Multitasking skills have become an important tool in today’s work world, especially in the Hospitality Industry. Multitasking entails juggling different work activities and shifting attention from one task to another. People employed in the Hospitality Industry hardly have time to deal with only one task at a time and almost everyone is expected to possess the skill of multitasking in the workplace. Multitasking skills are, generally, considered the deciding factor between leaders and followers. Multitasking skills help Hospitality professionals in managing the time better, getting things done on time and finding some spare time for their own selves.
Here are some tips – especially for beginners – to help hone the much in demand multitasking skills:
• Create a To-Do List
Creating a to-do list perhaps a day in advance helps in organising your activities and list of tasks that need to be completed. It helps you stay alert and remember the important tasks before the looming deadlines set in. Make sure you keep your list somewhere that’s visible to you most of the times.
• Setting Critical, Urgent and Normal Priorities in Place
Success and prioritising often go hand-in-hand. Most successful Hospitality professionals – both managers and staff – know how much time to allocate to which particular task and setting Critical, Urgent and Normal priorities which boosts their work cycle and helps in maintaining a good work-life balance.
• Work on Similar Tasks
One way to easily switch between activities is to choose to work on similar tasks or activities that are related to each other. If these are completely unrelated to each other, then you risk losing focus, damaging your memory and productivity and wasting time. The more similar the tasks are, the easier it will be for you to shift your focus between them.
• Completely Avoid Distractions
If you want to be at your best, you need to avoid any distractions getting in the way of doing things. Interruptions can easily mess with your schedule, and this is why it’s important to perhaps turn off smartphone notifications or execute important tasks first thing in the morning.
• Take A Break to Review
Multitasking can seriously affect your memory. The problem is that effectiveness relies on your memory skills and how much information you can take in. If you have to go over some important documents during a busy day; it’s a good idea to review it with fresh eyes later. This way you have greater chance to spot any mistakes you have done and make sure you understand what it said.
• Delegate Your Tasks
Since we are only human, sometimes we can’t do everything at once and delegating tasks to another person is essential and equally essential is to follow-up on delegated tasks. It gives you enough time to put all of your focus into the most important tasks. Delegating doesn’t mean that you are incapable of carrying out a task. On the contrary, it means that you know your capabilities and boundaries, and you are willing to share the workload and follow-up on delegated tasks is a tool to do that. Delegation also empowers teams and creates a sense of responsibility and confidence in the members besides identifying them for the next level up the ladder.
• Plan Ahead
For better performance, it’s a good idea to start with the most demanding tasks first. Then fill in the gaps with shorter, well-defined or self-contained tasks. Just make sure to allow extra time to work on the activity and make plans on how to resolve other issues that require your attention.
With extreme pressure on time and completing multiple tasks at once, a person is forced to multitask in the Hospitality Industry, in order to save time. Most jobs require managers and employees to balance competing demands for their time and energy, and employers expect the employees especially managers to be able to handle multiple priorities. Hence, we all need to begin polishing our multitasking skills to the finest.
A true Hospitality professional must remember that the key to the success in this industry is ‘Tomorrow’s task today and todays task yesterday’.
Published in the monthly bulletin September 2019 issue of The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI)