Which one are you, strategist or tactician? Or, do you even know the difference? It's subtle, but very important to remember.
Strategists are the big picture idea generators and recommenders of this world. They are the ones who get the prestige for coming up the winning concept that reaped a heavy payload down the road. Oftentimes a single thought or suggestion can save a whole company or launch it into an entirely new marketplace. Strategic planners, consultants and corporate advisors all fit this role for the purpose of helping an organization find that ‘next big thing' to propel it forward.
But, while strategists can banter to no end in abstract terms about an operation, there comes a time when you have to execute. And this requires logistics and a stalwart tactician to coordinate this grand movement. As Einstein cleverly pointed out, "Innovation is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration." Tacticians are the 99%, and they deserve far more attention and praise than they are currently getting. Another saying by Thomas A. Edison is also appropriate here, "Vision without execution is mere hallucination."
I ask you: which of these two designations do you think is more important? For the hotel world, I'd argue that, even though a strategy can make or break a business, so much is resting on the tactics and execution that this is where the real battle lies. After all, the hospitality industry has no shortage of fresh and fascinating ideas. Some are simple, others are costly, but all of them require pounds of sweat to get off the ground.
Take guest service and social media for example. I am no stranger to conversing these topics in abstract terms, guilty as charged. But there comes a time when a manager actually has to orchestrate and monitor the day-to-day progression of any discussed concepts. Every hotelier knows that it's important to talk to guests with attentiveness and profuse enthusiasm, but who will be the one to oversee training, on the job inspections and reprimands? When it comes to social media, we all know that we should be posting interesting and insightful content to our networks, but what exactly is this content going to be? Moreover, who specifically is going to take the photos/videos essential for frequent social engagement and respond to any follow-up?
Hence, I reiterate that, given the variety and complexity of tasks necessary to keep a property running smoothly, the implementation and execution of strategic ideas is what really separates the bears from the cubs. Actions speak louder than words after all. To disregard broad concepts for a minute, here are four suggestions to help make you a better tactician:
1. No immediate course corrections
You spend months if not years developing a plan to hopefully improve your business. Once you've decided what you will do, proceed to do just that, but don't reevaluate that plan until a few weeks or months from the start date. All good idea implementation processes require time. As a manager, if you don't have faith that it will work, then who will? Part of any part should also include preset periodic reevaluation markers for sometime well into the future – stick to those and don't deviate.
2. Hit the ground running
Once you get the green light to execute, don't just run but blast out of the starting gate. By ‘blast', I mean grueling 8:30am to 9pm days, six or seven days a week, for the first week or two. That way, if there are any glaring problems with the plan, they will be apparent sooner rather than later, thus affording you the maximal amount of time to solve the issues before it's too late.
3. Role clarification
Nothing can hamper logistics more than job overlap and too many meetings with too many people, which are extremely counterproductive. Instead, have one meeting at the start to divide and specify the role of each manager and team member down to daily, weekly and monthly tasks. The more you can clarify a person's job details and goals, the more they can focus on performing to the best of their abilities.
4. Small teams
One of the reasons why there are too many meetings in organizations is because it's deemed important that everyone is kept up-to-date on the latest progress and involved in the decision-making process. As it turns, people don't need to be ‘in the know' nearly as much as we are led to believe. In fact, when it comes down to the nitty-gritty of a specific task, less information is often more and isolated, independent work is far more effective than group work. By breaking a large team into smaller, more functional squads or pods, each individual member will have fewer lines of communication to maintain and thus they can better focus on the work at hand.
Larry Mogelonsky (larry@lma.net) is the president and founder of LMA Communications Inc. (www.lma.ca), an award-winning, full service communications agency focused on the hospitality industry (est. 1991). Larry is also the developer of Inn at a Glance hospitality software. As a recognized expert in marketing services, his experience encompasses Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts and Preferred Hotels & Resorts, as well as numerous independent properties throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Larry is a registered professional engineer, and received his MBA from McMaster University. He's also an associate of G7 Hospitality, a member of Cayuga Hospitality Advisors and Laguna Strategic Advisors. Larry's latest anthology book entitled "Llamas Rule" and his first book "Are You an Ostrich or a Llama?" are available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
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