Interpersonal Communication
Dear Brad and my fellow readers,
I will be using my personal experience during my polytechnic internship to relate to the topic of interpersonal communication. I will address the guest as Mr. X due to confidentiality. I mentioned in the previous post that I was a housekeeper during my internship and for the first four months I was assigned to clean rooms on a daily basis.
It was just like any other day of cleaning the guest room, but on that day, I managed to reach my quota before my shift ended. Therefore I had some time to spare before signing out. I packed my inventory trolley and took the lift to other levels to see if they need help in cleaning. While I am in the lift, I saw our housekeeping runner in the lift, and he asked if I am available to help him deliver blanket to level 24 because he has a few deliveries to complete. I agreed and brought the blanket to the room. I knocked, and a man around his sixties answered the door to take the blanket. He then asked for a blanket cover which I went back to the inventory room to get it for him. He invited me in to help him put on the blanket cover. It was then I started a conversation with him about his purpose in coming to Singapore.
He responded by saying he is from Indonesia and is here to bring his wife for cancer treatment in our local hospital. While saying these, he gave a smile which really touches my heart.
I hope to receive your opinions on how I replied to Mr. X in this sensitive situation. During the conversation, I have a concern on how I should react and communicate appropriately with sensitivity as I may upset him as the topic goes along.
Regards,
Xenia
Commented blog: Tricia, Kelly, Natasha
As mentioned in class, this incident is rather an internal conflict on how I respond to Mr. X. I am afraid that my words would affect his emotions. After Mr. X shared about his purpose of coming to Singapore, I replied by saying I am sorry to hear about his wife, and I hope she gets well soon. He thanked me with a smile and say, "it is fine". Afterward, he continued by asking the recommendation of tourist attraction or where can he go for a meal as he is bored. The conversation on his wife moved on from there.
I really appreciate how Mr. X is comfortable with sharing about his wife to a stranger like me. I believe I could give him emotional support by writing notes or notify the hotel about his case. However as I was an intern, I did not sound out to higher management because I do not know if they would take action against special cases like him.
Thank you for all the possible solutions that could help me encounter this sensitive issue. All your solutions are feasible, and I believe it can be practiced in hotels to enhance guests experience.
I will be using my personal experience during my polytechnic internship to relate to the topic of interpersonal communication. I will address the guest as Mr. X due to confidentiality. I mentioned in the previous post that I was a housekeeper during my internship and for the first four months I was assigned to clean rooms on a daily basis.
It was just like any other day of cleaning the guest room, but on that day, I managed to reach my quota before my shift ended. Therefore I had some time to spare before signing out. I packed my inventory trolley and took the lift to other levels to see if they need help in cleaning. While I am in the lift, I saw our housekeeping runner in the lift, and he asked if I am available to help him deliver blanket to level 24 because he has a few deliveries to complete. I agreed and brought the blanket to the room. I knocked, and a man around his sixties answered the door to take the blanket. He then asked for a blanket cover which I went back to the inventory room to get it for him. He invited me in to help him put on the blanket cover. It was then I started a conversation with him about his purpose in coming to Singapore.
He responded by saying he is from Indonesia and is here to bring his wife for cancer treatment in our local hospital. While saying these, he gave a smile which really touches my heart.
I hope to receive your opinions on how I replied to Mr. X in this sensitive situation. During the conversation, I have a concern on how I should react and communicate appropriately with sensitivity as I may upset him as the topic goes along.
Regards,
Xenia
Commented blog: Tricia, Kelly, Natasha
As mentioned in class, this incident is rather an internal conflict on how I respond to Mr. X. I am afraid that my words would affect his emotions. After Mr. X shared about his purpose of coming to Singapore, I replied by saying I am sorry to hear about his wife, and I hope she gets well soon. He thanked me with a smile and say, "it is fine". Afterward, he continued by asking the recommendation of tourist attraction or where can he go for a meal as he is bored. The conversation on his wife moved on from there.
I really appreciate how Mr. X is comfortable with sharing about his wife to a stranger like me. I believe I could give him emotional support by writing notes or notify the hotel about his case. However as I was an intern, I did not sound out to higher management because I do not know if they would take action against special cases like him.
Thank you for all the possible solutions that could help me encounter this sensitive issue. All your solutions are feasible, and I believe it can be practiced in hotels to enhance guests experience.
Hi Xenia!
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear about your interesting experience as a housekeeper and Mr X seems like a warm and friendly man.
I can relate to you because I was in a similar situation once too where my friend confided in me about her breakup with her bf. Hence, I understand the sensitivity of the issue. In my opinion, I feel that you can tell him more about the possibilities of a successful cancer treatment here in Singapore as we have better medical facilities as compared to Indonesia. Also, I think you could offer words of encouragement for him to cheer his wife on instead of words of sympathy as I am sure people would not want others to look at them with pity.
Other than that, perhaps you could communicate with your manager to accommodate special arrangements such as transport to and fro the hotel to the hospital for them. I hope this helps and I look forward to hearing how you handled this sensitive situation.
Best regards,
Pei Ling
Thank you for your comment, Pei Ling! I agree with how awkward the situation can be.
DeleteIn my situation, I did not want to further to continue the topic about his wife because it may be too sensitive and emotional for him. Your solutions can be taken into consideration, but providing transport may not be feasible in the long run for the hotel.
Do read my post about how I responded to the incident, thank you!
Regards,
Xenia
Dear Xenia,
ReplyDeleteThankyou for sharing your personal experience with us!
I totally understand what situation that you are going through at that point of time. As I personally have closed one going on for cancer therapy treatments, I really am able to relate to how he must have felt during the conversation.
It is not easy for him to open up to a stranger, and I guess he would like to talk to you at that point in time. Although this topic might be quite sensitive, instead of asking about the wife's condition, maybe you could give him some reassurance on how your hotel would allow them to have a great stay during this tough period. Small gestures will definitely help them boost their morale in such dampening situation.
I always believe that actions speak louder than words. Thus, actions of encouragement by writing them well wishes card would mean a lot to them as well.
Thank you for reading my comment and hope my opinions would help you to react in such sensitive situation!
Best Regards,
Carolyn
Thank you for your comment, Carolyn. Your advice can be taken into consideration. I can actually mention this case to the hotel and allow them to provide small gestures to encourage Mr.X in this critical situation. I believe he needed moral support at that point in time.
DeleteDo read my post on how I handled the situation, thank you!
Regards,
Xenia
Dear Xenia,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your experience here. I believe it might have been awkward for you as the topic was sensitive.
As shared by Prof Blackstone today, I think the best approach to this situation would be to empathize with the guest first. Additionally, you could use "i" statements where you add personal inputs of how you feel. This would make the guest feel like you care and might even make him feel better.
I am curious to know how you dealt with him as well.
Thank you for your reply, Swathi. I agree with your approach to handling this situation. What we learned in class will be useful to practice in a situation like this. It is important that we give him moral support in the situation. Using the "i" method will help to enhance the connection between me and him, making him feel comfortable while overcoming such an unhappy phase.
DeleteDo read my post on how I handled this situation, thank you!
Regards,
Xenia
Thank you, Xenia, for sharing this workplace scenario.
ReplyDeleteI can understand that it represents a rather sensitive discussion issue for you, though technically it doesn't involve conflict. I suppose the way to frame it for it to fit into this task is that you experienced an internal struggle on how to properly respond since the guest's wife was described as having cancer.
You've gotten appropriate feedback from both Carolyn and Pei Ling. The idea of you suggesting t the man that the hotel would do its utmost to support him during that trying time seems especially pertinent in terms of providing supportive service.
Of course, there's an element of empathy involved, which for me would include not comparing medical service in Singapore and Indonesia. That's a topic I would only address if the guest brought it up, and I would not condescend to the treatment anywhere else. In fact, I would probably not even 'probe' about that.
I'm interested now to see how you might resolve the situation given that the man might have come to depend on you for some emotional comfort.
Cheers,
Brad
Thank you for your comment, Brad. This post is written in regard to an internal conflict on how I should respond to Mr. X in such a sensitive scenario.
DeleteI agree on how comparing medical service in Singapore and Indonesia should not be included as it may seem offensive if I did not phrase my words properly. As mentioned by my classmates above, the hotel and I can express words of encouragement to Mr. X. However, I should also be aware of disclosing guest issues to the hotel. He may not be comfortable telling it to other people.
Do read my post on how I handled to the situation, thank you!
Regards,
Xenia
Thanks for the explanation, Xenia.
Delete