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In this submission, I would like to share about an interpersonal communication problem that I experienced during my internship in front office department.

As a guest service agent, my job duties include picking up phone calls and responding to guests’ request. On this fateful day, the phone rang just when I had ended my shift and was about to leave the office. Seeing no one else in the office, I decided to pick up the call. Little did I expect, it was a guest who called in to complain about his room not having his intended view. He was planning an anniversary surprise and was hoping to have a harbor view from his room. As the hotel was running full occupancy on that day, it was difficult to have any possible switch on the same category of rooms.

During the call, I tried to explain the situation of high occupancy to the guest and told him that I will try my very best to assist him.The guest began to raise his voice on the phone about him being a loyalty member and hang up the call. To cut the whole story short, I was back on morning shift next day. While manning the check-out counter, I met the same guest and he expressed his disappointment on his stay here. He mentioned about having a phone conversation with some rude staff and little did he know, the rude staff was actually me. I admitted that it was my mistake and kept apologizing to him.

When reflecting back on this incident, I understand how crucial communication is. This is especially more applicable in the case of the hotel industry, where it is essential for guests to be satisfied with their stay. However, there are bound to be some unhappy guests despite us, as service personnel trying our best. Even up till today, I felt that it was partially my fault for not following up the phone call before leaving.

Should I have spoken up at that point of time? What could I have done things differently to avoid such situation?

Based on the advice given by Amirul, Russell and Hui Ting, I felt that I could have handled the situation much better. Firstly, like how Russell and Hui Ting had commented, I should have forward the request to the duty manager. They might have a better idea on handling the situation at that point of time. This will also give the guest an assurance that the staffs are doing something with regards to his requests.

Secondly, applying the theories learned from Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, I should have used the collaborating mode. It is mentioned collaborative mode is appropriate to use when improving relationships which in this case is to ensure that the guest is satisfied with their stay.  It will be better for me to identify his concerns and practice active listening, instead of constant apologizing which may deem unhelpful by the guest.

Thank you for reading my submission!

(Revised on 03 Mar 2017)