Develop productive working relationships with colleagues Legacy

This standard is about developing working relationships with colleagues, within your own organisation and within other organisations, that are productive in terms of supporting and delivering your work and that of the overall organisation. This standard is for hospitality team leaders, first line managers or supervisors.

Giving great hospitality is so often a true team effort. Customers often leave without realising just how many different people have played a part in providing them with such a fantastic experience.

It's all down to how we work together. That's why it's so important to build really strong and productive relationships with our colleagues. Anyone you work with, wherever they are in the organisation, are your colleagues. They may be in your own team or somewhere else in the organisation. They may be at a similar or different level to you or have different responsibilities, such as your line manager.

Respecting, valuing and supporting colleagues is invaluable in building a great team able to deliver a perfect customer experience.

When you have completed this standard you will be able to demonstrate your understanding of and your ability to:

• Develop productive working relationships with colleagues

1. Establish working relationships with all colleagues who are relevant to the work being carried out
2. Recognise, agree and respect the roles and responsibilities of colleagues and, particularly in situations of matrix management, their managers' requirements
3. Establish and take account of the priorities, expectations and authority of colleagues in decisions and actions
4. Create an environment of trust and mutual respect where you have no authority, or shared authority, over those you are working with
5. View difficult situations and issues from your colleague's perspective and provide support, where necessary, to move things forward
6. Fulfil agreements made with colleagues and let them know once fulfilled
7. Advise colleagues promptly of any difficulties or where it will be impossible to fulfil agreements
8. Identify and sort out conflicts of interest and disagreements with colleagues in ways that minimise damage to the work being carried out
9. Exchange information and resources with colleagues to make sure that all parties can work effectively
10. Provide feedback to colleagues on their performance and seek feedback from colleagues on your own performance in order to identify areas for improvement​

General knowledge and understanding

1. The benefits of developing productive working relationships with colleagues

2. The importance of creating an environment of trust and mutual respect where you have no authority, or shared authority, over those you are working with
3. The importance of understanding difficult situations and issues from your colleague's perspective and providing support, where necessary, to move things forward
4. Principles of effective communication and how to apply them in order to communicate effectively with colleagues
5. How to identify disagreements with colleagues and the techniques for sorting them out
6. How to identify conflicts of interest with colleagues and the measures that can be used to manage or remove them
7. How to take account of diversity and inclusion issues when developing working relationships with colleagues
8. The importance of exchanging information and resources with

colleagues

9. How to obtain and make use of feedback on your performance from colleagues
10. How to provide colleagues with useful feedback on their performance

Industry / sector specific knowledge and understanding
11. Regulations and codes of practice that apply in the industry or sector 
12. Standards of behaviour and performance in the industry or sector 
13. Working culture of the industry or sector
 
Context specific knowledge and understanding

14. Current and future work being carried out
15. Colleagues who are relevant to the work being carried out, their work roles and responsibilities
16. Processes within the organisation for making decisions
17. Line management responsibilities and relationships within the organisation
18. The organisation's values and culture
19. Power, influence and politics within the organisation
20. Standards of behaviour and performance expected in the organisation
21. Information and resources that different colleagues might need
22. Agreements with colleagues​

The following behaviours are provided as guidance to underpin effective performance of a hospitality supervisor​

1. You present information clearly, concisely, accurately and in ways that promote understanding
2. You seek to understand people's needs and motivations
3. You make time available to support others
4. You clearly agree what is expected of others and hold them to account
5. You work to develop an atmosphere of professionalism and mutual support
6. You model behaviour that shows respect, helpfulness and co-operation
7. You keep promises and honour commitments
8. You consider the impact of your own actions on others
9. You say no to unreasonable requests
10. You show respect for the views and actions of others

​This standard is linked to all other standards in the Hospitality Supervision and Leadership suite of standards​.