It has struck me that as hoteliers , business owners and consultants alike, we are all a  little uncertain as we go into 2023. I am reminded, as I write this note of all the webinars and podcasts I attended and listened to during the pandemic and how all the experts predicted that we would transition from a pandemic environment to a new normal during 2023 and 2024. Now that we have found ourselves on the doorstep of change we are living that forecast and so think it might be helpful if  we take time to understand what this means for our working environment, our teams and our broader sector.

The dictionary definition of transition means “the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another “. We know that change is a challenge for all of us   . There are many macro items such as inflation, labour shortages , climate action, a global energy crisis and a skills deficit causing our environment to be in flux.

The challenge is clear, how can we re-imagine hospitality and continue to deliver a strong service offering with a long-term forecast of a deficit of talent and skilled people in our industry ?

What can be our enabler? What can close the gap between our service delivery and rising guest expectation?

Your tech stack if designed, procured and implemented correctly offers you the ability to stabilise your working process’s, while at the same time allowing you to build resilience in your business and develops your teams capability and strengths to deliver an optimum service experience.

As you embrace this inevitable change or transitional process some questions you might ask yourself to get started are below:

• Have you the right tech stack in place?
• What elements of your technology can work to close the service delivery/ guest expectation gap?
• How can you use technology to set your team up for success?
• Do you need to restructure your team to play to their strengths?
• What is your plan to develop your team’s technical ability to drive change?

If you would like to chat with me on this please email me at ocremins@theinnovateroom.ie