What features should the best hotel housekeeping software have?
Because not all hotel housekeeping software is created equally, as a modern hotelier, it’s important to understand the features you need in order to improve efficiency across departments. Below, you’ll find a list of what we consider the eight must-have features.
1. Task management
Task management is at the foreground of any successful operation; knowing and keeping track of the daily tasks across departments is crucial to an optimal functioning. This is why it’s important that the tool you choose has the ability to assign tasks and keep track of their progress. If staff can easily keep track of the rooms assigned to them, they can have a better idea of their workload.
The better tasks are managed and divided among the staff, the more likely it is that no task goes undone. Plus, it’s a lot easier to practice time management if staff have a clear idea of their responsibilities, and they can plan their day based on what needs to get done and how long each task takes. Better planning is essential to ensure that no task goes undone.
Read more about improving department productivity and the guest experience.
2. Communication between departments
Communication between departments is essential in order to ensure that your team works together instead of as standalone departments, so you want to choose a tool that facilitates dialogue among employees. This way they can communicate maintenance work orders, housekeeping requests, and other front desk-related information that needs to be communicated across all departments.
The better your team works together, the more coordinated the effort will be to create the best guest experience possible. The tool should also keep all communication in one place so that it can easily be tracked and followed up with. Look out for a solution that allows you to easily send messages among individuals or create group threads. The easier you make it for your staff to communicate, the more likely they will do so.
3. Real-time reporting
In a fast-moving industry like hospitality, having real-time reporting is a key feature for hotel housekeeping software. This way you can get a better overview at all times of what has been done, what still needs to be done, and live status updates.
The tool should provide the ability to provide immediate overviews of the rooms, those that need to be cleaned, those that are ready, and those that have early check-ins. This way, your housekeeping staff will also be better able to prioritize their daily tasks and check them off as they go.
4. Up-to-the-minute updates
As priorities and needs are always shifting based on the ebb and flow of reservations, it’s important to find a tool that has real-time updates so you can update the system in case there are cancellations, and shift your housekeeping priorities accordingly. With up-to-the-minute updates, you can ensure that tasks and reservation information are updated in real-time so that nothing slides through the cracks.
5. Scheduling
Scheduling is an important part of organizing your staff better. This is why you want to find software that allows for smart scheduling, so you can plan housekeeping shifts more easily based on supply and demand. Smart scheduling is also a better way of organizing who does what in your housekeeping team. You can get a better idea of each employee’s workload, and they can see their assigned rooms and check them off as they get completed.
This way everyone is informed that a room is ready for check-in, and should the opportunity arise, the front desk can more easily upsell an early check-in. Read more about how early check-ins and late check-outs can generate revenue for your hotel.
6. Multi-platform compatibility
With a team that’s always on the go, you need software that can adapt to a fast-paced work environment. For that reason, you definitely want to choose hospitality software that has an app that can work on mobile (both iOS and Android) and tablet devices so that your staff can better communicate, and you can better update room status and other important information.
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7. Integration with your other tools
Just like your teams need to work together across departments to streamline processes, you need tools that will work together so that you can easily integrate them and coordinate all your daily operations. For example, look out for software that connects easily with your PMS or your operational management tool. This way, information is easily updated across the tools, and you won’t lose time manually inputting information.
8. Easy to use
Like any software, you need to be able to have a tool that is adaptable to all levels of tech-savviness. There’s no point in having a solution to optimize processes if it isn’t easy to use. Look out for an easy-to-use tool that also offers tech support should you have questions about the functionality.
You may even consider offering training for your whole team on how to use and make the most out of the technology. Training your staff is a great way of upskilling and improving technological literacy. They will feel more fulfilled in their work seeing that you are investing in their knowledge, and therefore perform better.
Conclusion
We’ve looked at the essential features for a hotel housekeeping software to possess, which include task management, interdepartmental communication, real-time reporting and updates, multi-platform compatibility, integration with other tools, and the possibility to schedule. While there are many tools to choose from, if you’re looking for hospitality software that has it all, Mews can help you make efficiency your first order of business.
With the right tool in place, you can rest assured that one of the most important departments in your hotel is running smoothly. A spick and span hotel creates a great first impression and leads to high guest satisfaction levels, which ultimately can lead to good reviews that help engage potential clients and keep regular clients coming back.
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