This document discusses effective teamwork and communication in the workplace. It addresses resolving customer complaints, referring issues to appropriate team members, and handling escalated complaints professionally. It also covers recognizing cultural differences among coworkers and customers, and strategies for meeting varying global expectations. The importance of prioritizing tasks, providing and accepting assistance and feedback from others, and resolving problems through respectful discussion are emphasized. Maintaining a cooperative and respectful attitude is key to resolving conflicts and satisfying customers from diverse backgrounds.

1. Work effectively with
customers and
colleagues
DEDY WIJAYANTO

2. Organisational policies
These policies, when handling complaints, may address issues such
as:
● Who should deal with complaints at different levels
● When management should be involved
● The limits of scopes of authority
● Situations under which the property will not try to resolve a conflict
● Documentation that needs to be completed to record the
complaint
● Training that staff should receive to resolve issues.

3. Resolving complaints
The following are keys to successfully resolving customer
dissatisfaction:
Listening to the issue
Offering a solution
Agreeing on a solution
Taking action
Checking with the customer
Changing any necessary standard operating procedures.

4. At times, you may need to refer a complaint to another
person.
You might simply be unable to do, or authorise, whatever
it is that is required to resolve the complaint.

5. Referring complaints
At times, you may need to refer a complaint to another person.
You might simply be unable to do, or authorise, whatever it is that
is required to resolve the complaint.

6. Referring complaints
An escalated complaint
When a customer:
Becomes agitated
Is swearing, making threats or drawing substantial attention
Is alleging impropriety, dishonesty or other fraudulent activity on behalf
of a staff member
States they intend taking legal action
Intends referring the complaint to the authorities or media.

7. Positive and cooperative manner
When responding to conflicts and customer complaints,
regardless of what is happening and how stressful the
situation is, you must remain:
● Professional
● Positive
● Cooperative.

8. WORKSHOPEVOLUTION
Positive and cooperative
manner
A positive and cooperative manner can help to:
Smooth over a potentially problematic situation
Demonstrate your willingness to resolve the issue
Create an initial friendly atmosphere
Maintain positive customer relations.

9. Non-discriminatory attitudes and
language
All staff must be aware of the differences that exist between all
stakeholders of the organisation.
A hospitality business is truly ‘international’ and has many ‘differences’:
Backgrounds
Beliefs
Religions
Cultures
Countries.

10. Expectations of overseas
customers
Customers from other countries and cultures could have
differing views in terms of:
● Customer expectations
● Levels of formality and informality
● Appropriate non-verbal behaviour
● Communicating sincerity
● Dress and appearance.

11. A girl’s relax

12. Strategies to meet ‘global
expectations’
Culturally-based communication differences
Politeness and respect
Be formal and direct
Using the guests’ correct names and titles, pronounced
correctly.

13. Strategies to meet ‘global expectations’
Establishment organisation
Bilingual staff
Documents in different languages
Supplying food and beverages found in their home countries
Providing news, newspapers and magazines
Having homeland music available
Selection of staff from different cultural backgrounds.

14. Strategies to meet ‘global expectations’
Establishment organisation
Bilingual staff
Documents in different languages
Supplying food and beverages found in their home countries
Providing news, newspapers and magazines
Having homeland music available
Selection of staff from different cultural backgrounds.

15. Language difficulties
● Speak clearly
● Speak at normal volume
● Avoid idiomatic language
● Give the guest your full attention.

16. January
February April
March May
Non-verbal communication and messages
Body language
Gestures
Eye contact
Smiling.
Non-verbal communication means different things in different
cultures.

17. RECOMMENDATIONS
Stress
Stress occurs in both customers and in staff who are serving
them.
What stresses do visitors have?
What stress do staff members have?
How can you reduce these stresses?

18. PRACTICALEXERCISE
Element 3:
Work in a team

19. CREDITS: This presentation template was created by
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Communicate effectively
Performance Criteria for this Element are:
Request or provide assistance so that work activities can be
completed
Provide support to colleagues to ensure achievement of team
goals
Discuss and resolve problems through agreed and/or accepted
processes.

20. Communicate effectively
Performance Criteria for this Element are:
● Recognise and accommodate cultural differences
within the team
● Identify, prioritise and complete individual tasks
within designated time lines
● Acknowledge and respond to feedback and
information from other team members.

22. Happyemployee

23. Teamwork
Teamwork is classified as the collective actions towards a number of
people towards a collective goal.
In a hospitality or tourism organisation, no one person can meet the
needs of all customers.
It requires the collective efforts of many people to achieve success.

24. Whilst each business will have a range of goals, in
essence the primary goal is to:
● Provide an enjoyable experience for customers
● For a reasonable return on investment
● In a safe and lawful manner.

25. Team
A team is often characterised through:
● Having a common goal
● Working interdependently
● Independent job functions
● Enjoyment working
● Accountability
● Empowerment
● Understanding the importance of teams.

26. Assistance from others
Not everyone can do everything!
On many occasions we need the assistance of others because:
● We don’t know how to do it
● We don’t have the time
● Others are better equipped to do it
● We need more than one person to do it.

27. Assistance from others
Who can you ask for assistance?
The people you may ask to assist can vary, but will
commonly include:
● Others from your team
● People from other, but related, departments
● Managers and supervisors.

28. Providing assistance to others
In the same way that you may need help from others,
you must be similarly prepared to render assistance to
others when it is called for.
● What assistance can you provide?

29. Why provide assistance?
The intent of helping team members is:
To ensure that team goals are achieved
To deliver excellent service to customers
To prove your commitment to the team
To encourage team members to help you when you need
assistance.

30. Providing support to others
What is the difference between providing ‘assistance’
and ‘support’?

31. Support and assistance is quite similar and often the two
are interlinked.
Simply, where assistance may require you to undertake
some activities on their behalf, support may involve:
Providing guidance
Offering encouragement
Making recommendations or suggestions
for improvement.

32. Support, trust and respect
Never participating in gossip or talking negatively
Not spending time with customers who want to criticise work
mates
Not blaming any work mates
Not taking the credit for what another staff member has done
Supporting decisions that colleagues have made
Treating co-workers in keeping with any cultural individualities
that apply to them.

33. The key is to remain detached, stay professional and let
your actions speak for themselves:
Trust the people that merit your trust
Support those who warrant your support
Respect those who deserve your respect.

34. Discuss and resolve problems
It doesn’t matter how well thought out and prepared you
are, at times problems will arise in a hospitality and tourism
business which require your team to work together to find a
suitable solution.

35. Discuss and resolve problems
Many of the problems that occur are out of your control and
may result from:
Weather
Flight delays
Lack of supplies
Electricity problems
Emergency.

36. Every organisation will have policies and procedures for
handling unexpected problems.
Where none exist, as a staff member you should:
Use common sense
Don’t panic
If a solution is clear, put this into place
If no solution is clear, seek the assistance
from the necessary colleagues
Notify management and other
staff members.

37. Cultural differences in teams
The hospitality and tourism industries boast staff from a
variety of backgrounds.
This often means you will be working with people from
different cultures.
This means you will need to recognise and accommodate
relevant cultural differences.

38. Cultural misunderstandings
Common reasons for cross-cultural misunderstandings:
Promotions and authority issues
Rostering
Interrelations between staff and sections
Interpersonal relations
Traditional nationality-based hostilities.

40. Addressing cultural misunderstandings
Action should focus on:
Providing additional information
Active listening
Acting as a mediator
Team building
Questioning
Observing body language
Seeking advice or assistance.

41. Addressing cultural misunderstandings
Creating a climate of tolerance
Implementing team building exercises
Providing training and education
Providing mediation and counseling.

42. Benefits from creating and maintaining a harmonious
multicultural working environment include:
Compliance with Equal Opportunity requirements
Improved levels of goodwill and tolerance
A happier workplace culture
Continuing jobs, profit and growth
Increased return rate of customers
Reduced likelihood of industrial disputes.

43. Prioritise work activities
Prioritising your tasks means that you will have to determine
which tasks are the:
Most important and should be done first
Which ones can be left until later.

44. Completing work activities
Work quickly
Practice being interrupted
Practice tact and diplomacy
Take a minute to plan and prioritise
Ask for help where required.

45. Feedback from team
From time to time your colleagues will provide you with
feedback and information. For them not to do this would
mean they are not doing their job.
This feedback and information can be:
Positive
Negative
Neutral.

46. Positive feedback can involve team members passing on a
comment they have heard about your excellent service.
You should take a second or so to rejoice in such feedback
Accept it and enjoy it because you’ve earned it
Never simply dismiss it or brush it off
Never say something like “Oh, it was nothing”,
or ‘Just doing my job’.
Thank the person.

47. Take the negative feedback in the right way:
See it as an opportunity to improve
Don’t dwell on the negative message
Don’t shoot the messenger!
The keys are to:
Listen to the criticism
Determine objectively if there is truth in it
Work out how to rectify things.

48. Neutral information can occur when staff members deliver
updates or new information about what’s happening
The result of this information is usually that you will need to
factor it into your work and the priorities you have already
set.

49. See you
deddywijayanto@stptrisakti.ac.id