mistake, rather than deferring to the most senior person in the room.
The business of running a hotel involves a great many repetitive processes, and it's not always easy to spot when these aren't operating at their full potential. Introducing elements of the 'checklist manifesto' could shed new light on how you do business - and prevent avoidable mistakes.
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