Faculty Guide

To be ready before training:

A white Board & Marker
One Copy of Big Tip Story
One copy each for trainee of Big Tip questions
One Copy of Your attention Please announcements
One slip of Your attention Please for each trainee
One Question paper of your attention please for each trainee
Copy of part I & Part II of Mr.Guptas dilemma (one copy for every
two trainee)

Session Flow with Timeline

Session Topic Time

Session Objectives & Introduction 10

Listening the forgotten Skill- The Big Tip 10

Your attention please!! 10

Listening process 10

Listening Errors Mr. Guptas Dilemma 20

Principles Of Active Listening 5

Excellent Listening Behaviours 10

Barriers To Listening 5

Summary Of learning 5

Session Objectives

Activity Probes Derive Industry

Examples
Question To give the desired Listen
based response in a To become aware of some of the
discussion communication common listening errors.
process what must To learn how to avoid them through
the receiver do active listening techniques.
Introduction to the session :
As an activity listening comes prior to any response which is given. A
customer service person must develop the skill of attentive listening to
the points and needs of the customer. Through proper listening only one
can develop good relationship with the customer.

It takes both careful observation and active listening for employees to do

a good job of responding to guests and meeting their expectations. There
are many reasons why employees dont seem to do a good job of listening
to guests.

First, hotel employees are no different from the rest of us-like us, they
find it more enjoyable to speak than to listen. (We have all heard
conversations where the people involved cant seem to wait for the other
person to get through talking so they can say something. Long
conversation can be held this way, without either person really paying
much attention to what the other one is saying.)

Second, like all of us, employees have many things on their minds, and
its often easier, and sometimes more fun, to listen to their own
thoughts than to listen to the guest. Both worries and daydreams are
enemies of good listening-they destroy concentration.

Third, employees are often rushed, and feel that they dont have time to
listen to what the guest has to say. This is one reason employees tend to
interrupt guests before they have finished speaking. Unfortunately,
guests will often put up with this kind of treatment, rather than try to get
through to the employee- until later on, when they may complain to a
manager or write a complaint letter. (This may also be one reason why
guests seem to save up their complaints and dump them all on the
cashier when they check-out.)

Fourth, employees have a tendency to jump to conclusions about what a

guest is saying, and interrupt with a solution before the guest finishes
speaking. This happens because they have heard similar things so many
times before they just assume they know what the guest is going to say,
and how to solve the problem.

And finally, employees may unconsciously not want to hear what the
guest is saying. If it sounds like the beginning of a complaint or problem,
for example, it is probably going to be painful to listen to, and the
employee jumps in with any answer, rather than waiting to be sure his
answer is responsive to what the guest wants.
Listening - The forgotten Skill

Activity Probes Derive Industry Examples

Read out the Why do you Listening varies It has be found

Big Day and think there was from person to that
tell the a difference in person, is based 9% of the time is
trainees to the answers by on situation and spent in Writing
write the various mood of the 16 % of the time is
answers to the trainees on person too. spent on Reading
questions. simple factual 30% of the time is
Compare the listening. spent on Speaking
answers at the 45% of the time is
end and note spent in Listening
the differences
in the trainees
responses

To help improve listening skills, there are certain quite simple techniques
that employees can be taught to use to be sure they hear what guests are
saying, and interpret it correctly, before they provide an answer. These
are:

Wait till the guest finishes speaking before answering.

Ask questions, if necessary, to clarify what the guest is trying to say.
Demonstrate that you heard what the guest said by restating or
rephrasing it, then asking the guest if you restated it correctly.
Listen for the unspoken part of the conversation - the feeling or emotions
- and demonstrate that you heard that part, too, by saying something
that shows you understand and accept the guests feelings.
Accept the guests feelings by saying something that shows you
understand how he feels.

Now after this exercise & the techniques learnt, all the trainees must be
very good at listening, right?!

Your Attention Please!

Activity Probes Derive Industry

Examples

Make the Could anyone With this exercise you can

announcement get all the demonstrate several things
given in the answers about communication,
notes and ask correct? especially listening. They are
them the 5 very likely to use selective
questions Why is this so? listening, that is, they will
following that. listen for information related
to their flights only. It is
likely that they will all get
right the answer to the
question related to the flight
they are waiting for. They
may get a few other answers
also right. But none of them
are likely to get all answers
right especially if you do not
tell them in advance that you
are going to test them.

Listening Process

Just listening doesnt get you much these days. Youve got to help
customers feel the impact of your listening.
 David H. Radack
Vice President, Amdahl Inc., Sunnyvale, California

What is the difference between Listening and Hearing?

Hearing is passive - we hear noise and sounds going on around us
the whole time, although we may not be
consciously aware of them.
For example : Keyboards/ telephones/ machines in the office/
traffic outside
Listening is active - it takes concentration and effort to absorb a sound
or message and retain it.

Why is listening difficult?

We are taught at school how to read, write and speak but not taught how
to listen.
We often have our own agendas in conversation. i.e. We know what we
want to get out of the conversation and this affects how we listen.
If you dont get on with the person you are listening to and if you didnt
listen to them in the past you may not listen well this time. (Maybe they
havent listened to you previously.)
We often start formulating our response to the person we are listening to
whilst they are still talking. Whilst we are planning our reply we are not
listening fully.
Present the diagram below showing graphically how we engage in various
processes while apparently listening to a speaker at the same time.
We think four times faster than we talk, so it is easy for our minds to
wander.
SPEAKERThe talking and listening pattern is :

TALK TALK TALK LISTEN

LISTENER Listen Talk

Seek a moment to interrupt

Evaluate

Rehearse your
reply
Plan your reply
 distort
When we listen we delete
generalise

Ask the group for examples of when this happens or has happened in the
hotel. Have some examples of your own to illustrate this with.
We may be intimidated by the person speaking to us, perhaps an
overbearing guest, an intimidatingly efficient colleague or even our boss
or manager. This will affect how we listen. If we become very conscious
of what we have to say we may not listen properly.
We all develop bad habits when listening. For example:
If a guest in the hotel is explaining a situation to us that we believe we
have heard before from numerous other guests, our mind may wander as
we assume we know the best response without having to think very hard.

Listening Errors

Hand out Mr.Guptas Dilemma and give employees a few minutes to read
it. Explain that you will have some questions to ask when they are
through. When they are through reading Part I, use the questions below
to get the discussion going.

Poor Mr. Gupta! How many people has he talked to up to this point ?
Five

Has his problem been solved ?

No.

Is the coffee maker really broken ? (How do you know ?)

Its probably not broken - Mr. Gupta said he didnt know how it works.

I happen to know that coffee makers vary from model to model so guests
often get confused. Nearly everyone who works in the resort knows how
this works - although they very seldom have any problems or complaints.

Now, based on this information, which of the five people Mr. Gupta talked
to should have solved the problem for him?

Any one of them could have solved the problem- all they had to do was
explain where the switch is and how to put it on. The housekeeper could
have explained it over the phone, without transferring the guest all over
the hotel.

O.K., What happened? Why didnt one of the people he talked to solve the
problem?

You will probably get a variety of answers, including such things as:
nobody cared, everybody has passing the buck, etc. All of these are
true, but the answer you are looking for is:

They didnt listen.

Explain that many of the answers they have given may have contributed
to the problem, but that you want to concentrate on listening today.
Lets go back and look at the beginning of the conversation, when Mr.
Gupta is talking to Leela , in Housekeeping.

What did Mr. Gupta actually say about the coffee maker ?

Wait until you get an accurate quote.

He said he couldnt figure it out But Leela apparently thought the

switch was not working because she said Maintenance would have to take
care of it.

Why do you think she thought that?

She wasnt listening carefully.
You are right, she couldnt have been listening carefully. But let us analyze
it a little more. She must have heard something.
Lets look at line two.

Of all things that Mr. Gupta said, which one do you think Leela actually
heard?

She probably heard the word Coffee maker

That is right - and she jumped to a conclusion and assumed the switch
was not working.

Explain that Leela did two things wrong-

She didnt listen to every word.

She jumped to a conclusion.

Let us look at the next part of the conversation, where Mr. Gupta gets
transferred to Projects instead of Maintenance.

What does Mr. Basheer do?

He does not listen to every word.

He interrupts.

Add to your list on the chart pad:

Interrupts, does not let the guest finish.

Does he also jump to a conclusion?

Yes, he also assumes that there is something broken, because he also
refers the guest to Maintenance.
All right, let us look at the next part of the conversation. Mr. Gupta finally
gets through to Maintenance. The guy in Maintenance does something
different, he asks a question.
What can you tell about Mr. Guptas state of mind from the way he
answers the question?

Hes exasperated, frustrated, angry.

Does the maintenance man seem to hear Mr. Gupta frustration?

No, he doesnt

Right. So thats another listening error.

Write on the chart pad:

Doesnt hear the feelings.

Now, lets look at what happens when Mr. Gupta talks to the bell desk.

What listening errors did Kushalappa commit?

He jumped to a conclusion- he assumed the coffee maker was not

working.

He interrupts and doesnt let Mr. Gupta finish what he was saying.

None of the people that Mr. Gupta talked to have been very helpful, have
they? But there is something special about Kushalappa.

How would you describe the way Kushalappa acted in this situation?

He is passing the buck

He does not want to take responsibility. He doesnt care.
He doesnt seem to want to listen.

That is right - he doesnt seem to want to listen. That is really another

listening error.

Write on chart pad:

Doesnt want to listen.

Why do you suppose he doesnt want to listen?

Because he will have to go up to the room again, and he wont get a tip for
it.

Yes, and he may also feel a bit guilty that he didnt explain the working of
the coffee maker the first time around. He may not want to admit to
himself that he made an error.

Now, lets look at the end of the conversation.

Hand out Part II , and give the group a minute or two to read it.

What did the guest service agent do that was different?

Refer them to line numbers as necessary to get the answers below.

He listened all the way through, without interrupting.

He listened to the feelings in what Mr. Gupta is saying and he apologized
He repeated or restated the problem
He asked a question to be sure he had understood

Explain that what the guest service agent did really demonstrates the
basic principles of good listening, and list them on the chart pad, as
shown below.

(NOTE: If you wish, you can prepare this chart page ahead of time,
and go over each item.)

Principles of active listening.

Listen all the way through without interrupting.

Ask questions to be sure you understand.

Listen to feelings as well as words.

Repeat or restate what the guest said (if it is complicated)

 Say something that shows you understand how the guest feels.

How can we improve our listening skills?

So that you never have to ask for information twice

1. Take Notes - Sorry, what was your name again?
Who did you say you wanted?

This means concentrating on the key points of the

2. Listen Selectively conversation, listening for the relevant and
screening out the unimportant details.

By responding verbally to acknowledge that youre

3. Listen Actively still there and interested.
Uh huh ... Mmmm ... Tell me more .. Yes ..

4. Listen between Listen for the tones, pitch and speed to discover
the lines the speakers attitude and confidence level.

Use words and phrases such as :

5. Listen with Empathy I can understand how you must feel ...
A lot of people feel that way,...
Seeing it from the speakers point of view is NOT
the same as agreeing with them .

Make short summaries as you are going along to

6. Summarise check that you are on the right track. Repeating
back key points (like repeating a telephone
number) also helps to make sure youve
understood the facts correctly.
 Excellent Listening Behaviours

Trainees form groups of 6 and brainstorm onto a flipchart all the specific
listening behaviours, actions, processes, techniques that they can which
will help them to:
listen effectively - ensuring that they catch all the important points
engage with the speaker
support the speaker

Allow the groups 10 minutes to brainstorm - this is a pacey

exercise!
You can expect contributions such as:
lean forward
maintain eye contact
ask clarifying questions
paraphrase key points - prefacing them with
phrases like:
So what youre saying is...
Am I right in thinking..?
take notes on the phone
say mmm ... mmm ... OR aha .... aha ...
yes
clear the table in front of you, take a fresh
sheet of paper for notes

2.Ask each group to select their top 3 tips and a speaker who will present
them to the whole group.

Barriers to Listening

Activit Probes Derive Industry Examples

y
QBD While you He might be getting bored Make your interaction
 are talking interesting to address his need.
to a The environment might not
customer, be conducive to listening Make the environment friendly,
he might relaxed and comfortable
not be He might have pre
listening to conceived ideas Try to get them out by proper
you due to questioning and empathic
various He might be tired listening
reasons.
What can He might want to interrupt Order for a refreshment
be the to speak and respond
various Pick up non verbal cues and
reasons for encourage him to ask and
this ? clarify any doubts

Summary Of Learning

Activity Probes Derive Industry Examples

Ask Can someone of

someone you summarise the
to come learning of the
up with session
the
learning
of the
session .
GAMES & ROLE PLAYS

Your Attention Please

Photocopy and cut it up to make as many copies of the 'Your Attention

Please' slip as there are learners. Give each one a slip. There is no harm
if four or five learners get copies of the same slip. Ask them not to show
their slip to one another. Tell them the following: "You are all waiting at
Bangalore airport. While waiting at the airport you hear the following
announcements"

And then read out the announcements at your usual speed. Read the
announcements only once. After the announcements have been read out,
give the class the listening test . They should answer it quickly (duration
2 minutes). They are not allowed to discuss with others. Once everyone
has finished the test, find out orally how well they have performed. .

With this exercise you can demonstrate several things about

communication, especially listening. They are very likely to use selective
listening, that is, they will listen for information related to their flights
only. It is likely that they will all get right the answer to the question
related to the flight they are waiting for. They may get a few other answers
also right. But none of them are likely to get all answers right especially if
you do not tell them in advance that you are going to test them.

Slips to be distributed. (Each learner gets one.)

Your Attention, Please!

You are at Bangalore Airport. You are waiting to board Indian Airlines flight IC 424 to
New Delhi. Listen carefully to the announcements over the public address system.
Some flights have been delayed or cancelled because of bad weather.

Your Attention, Please!

You are at Bangalore Airport. You are waiting to board Indian Airlines
flight IC 940 to Chennai. Listen carefully to the announcements over the
public address system. Some flights have been delayed because of bad
weather.
Your Attention, Please
You are at Bangalore Airport. You are waiting to board Jet Airways flight
No. 9W - 422 to Hyderabad. Listen carefully to the announcements over
the public address system. Some flights have been delayed because of
bad weather.

Your Attention, Please

You are at Bangalore Airport. You are waiting to board the Sahara India
flight No. S2 526 to New Delhi. Listen carefully to the announcements
over the public address system.Some flights have been delayed because of
bad weather.

Your Attention, Please

You are at Bangalore Airport. You are waiting to board Alliance Air flight
No.CD-223 to Mangalore. Listen carefully to the announcements over the
public address system. Some flights have been delayed because of bad
weather.

Your Attention, Please

You are at Bangalore Airport. You are waiting to receive a guest arriving
from Calcutta by Indian Airlines flight No IC 586. Listen to the
announcements over the public address system. Some flights have been
delayed because of bad weather.

Your Attention, Please

You are at Bangalore Airport. You are about to go home after you have
seen off your daughter on the Jet Airlines flight to Pune. Announcements
are being made over the public address system. Some flights have been
delayed and some cancelled because of bad weather. Your daughter has
checked in. And security check has also been announced just now for
your daughters flight. Anjali Save is a good friend of yours. You havent
seen her for quite some time.

Your Attention, Please

You are at Bangalore Airport. You are waiting to receive a guest arriving
from Cochin by Jet Airways flight No 9W - 521. Listen to the
announcements over the public address system. Some flights have been
delayed because of bad weather.
Your Attention, Please
You are at Bangalore Airport. You are waiting to receive a guest arriving
from New Delhi by Indian Airlines flight No IC 423. Listen to the
announcements over the public address system. Some flights have been
delayed because of bad weather.

Your Attention, Please

You are at Bangalore Airport. You are waiting to receive a guest arriving
from New Delhi by Sahara India Airlines flight No S2 - 525. Listen to the
announcements over the public address system. Some flights have been
delayed because of bad weather.

Your Attention, Please

You are at Bangalore Airport. You are waiting to receive a guest arriving
from Chennai by Indian Airlines flight No IC 217. Listen to the
announcements over the public address system. Some flights have been
delayed because of bad weather.

Your Attention, Please

You are at Bangalore Airport. You are waiting to receive a guest arriving
from Patna by Indian Airlines flight No IC 586. Listen to the
announcements over the public address system. Some flights have been
delayed because of bad weather.

Announcements to be read out once to class

"Here are some announcements you heard while you were waiting at
Bangalore airport."
May I have your attention please? Indian Airlines flight No IC 423 from
New Delhi is expected to arrive at 1350 hrs as scheduled.

Indian Airlines flight no IC 424 has been rescheduled to leave for Delhi at
1420 hrs.

Indian Airlines flight no IC 586 from Calcutta to Bangalore via Patna has
been cancelled.

Jet Airways flight no 9w-422 to Hyderabad and Chennai is expected to

leave on time at 1315 hrs. Passengers are requested to proceed to
security check.
Jet Airways flight no. 9w-521 from Cochin will arrive at 1425 hrs instead
of 1125 hrs. As a result of the delay on this incoming flight the Jet
Airways flight no. 9W- 534 to Goa will leave at 1455 hrs instead of 1155
hrs. The inconvenience caused the passengers is regretted.

Sahara India Airlines flight no. S2-526 for Delhi will leave at 1205 hrs
instead of 1105 hrs. Passengers holding confirmed tickets are requested
to go to the Airport Restaurant for snacks and beverages.

Sahara India Airlines flight No. S2-525 from Delhi is expected to arrive at
1205 instead of 1010 hrs.

Alliance Air flight No.CD-223 to Mangalore and Cochin has been

cancelled for technical reasons. The passengers can cancel their tickets
for a full refund at Counter No. 72. The inconvenience caused is
regretted.

Your Attention, Please: Here is a message for Ms Anjali Save, who has
arrived from Nagpur by Indian Airlines flight No IC927. Please come to
the Indian Airlines office at the airport immediately. I repeat, Ms Anjali
Save

Indian Airlines flight No. IC 940 to Chennai is expected to leave as

scheduled at 1330 hrs. Passengers are requested to check in and proceed
to the security check.

Jet Airways flight No. 9W - 782 to Calcutta has been delayed indefinitely.
Passengers holding the boarding pass are requested to proceed to the
Airport Restaurant. Lunch will be served.

Questions Your Attention Please

You are at Bangalore Airport. While waiting there you have been listening
to the announcements over the public address system. Some flights have
been delayed or cancelled because of bad weather.

Now please answer these questions. Underline the right answer.

1. When is Jet Airways flight No 9W-521 from Cochin expected?

 11.25 hrs / 14.25 hrs / 15.30 hrs

2. Where is Indian Airlines flight No IC424 expected to go?

To Delhi / To Calcutta / To Chennai

3. Which Alliance Air flight has been cancelled?

CD-223 / CD-524 / CD-940

4. When will Sahara India Airlines flight No S2-526 take off for Delhi?

12.05 hrs / 13.45 hrs / The announcer did not mention it.

5. Which flight brought Anjali Save to Bangalore?

IC423 from Delhi / IC927 from Nagpur / IC586 from Calcutta.

Mr. Guptas Dilemma - Part 1.

Ring! ..Ring!..Ring!

VOICE NO.1: Housekeeping, Good Morning. Leela speaking, How

may I help you?
GUEST: This is Mr. Gupta in room 2322. I cant seem to figure out
this Coffee Maker, and I desperately need a cup of coffee.

VOICE NO.1: Im sorry, but Maintenance takes care of that.

GUEST: Could you transfer me to Maintenance?

VOICE NO. 1: Certainly, hold on please.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

VOICE NO. 2: Projects, Basheer.

GUEST: Hello. My name is Gupta. Im in room 2322 and I get my

coffee maker to work. I wonder if you...

VOICE NO. 2: Maintenance will take care of it for you.

GUEST: I was trying to reach Maintenance.

VOICE NO. 2: This is Projects. We take care of building the resort -

not guest rooms.

GUEST: Oh. Well, can you transfer me to Maintenance?

VOICE NO. 2: Ya.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

VOICE NO. 3: Maintenance.

GUEST: Hello. Im in room 2322 and I am unsble to switch on my

Coffee Maker.

VOICE NO. 3: Probably your coffee maker is defective. Did you

switch it on?

GUEST: Ive been trying to explain -

VOICE NO. 3: Bellperson should have shown you, but they usually
forget. Ill switch you over.

GUEST: But cant you...? (CLICK)

Ring! Ring! Ring!

VOICE NO. 4: Guest services, Kushalappa here.

GUEST: Ive got a problem here in room 2322.

VOICE NO. 4: Whats the trouble?

GUEST: I cant turn on the coffee maker. Can you please come up
and show me?

VOICE NO.4: Id be glad to, but Maintenance handles that.

GUEST: Ive already talked to Maintenance. They said youd show me.

VOICE NO. 4: I can tell you right now, sir, if they cant fix it, neither
can I. What room are you in?

GUEST: 2322.

VOICE NO. 4: Ya- I remember. You just checked in, didnt you?

GUEST: Yes, and I...

VOICE NO. 4: Ill see that you get moved to another room. Hang on,
will ya?

GUEST: But I...

Ring! Ring! Ring!

VOICE NO. 5 This is the front desk. Shalya speaking. May I

GUEST SERVICE help you?
 AGENT (GSA)

(End of part I....)

Situation No. 7 - Part II

Guest: I certainly hope so. You see, I checked into this room 3o
minutes ago and I could not figure out how to use the coffee maker and
now I need the coffee more than ever! I called Housekeeping and they
transferred me to Projects and they hooked me up with Maintenance,
who transferred me to the bellperson and he said the best thing to do
was to move to another room because the coffee maker is not working, so
thats how I got switched over to you. Get the picture?

GSA: First of all, Mr. Gupta, let me apologize, you should never have
been pushed around like that. Now you say you cant figure out how to
use the coffee maker? Is that right ? OR is it defective?

Guest: I do not know if it is defective, but there doesnt seem to be

anything on it to push or to turn it on.

GSA: Yes, I know, those coffee makers are confusing. But there is a little
switch on the handle. Youll probably have check that the main switch
where it is plugged is on too. To turn on the coffee maker, you need to
switch on the main switch and then push up the switch on the handle.
Do you want to go look ? I will hang on.

Guest: Yes, Just a minute... I found it ! Thank you very much.

(End of part II...)

THE BIG TIP!

Thursday the 17th of November was a rough morning in the coffee shop -
they tables were all full and Litin felt she was not fast enough to take care
of the crowd. There had been a line waiting to get in since before 8.30 .
Part of the problem was that two of the steward had called in sick - which
meant one extra table for everyone else.
Litin was doing the best she could, but she was also having to help clear
tables, because of the absenteeism. On top of everything else, this was
the last day of the 3 day Coffee Growers Convention - they had one last
meeting, and were leaving at noon, just about the time the next group
would start arriving. The resort was expecting a 75% turnover of rooms
that day.

The coffee shop was full- most of them people from convention, Litin
recognized one of her customers - he had been in for breakfast both
Tuesday and Wednesday, although he had been at least a half hour
earlier than today. Shed read his name from his badge the first day - Mr.
Rathod. He always had papers spread out on the table- getting ready for
the meetings, she guessed. Hed been friendly both days, and had left a
better tip than most. She walked up to his table to wish him.

Questions

The Big Tip

Select the correct answers.

1.The last name of the Guest was:

a. Rana b. Rathod c. Singh d.Brar

2. The line at the Coffee Shop started before :

a. 6:20 b. 7:40 c. 8.30
d.8.40

3. The convention started on:

a. Nov 4 b. Nov 14 c. Nov 15 d
Nov 3

4. The length of the convention was to be:

a.2 days b. 3 days c. 1 day d. 4 days

5. The Guest had spread on his table

a. News paper b. Meeting Papers c. Activity
Papers d. Plain Papers

6. The resort was expecting ..turnover:

a. 70% b. 60% c.75% d.100%
7. How many stewards reported sick
 a. 2 b. 1 c.3 d.4
8.The load for everyone increased and each had .extra table
a. 2 b. 1 c.3 d.4
9. Litin had read the guest name from his badge on
a. Monday b. Tuesday c.Wednesday
d.Thursday
10. The convention was for
a. Coffee Planters b. Coffee Drinkers c. Coffee
Growers d. Coffee Brewers

My listening score: ____________

Over 75 % of the spoken word is never

heard
-Bob Conklin
- Bob Conklin