Coordination & Work Records

Success is not created by one person but by a team that comes together as one.

− Jillan Farrar, American Singer-Songwriter, Author, Publisher, and Film Producer.

If various departments are seen as organs of the body then the housekeeping department can be seen as a mesh of the nerves that keeps coordination with various organs to achieve its objectives.

No work in the industry is complete without coordination and documentation. The housekeeping department is not an exception either. It needs to coordinate within the department itself and with the other departments in the hotel business for while working on daily basis and completing documentation formalities while working.

Let us see more on housekeeping communication.

Importance of Housekeeping Control Desk

The housekeeping control desk is the hub or a single point of contact for all hotel housekeeping staff. At the control desk, the new information is fetched and it is distributed among the relevant staff.

As the housekeeping work is mainly oriented towards providing the best service to the guests, this department needs to work towards sharing information without any communication gaps. This desk also needs to ensure that the coordination among the housekeeping staff and with all other departments of the hotel goes smooth.

Functions of Housekeeping Control Desk

The hotel housekeeping performs the following functions −

• Collecting all requests made by the guests.

• Briefing the staff about the routine or special event preparation before the staff turns up their sleeves.

• Assigning routine duties / changed duties to the housekeeping staff.

• Collecting work reports from staff.

• Collecting check-out room number and updating it to the floor supervisor.

• Handling key cabinet that contains the keys of all floors’ master keys and housekeeping store keys.

• Maintaining various records of forms and registers.

Coordination of Housekeeping with Other Departments

While working, the housekeeping department needs to coordinate with the following departments −

Housekeeping-Front Office Coordination

• Sharing occupancy information that helps to estimate future occupancy, budget, and required number of staff.

• Cleaning public areas of hotel premises.

• Special attention requirements like VIP guests, corporate or large family groups, or airline crews as occupants.

• Collection of soiled uniforms from and provision of ready uniforms to the front-office staff daily.

Housekeeping-Food and Beverage Coordination

• Forthcoming banquet events and parties.

• Pest control in kitchen.

• Collection of soiled linen and uniforms from the F&B department and provision of ready linen and uniforms to the F&B staff daily.

• Clearance of trays from guest corridors.

• Placement of special guest amenities in guest rooms such as VIP amenities or welcome drink.

Housekeeping-Sales and Marketing Department Coordination

• Supply of promotional brochures, rate cards, or other items such as pen stand in the guest rooms.

• Collection of soiled uniforms from the S&M department and provision of ready uniforms to the S&M staff daily.

Housekeeping-Human Resource Department Coordination

• Acquisition of new staff for the housekeeping department.

• Compensation of housekeeping staff members such as salary, over time, medical treatment, etc.

• Motivation for staff performance by appraisal or reward, induction and training program for new staff.

• Collection of soiled uniforms from the HRD and provision of ready uniforms to the HRD staff daily.

Housekeeping-Security Department Coordination

• Safety of hotel property, and keys.

• Prevention of fire and thefts in the hotel.

• Prevention of any anti-social activities such as any suspicious activities, gambling, or smuggling performed by guests in the guest rooms or hotel premises.

• Collection of soiled uniforms from the HRD and provision of ready uniforms to the HRD staff daily.

Housekeeping-Uniformed Service Department Coordination

• Collection of soiled uniforms from the porters, doormen, drivers, and provision of ready uniforms to them daily.

Housekeeping-Accounts Department Coordination

It takes place regarding −

• The issues related to payments of housekeeping staff.

• Collection of soiled uniforms from the Accounts department and provision of ready uniforms to the accounts staff daily.

Housekeeping-Engineering Department Coordination

• The issues related to erroneous functioning of cleaning and gardening equipment, faulty electric power points, leaning pipes, air-conditioning maintenance, or any other such work.

• Collection of soiled uniforms from the Engineering and Technology staff and provision of ready uniforms to them daily.

Housekeeping-Maintenance Department Coordination

• The repairing and maintenance of broken furniture and fixtures.
• The painting of the required area in the hotel.
• Repairing pipes and electric points in the guest rooms.
• Collection of soiled uniforms from the Maintenance staff and provision of ready uniforms to them daily.

Important Registers Maintained by Housekeeping

The registers are used to record important information. They are very helpful when the shifts and staff on duty changes, and while working too. The registers serve the purpose of keeping clear and timely records thereby fostering good communication. Here are some important registers maintained by housekeeping control desk −

Departure Register

It is kept to track the changes of guest room status such as V, VD, or VC after the guest has checked out. It also tracks the amount of Mini bar beverages consumption in the CO guest rooms.

Expected Arrival Register

It keeps the track of pre-registered guests and their profile as Regular/VIP/Other, Marital status, expected check-in time, and any special request to be fulfilled.

Room Status Register

This register records the list of all rooms and their current status such as V, VC, OOO, OOS, etc.

Guest Call Register

It records the instructions or notes relevant to the guest rooms and adjacent area. It is very useful in keeping the track of activities and their durations.

Guest Loan Register

This register is maintained to record the delivery and recovery of the loan items given to the guests. The general format of this register is as follows −

Missing Article Register

If any article owned by the hotel (other than consumable items) is found missing in a Check-Out room, then it is recorded in this Register.

Guest Supplies Control Register

This register is maintained to record guest supplies. The general format is as shown below −

Damage/Breakage Register

If any hotel property placed in the guest room is found damaged or broken, it is recorded in this Register. Here is a sample register −

Lost/Found Register

If a housekeeping guest room attendant finds any guest-owned article left in the Check-Out room then it is recorded into the Lost/Found Register and sent to the same cell of the housekeeping department. It also records any personal article found in the hotel premises.

Key Register

It is a register for noting down the issued keys of the guest rooms, mater keys of the rooms and important safes, and floor keys.

Linen Control Register

It records the movement of linen between the laundry and the guest rooms or dining area. It makes the housekeeping staff easy to keep the track of clean and soiled laundry.

Checklists and Reports in Housekeeping

There are various housekeeping checklists and reports automatically generated by the hotel management software.

Checklists

Checklists help to ensure all work is done appropriately without anything left to be completed. There are various checklists referred and filled by the housekeeping staff. Some important ones are −

• Guest Supplies Checklist
• Guest Room Cleaning Checklist
• Guest Bathroom Cleaning Checklist
• Beach Area Cleaning Checklist
• Swimming Pool Cleaning Checklist
• Garden Keeping Checklist
• Housekeeping Standard Checklist for SPA
• Housekeeping Standard Checklist for Fitness Center

Reports

The reports are useful to study past records of occupancy, cleaning schedules, and predict the future status of the rooms. Let us see the reports generated for housekeeping department −

Housekeeping Report

This can be generated at the end of each shift to report the housekeeping status of each room.

Housekeeping Assignment Report

It is required for scheduling the room attendants and recording the room inspections.

Housekeeping Occupancy Report

This report shows the list of guests who have checked-in the hotel with details such as number of adults and children, number of nights, and housekeeping status. This report is generated for the occupied rooms, rooms expected to be occupied, checked-out rooms, and vacant or blocked rooms. This report is generated for scheduling rooms for cleaning.