There’s something that can be said about the way people start their day, particularly successful people. We can learn a lot from their routines. I tweeted to talented hospitality professionals, across group marketing, sales, and operations, and asked them to share their morning routines.
It turns out, there isn’t one single routine that fits everyone’s style. However, most successful hotel professionals have a morning routine that involves forward-thinking and collaboration. Their mornings are the opposite of walking straight into a cubicle to start the day.
How the best hospitality professionals stay productive:
1. Paul Sistare, Atlantica Hotels International Chief Executive Officer and President
"My day starts around 6 am where I roll over and grab my iPad. I read my emails that came in over the night, answer them and then proceed to read the national and international news. Our company depends on the international traveler so it is important for me to have a grasp of what is going on around the world rather just in São Paulo (read about Paul’s day as CEO vs. GM)."
Increase productivity with these best practices
2. Diana Plazas, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotels Worldwide Director of Global Brand Marketing
"My days start with email and a Starbucks latte. Some days there is a Wello workout. And I'm a morning person, so the earlier the better to get caught up with APAC and EMEA."
3. Michael Tan, The George - A Kimpton Hotel Sales and Service Manager
"I actually start my day by turning up the music on my iPad and dancing around my apartment. Very weird but it always… puts me in a good mood and great state of mind."
4. Lorna Kirwan, The Embassy Row Hotel Director of Sales and Marketing
Her day starts at 5 AM when the alarm goes off. Every morning (even in the rain), Lorna relaxes on her porch and enjoys a cup of English tea. After relaxing, she participates in exercise of some sort - either riding her bike around Capitol Hill or Pilates. All of this happens before 7:30 AM, then she heads into the office and has a stand-up meeting with the sales team to discuss the day's activities.
5. Lindsey Rosenthal, Events for Good Founder
"I’m not a hotel professional anymore, but I start my day with Twitter to find out what’s going on in the world."
6. Shawn Jervis, The Embassy Row Hotel General Manager
Shawn starts his by walking his two dogs for thirty minutes around his neighborhood. Then he rides his bike to work in Dupont Circle and begins making rounds to each department. A line-up meeting begins at 9 AM with all department heads to discuss the day, recent reviews, BEOs, and other agenda items.
7. Jenna Joseph, Homewood Suites North Charleston Airport/Convention Center Sales Manager
"I start my morning by eating breakfast and then preparing for “The Huddle.” Everyone gathers to review what’s going on in the hotel, print reports and read the Charleston Business Journal."
8. David Child, The Renaissance Dupont Circle General Manager
David always have such busy mornings starting at 6am. He never misses having a cup of English breakfast tea, and bowl of cereal while looking over emails from the night before. After sifting through emails he takes 15 minutes to stretch and get the blood pumping. Then, he walks Stig, his 150 pound mastiff puppy. When arriving at the hotel he looks to see what events are going on, groups leaving, arriving and what the occupancy is, and then he’s off to check in with all the departments in the hotel and do a walk through to ensure the hotel is ready for the day.
All of these successful hotel professionals have morning rituals to help them to perform at their peak and improve their results.
Here are ways to improve your productivity as a hospitality professional:
Here's a new morning routine that results in increased productivity, including increasing group business, a better operations team, and happier guests. Tips for creating a successful morning routine begin with ‘yesterday.’ Adjust your evening routine to prepare for a productive start to the next day. Consider these tips to form a better morning routine:
- Create tomorrow’s to-do list each night before leaving the office
- Leave the office at a decent hour; recent research proves that to work better, work less.
- Plan a better morning routine by calculating hours of sleep needed and accounting for your most creative time frame, exercise, breakfast, relaxing, getting ready and making the bed.
- Make mornings easier for you by preparing meals and laying out clothes.
- Don’t stress if you can’t do everything. Seriously.
Cvent operations solutions to help you grow group business
Up next, get ideas for filling rooms during slow periods, or see how to have more mindful meetings.
Written by Sarah Vining.
