Permanent Beta as a Hotel Management Philosophy
Albert BarraMarch 22, 2019 · 3 min read
The expression “perpetual beta” is a classic in 2.0 terminology. The term refers to a state in which constant transformation and evolution are inherent and part of its very nature.
Above all, it entails an awareness of dissatisfaction, continuous improvement, and the rejection of static states and definitive goals.
I believe that, in hospitality, it is essential to view perpetual beta not so much as a management approach, but as the foundation of management. Perpetual beta must be one of the principles upon which all corporate policy is built; it must be a fundamental part of company culture.
We all know that tourism products are highly distinctive: they exist only when there is an interaction between the employee and the guest; everything else is merely the setting, or, if you like, the conditions for that product-service.
By nature, tourism service is unstable: no two are ever alike, since they depend on the nature of the people who create them at the moment of truth. It is true that there is a tendency to document a number of more or less basic processes in manuals, in order to provide employees with a degree of certainty and ensure consistency in service. But, aside from questioning whether this is necessary, it does not change the fact that we depend on unexpected elements to manage the service.
A hotel is an unstable organisation, where even quality now depends more on the decisions guests make than on ourselves. Tourism is an industry built on disloyalty, on changing destinations, and even on travellers’ own desire to change their lives for a few days.
If this is the case, why not manage change properly? Why not introduce beta into our management strategies?
We operate in an open-business environment, and it is essential to foster fluid dialogue (flow, change), a networked organisation (dynamic), the use of the social web (in perpetual beta), and shared use of information (which flows and evolves within the organisation). The tourism business is exceptionally well suited to applying these strategies.
In an environment where freedom must be one of the pillars of management, change must be integrated into the organisation’s structure—not change understood as logical evolution over time, but change that also makes room for revolution, where error and failure are management tools that encourage improvement and ongoing change.
Change as constant adaptation, as the absence of perfection, as a flow deliberately embraced by the company. There is no better place for it than the hotel industry.
We all know that tourism products are highly distinctive: they exist only when there is an interaction between the employee and the guest; everything else is merely the setting, or, if you like, the conditions for that product-service.
By nature, tourism service is unstable: no two are ever alike, since they depend on the nature of the people who create them at the moment of truth. It is true that there is a tendency to document a number of more or less basic processes in manuals, in order to provide employees with a degree of certainty and ensure consistency in service. But, aside from questioning whether this is necessary, it does not change the fact that we depend on unexpected elements to manage the service.
A hotel is an unstable organisation, where even quality now depends more on the decisions guests make than on ourselves. Tourism is an industry built on disloyalty, on changing destinations, and even on travellers’ own desire to change their lives for a few days.
If this is the case, why not manage change properly? Why not introduce beta into our management strategies?
We operate in an open-business environment, and it is essential to foster fluid dialogue (flow, change), a networked organisation (dynamic), the use of the social web (in perpetual beta), and shared use of information (which flows and evolves within the organisation). The tourism business is exceptionally well suited to applying these strategies.
In an environment where freedom must be one of the pillars of management, change must be integrated into the organisation’s structure—not change understood as logical evolution over time, but change that also makes room for revolution, where error and failure are management tools that encourage improvement and ongoing change.
Change as constant adaptation, as the absence of perfection, as a flow deliberately embraced by the company. There is no better place for it than the hotel industry.