CELEBRITY MASTER CHEF DR KAVIRAJ KHIALANI
The word ‘Management’ is not just a strong one & affirmative in nature but it also has a lot of connect with our day-to-day life as well. It becomes important to get clarity on the pros and cons of the word management when it comes to various aspects of our professional career and personal well-being too. To me this word has always held a very special place in my career close to three decades of success & achievements on a global platform and the strive and desire to do more persists every single day!
Management- a term which literally means manage men tactfully as per the theory books, in real life vs reel life, it holds a different perspective for all of us. It is also important to mention here that most people struggle understanding this word with a desire to reach the top of the charts growing and achieving milestones in their ladder towards self-growth and satisfaction.
I remember my early interactions during the starting of my professional career when I approached management stalwarts from the hospitality industry to seek advice, suggestions and guidance and the reply I got was: “Please make it fast- I have only 15 mins to spare” and that gave me a wow feel and reaction to their response also helping me make up my mind to become an academic coach- mentor- guide and public figure with easy connectivity and open door approach towards guidance for the aspiring to be hoteliers and hospitality experts of tomorrow.
The word management also speaks of hierarchy in an organisation too where the lower to higher steps of performance and delivery ladder is created with limitations as well as we move up step by step. What some people also interpret as management is that once I am there at the top, I am free and relieved from duties & responsibilities which is not the real case.
Management starts with having your own self up to date and well arranged- organised & presentable coupled with qualities like self- discipline, punctuality & dedication in whatever we do- have to offer or perform in our day-to-day life. It is important to respect time to a great extent in order to seek respect and good governance in any business or operation. The fact of the matter remains on the awareness of doing things with mindfulness and complete self-control.
Let us relate with a few important traits and qualities linked to the word Management!
M- Mindfulness
A – Awareness
N – Nurturing
A – Artistic
G – Goodness
E – Execution
M- Multi-tasking
E- Evolving
N- Nostalgia
T- Temperament
The above qualities & traits which I have mentioned in relation to the word management come from the quality experience in my professional career which offers a good amount of clarity to the readers of this article on what all needs to be worked on in order to be a management level player in the hospitality business.
While dealing with today’s Gen Z crowd my readings have been a bit different as compared to looking back a few years when things were different and more sorted. Today’s Gen Z looks for quick responses to situations and the patience levels seem to be going for a toss. The temperament levels too are rather on a higher side calling for quick success.
Looking back several episodes of roller- coaster rides I often relate things to be not a very rosy picture or one which only shows the good side and pleasing experiences at all times. There were times when we all felt like to quit- give up on things and take a break, this was because we didn’t know the real meaning of success and persistence. Though today we can see a lot of us doing well in the industry we belong to as we have taken things a little seriously in life and decided to make lesser mistakes & errors in our day-to-day operations.
Here are a few TIPS to enhancing your Management Skills:
1. SPEAK YOUR MIND: It is very important to ensure that we are able to undisturb our inner peace and happiness due to the weird nature of the outside world. Things will not always be our way or highway there will be a wave of change which comes for betterment of our own selves which we must go with the flow.
2. SOFT SKILLS VS HARD SKILLS: the fact of the matter being that skills have levels and the softer ones deal with the body language aspects from eye contact to smile and proper behaviour towards everyone around us at workplace and even in personal space. Hard skills on the other hand would refer to paper work- IT skills and being able to handle a software or so. Being able to do carry out managerial tasks from desk job to field work.
3. MAINTAIN A DIARY & WRITE DOWN THINGS: It may be sounding a little old school of thought on writing a diary but it has really worked in my case over the years. All details of tasks being done- to do list- current tasks to do list and reminder checks and verification of tasks done and updates shared as applicable. The art of writing also will help in the future in the placement interviews on what mistakes we made, where we went wrong and how I can get better on myself and appear the very next time.
4. DO NOT LOOK FOR SHORTCUTS: The generation we are dealing with in today’s times looks for a proper briefing with detailing when it comes to doing things the classic ways vs doing things but in a much lesser time and put out something that may not be acceptable. However, we do have cases where smart work vs hard work popped up as a debate as well, since my records show a different package of KSA – knowledge – skills- ability to carry out my daily tasks.
5. BE OPEN FOR FEEDBACK & IMPROVEMENT: We will always have something to share back as feedback. For example, one of the team members at the front desk is not performing his duties well and is not meeting up the expectations of the hotel, he or she can be called upfront and can be sorting it out by giving a one to one feedback and listing out points for improvements as well, this can also be taken as an energy booster for the team.
6. DO NOT OVER SKILL TO SATISFY: At times we have seen that people in the hospitality business try to mask it up and over do things which are just not acceptable by the operations as well as management. Therefore, it becomes important to ask and take advice from the right people in the team with experience on what to do next type tasks and how to go about doing it right in order to maintain the pace of work and delivery. While some pick up the same very soon and some have to be tamed down on do’s and don’ts checklist in the day-to- day work life in the hospitality industry.
On a concluding note, Management – a term linked to doing the right things at the right time in the right way by the right person in order to help goal settings and achievements in life but also to create an everlasting impression in the eyes of our seniors as well. The final tip on this would be that be grounded, be humble and be a nice person as far as possible in order to maintain that management curve.
Celebrity Master Chef Dr Kaviraj Khialani is the Food & Hospitality Editor of Navjeevan Express, hospitality & education consultant, advisor & expert from the world of culinary and hospitality industry
Industry and academic institutes can invite him for knowledge-sharing
He can be contacted at twitter: @kaviraj_chef, Mobile: 91 9820939336.
