Re-opening Plan Checklist
Empower your staff for the New Normal
Low occupancy rates have unfortunately been the status quo for many hotels. In these uncertain times, re-opening your hotel means that you might be facing pressure on cutting costs while streamlining operations. The good thing about this unprecedented downtime is that this is the best time to evaluate hotel operations and expenses.
While the top demand for the unforeseeable future will be contactless experiences, the path to creating a completely safe and touch-free hotel stay involves more than just introducing contactless check-ins and payment methods.
No hotel can function without the tireless efforts of the people who run around to make sure that every detail has been handled – your team. This strange time is as terrifying for them as it is for the hospitality industry. Therefore, preparing them for the New Normal should be a priority as hotels slowly reopen for business.
Staff preparedness, together with technology, will be the key to a successful re-opening.
Read further for our suggestions on the essential actions to adopt as you get your team ready in time for guest stays.
Staff preparedness, together with technology, will be the key to a successful re-opening.
Wondering what else you need to keep in mind before reopening your hotel?
Find more information on best practices for:
Also read our guidelines and recommendations for:
Source: United Nations
Emphasize the importance of regular sanitization practices to your team
- Train your staff on how to clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces
- Insist that your staff wear disposable gloves and surgical masks
- Teach your staff to properly air the room after guests have checked-out
- Educate on the importance of washing hands frequently with soap and warm water for at least 20-30 seconds
- Remind them of the necessary precautions they would need to take if they display any symptoms
- Prepare them for scenarios where there are suspected cases of Coronavirus and how to face them
- Re-train staff on the new standards of interacting with guests and delivering their service
Increase communication to inspire confidence
- Share updates with the team regularly to keep them motivated and engaged
- Survey the team to check on how well they are adopting and adapting to the new changes
- With the uncertainty of the future looming ahead, have one on one sessions with staff and create a staffing plan that will help clarify any concerns they might have
- Organize online training for all possible skills that will be needed once the hotel re-opens. Allow for staff in other departments to attend these training sessions so that they can become multi-skilled and more valuable as they can support the hotel in different areas when needed.
Give your staff and guests peace of mind with these added actions
- Place information infographics concerning hand hygiene at key areas
- Ensure easy access to soap and alcohol-based hand sanitizer solutions
- Monitor the condition of air-conditioning filters and the proper functioning of ventilation, air exchange, and dehumidification equipment, as well as maintain the proper replacement rate of indoor air.
- Implement targeted measures to ensure that they maintain physical distancing of at least 1 m.
- Establish the maximum number of people allowed in high traffic areas where customers and staff tend to gather for prolonged periods of time, such as in the restaurant or lobby
- Highlight measures that have been put in place for the safety of guests and hotel staff via the hotel website and in the booking confirmation email
Preparing staff for the New Normal should be a priority as hotels slowly reopen for business.
Provide staff with the right tools
Learning to adopt these new practices can be overwhelming, especially in turbulent times. With the right tools, staff can easily prepare to welcome guests with confidence.
Providing staff with a checklist that helps them follow the necessary steps to take will help the staff make sure that they are doing the correct things without worry about forgetting or inaccurately completing a task. An online task list, like FCS’ Digital Checklists, will not only help to keep track of the daily sanitization procedures that your hotel has implemented, but it can also be customized based on your hotel’s needs.
With FCS Housekeeping, the cleaning of rooms and heavily trafficked public areas, such as the hotel lobby, can be easily assigned and automated. Guests requests and inter-department work orders can also be assigned directly to the respective room attendants and runners via FCS Connect and FCS Engineering, which not only makes hotel operations more efficient and trackable, but it also reduces the need for unnecessary paperwork.
Furthermore, using FCS Solutions to automate tasks will help the team save time and ensure that they do not miss out on completing any assignments while minimizing unnecessary physical contact, which is especially useful during this pandemic. Pre-set escalation rules also help to make sure that all tasks are completed on time, and alert management when the team starts falling behind.
With the right tools, staff can easily prepare to welcome guests with confidence.
The ability to add pictures and voice notes to any task in all our FCS Solutions can help the team communicate issues without any misunderstanding. The messenger feature in all our solutions helps to keep teams connected, making it easier to reach out to team members. Adding e-signature and pictures as a pre-requisite to signal job completion in both FCS Connect & FCS Engineering helps make staff accountable for their work while reducing the need for additional on-site supervision.
Contact our team for more details and/or we’ll be happy to provide a demo of our solutions.
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