Chapter 5: Essential Skills in the Hospitality Management Classroom

The Effective Leadership and Management course in the Hotel and Restaurant two year diploma program at Humber College is taught to first semester students. Professor Paul McCabe incorporates several Essential Skills into the Leaderhip course.

The leadership course is designed to engage the student in different forms of learning. Classes incorporate lecture, lecturette, small and large group discussion, experiential activities and workplace application. The course content uses an experiential learning model. The students first experience something about the topic, usually through an activity or small lecturette or video or power point presentation. The students are then asked to reflect on what they have done or seen. Basically, this is a “how do you feel” question. This reflection can start small group discussion. Students are then asked to discuss the components of what they have experienced. In small or large groups, the students can discuss the key points of the experience. Perhaps they would develop a do’s and don’ts list, a time frame to accomplish a task effectively, a recipe for success, etc.

Finally, in order to complete this model, the students are either asked to apply what they have learned in the workplace and report back their findings or discuss how their findings could be incorporated into the work environment. This application component is extremely important for the student to make the connection between theory and practical applicatio

The importance of these skills in the Hospitality industry is crucial to the success of the student. The Hospitality industry tells the college they are looking for graduates that possess the ability to make independent as well as group decisions. Sometimes these decisions must be made “on the fly” and the outcome will have a direct effect on the guest.

The Hospitality industry requires graduates to be able to work and survive in group and team environments. So many activities and decisions are affected by the abilities to work with others.

The course assists students to develop concrete, usable management skills. It provides a focus on essential management concepts and how to apply these principles in a rapidly changing environment. The course focuses on practical leadership skills. The essential skills that are taught are problem solving/decision making. This skill set is further developed by placing the students into an environment in which they will work with others in order to successfully complete an assigned task. The last skill that this teaching exercise will examine is task planning/organizing. How are these skills highlighted in the curriculum?

The specific classroom exercise was developed to meet both the needs of industry and the experiential learning cycle.

The exercise is called the Egg Drop. Over the years, I have seen different variations of the exercise in many training books and in auditing many other corporate trainers.

This exercise instructs a team of students to drop an egg from a six foot ladder. The winning team is the one with an unbroken egg. I know this sounds impossible, but I also supply each team with a number of tools to aid them in their quest.

Supplies include:

3 Q-Tips

1 pen with spring

1 arms length of string (my arm)

6” of masking tape

4” X 4” piece of cloth

2 rubber bands

3 plastic straws

3 cotton balls

Each team has 10 minutes to plan how they will achieve this task and then 20 minutes for construction/building etc. The students are informed that no practicing is allowed and that the team is only given 1 egg.

As this is the experiential portion of the lesson, I basically stand back and observe the dynamics of the various groups. Most groups immediately start to build their egg nests, parachutes etc., without setting an objective or any group discussion. After about 15 minutes, I start to add time pressures, telling the students they must be done by the deadline provided. Later in the discussion, I refer to time constraints in the workplace.

At the end of the 30 minutes, all work stops and we proceed to drop the eggs. (make sure you have a garbage bag on the floor, eggs will break)

Most students try to wrap the egg, build a landing base or a parachute. Occasionally, a group is successful. The most important aspect of the exercise is the process.

After a brief discussion on how people felt during the exercise, the students are asked to rate their decision making skills in a team environment with the decision making model provided to them in class. Students develop areas to improve upon and develop tips for decision making in the workplace.

I find that the majority of students like these type of activities. The instructor also has to enjoy this style of learning or it won’t work in the class. There is a great deal of laughter, team competitiveness and some “Ha ha’s” for students. Many learn to be inclusive of the thoughts and ideas of all team members; they learn that sometimes they should step back and reflect on the project. Some students find it frustrating not to be heard in the group. These points come out in the reflection phase of the cycle.

Student are then asked to discuss how the decision making model can be used in the workplace. Do you have any suggestions for improvement? They are asked to speak with management in the workplace about decision making. It is extremely important that the student transfer the learning to real life situations.

I have done this exercise many times both in the corporate world and in college. The participants tell me they enjoy the hands on experience and the opportunity to discuss and apply the learning to real life situations.

Occasionally, there is a group that looks at this exercise a bit differently. They use all the materials to build one long string. They then attach the string to the egg. The egg is then dropped about a foot out of the student’s hand. It is then slowly lowered to the ground. Most see the egg drop as letting the egg fall by itself for 6 feet. A few challenge the definition of “drop” and I recognize them for challenging the norm.

These types of activities and the teaching of essential skills prepare the student for a career in Hospitality. The Hospitality industries look for employees that are able to work effectively with others in a team environment, be creative and quick in making decisions that will enhance the guest experience.