Opening hotels is like boiling eggs; there's a process!
Invariably, I will start the onboarding of new hotel owners by using a metaphor: “Opening hotels is like boiling eggs…” Wikipedia defines boiled eggs as “(typically) chicken eggs cooked by immersion in boiling water with their shells unbroken.” It takes 10 minutes for a hard-boiled egg to solidify. And there is a process to be followed: 1. Place eggs in pan filled with cold water, 2. add pinch of salt, 3. place on stove, 4. switch on fire, 5. place cover on pan (helps save energy), 6. Set alarm for 10 minutes, 7. When alarm rings, remove eggs from boiling water, and 8. Submerge them in cold water.
Time and again owners will tell me: “You don’t know [country]. I am connected; I have a lot of money, so I can do it faster…” Of course you can boil an egg for three minutes only, and it is still an egg, but it gets messy when you peel it.
Tasks are dependent on other tasks, and there are physical and technical limitations in any project. For instance, in new-build real estate projects, concrete requires a minimum curing period to attain compressive strength, before the next activity can start. The foundation must be cured before walls can be erected.
In project management, this is called “mandatory dependency” or ‘“hard logic.” PMI’s Project Management Body of Knowledge defines “mandatory dependency” as “a relationship that is contractually required or inherent in the nature of the work.”
A typical example of a sequence of activities where hard logic applies is: completion of construction, hand-over of the building from main contractor to owning company, application for operating licenses, and opening of the new hotel asset for paying guests. Delays frequently occur, and “licenses” is often cited as the cause for delaying the opening.
Of course this is only an immediate cause. A post-project review is likely to reveal that the interdependencies between activities across different phases were poorly managed, and prerequisites for commencing the operating licenses process were not (well) communicated. In other words, nobody informed the main contractor that all construction work must be completed no later than X weeks prior to the opening date, to allow for inspection by the certifying government bodies.
The moral of this blog is that hotel openings are process-driven and any shortcuts or changes to the process will increase the likelihood of an un-solidified mess.
Happy hotel openings!
Gert Noordzy, founder and managing director, Northside Consulting, Macau S.A.R
This article was originally posted on hotelsmag.com
|
|
|
|
