The past 13 weeks of CPD lessons have equipped us with interpersonal skills that will definitely be of much help in the future to hone our communication skills. The countless concepts that we have learnt can be applied in our everyday lives and I believe that this will be a great asset to take along where ever we go.
The greatest takeaways from this module for me would be learning of the various interpersonal communication problems that my classmates have experienced before. The hospitality industry is a rather demanding line where clear and proper communication is required in order to avoid misunderstandings. The situations faced by my classmates and their sharing on how they managed to overcome them gave me a broader and different perspective to situations. This has helped prepare me for similar encounters should I face them during the course of my Integrated Work Study Programme (IWSP), or when I head out to work in the future.
Another takeaway would be having the opportunity to work on an interpersonal communication problem commonly faced in the hospitality industry with my team mates. The topic that my group worked on was "How to win back an angry guest". This topic is very relevant not only in hotels, but in every service line. We explored an area which is often neglected (back-of-house), in particular, the housekeeping department where less focus is placed on the housekeepers to handle guests complaints and the appropriate actions that should be taken thereafter. The need for further studying on this topic was highlighted when it was found that it is five times more expensive to attract a new guest than to retain one. As future managers in this industry, these figures can be very daunting and as such, we have to be equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge beforehand in order to execute them well.
I was glad that we were able to share out findings with the rest of the class. At the same time, I managed to get valuable feedback from Brad on my presentation skills.
To end off, this module has indeed helped us in our communication (verbal and non-verbal) skills which will be of great help in my future career. Thank you Brad for making Friday afternoons enjoyable!
