From Unnecessary Escalation to Direct Communication
In hotels, internal conflicts often escalate unnecessarily, creating miscommunication that drains team culture and slows service. Drawing on Lean Hospitality principles, the key is to make problems visible, resolve them at the right level and train teams in direct communication. What was once hidden can become an opportunity for improvement and competitive advantage.
In hospitality, speed is everything. Speed in responding to a guest, resolving an issue, coordinating an event or handling an unforeseen situation in the middle of peak season. However, there is something that can slow down any hotel operation, no matter how efficient we may be: the unnecessary escalation of internal conflicts..
I have seen how, in many hotels, when two people disagree, instead of discussing it directly, they turn to their immediate manager, who then turns to theirs, and so on until the issue reaches senior management. What could have been resolved over a ten-minute coffee between colleagues ends up becoming a three-hour meeting with half a dozen middle managers in attendance. The result: frustration, wasted time and, most seriously, a silent erosion of trust between teams.
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