The Food and beverage service department is seen to possess a very vigorous intra and inter departmental interactions in prospect of accomplishing works. This has also made the functioning of the organisation very suave. Positive mutual aid and harmonisation can be found in between the intra departmental staffs, as they are willing to lend a helping hand during busy operation hours and favourably exchange their ideas and views with each other.
Inter-department Relationship Matrix
| Departments | Restaurants/Bar/Banquets/ Room Service | Kitchen | Kitchen stewarding |
| Front office | Receives the rooming list from the front office, which shows the occupancy position, status of the guests, plan in which they are staying and so on. | Prepare the meals considering the room vacancy. | In some hotels and resorts, kitchen stewards lend hand in carrying the heavy material transfers. |
| Housekeeping | Receives well laundered table linen, and uniform, flower arrangements for tables and function catering, cleans the service area, function hall and cloak rooms. | Receives laundered staff uniform.Provide staff meals. | Receives laundered staff uniforms, cleaning agents, and tools. |
| Cost control | Verifies bills and KOTs of all service areas, receipts of stores, closing stock record of all bottled drinks, tobacco, and alcoholic beverages. | Verifies KOT, closing stock record, spoilage report, and receipt from stores. Receives staff meals. | Verifies records of recurring expenditure. |
| Maintenance | Repairs faulty service equipment, air conditioner, water cooler against job order. | Repairs faulty kitchen equipment, exhaust system, water taps, gas supply against job order. | Assist maintenance department in cleaning and moving equipment during repair work. |
| Security | Inform security about any articles misplaced by guests, unclaimed baggage, drunken guests, function catering so that they are aware of that many guests would be coming in s particular time. Verify movement of staff. | Briefs security department about any theft or major pilferage. Receives staff meals. Verify movement of staff. | Discuss security issues and verifies staff movement. |
| Human Resource | Coordinates with this department for recruiting, training, performance appraisal. | Personal policy on staff meals, shares staff meal cost with personnel department. | Coordinates with this department for recruiting, training performance appraisal. |
Table of Contents
- With F and B Production i.e. Kitchens:-
- With housekeeping:-
- With front office department:-
- With Human resources department:-
- With Security department :-
- With Stores:-
With F and B Production i.e. Kitchens:-
It coordinates with kitchen department for the preparation of various food and beverage items as per the orders. The kitchen also coordinates with food and beverage service department regarding the functions, outdoor caterings, and promotional activities.
With housekeeping:-
It
coordinates with housekeeping department regarding the cleanliness of
the outlets, different F&B sections and regarding the regular supply
of staff uniforms and soil linens. The coordination of housekeeping
department with the restaurants and banquet halls is mainly concerned
with the provision of linen and uniforms. The linen room supervisor,
under the supervision of the executive housekeeper, needs to have
sufficient stock of clean napkins to meet the demands of the F & B
department’s restaurant and banquet function. On his/her part, the
restaurant manager should ensure that the time set for the exchange of
linen is respected; that linen is not lost or misused; and that
intimation of forthcoming banquet function is conveyed to housekeeping
department well in advance. Beside extra/special linen, housekeeping may
also have to arrange for flower decorations for banquet.
Coordinating between two departments becomes particularly necessary in
the case of room service, so that friction does not arise over matters
such as waiters not collecting trays from guestrooms or room service
staff leaving soiled trays in the corridors or causing extra work
through careless spills on the carpet. In many hotels, housekeeping
department also looks after pest control in restaurants, kitchens, and
store attached to them. Special cleaning of this areas call for
coordination with the housekeeping department. Restaurant staff required
clean uniforms on a daily basis, for which they need to communicate
with housekeeping department.
With front office department:-
Communication
between the food and beverage department and the front office is also
essential. Some of this communication is conveyed by relaying messages
and providing accurate information on transfers, which are forms used to
communicate a charge to a guest’s account. Communication activities
also include reporting predicted house counts, an estimate of the number
of guests expected to register based on previous occupancy activities,
and processing requests for paid-outs, forms used to indicate the
amounts of monies paid out of the cashier’s drawer on behalf of a guest
or an employee of the hotel. These vital services help an overworked
food and beverage manager, restaurant manager, or banquet captain meet
the demands of the public. Incoming messages for the food and beverage
manager and executive chef from vendors and other industry
representatives are important to the business operation of the food and
beverage department. If the switchboard operator is given instructions
on screening callers (such as times when the executive chef cannot be
disturbed because of a busy workload or staff meetings, or vendors in
whom the chef is not interested), the important messages will receive
top priority.
In a hotel that has point-of-sale terminals,
computerized cash registers that interface with a property management
system, information on guest charges is automatically posted to a
guest’s folio, his or her record of charges and payments. When a hotel
does not have point-of-sale terminals that interface with PMS
point-of-sale terminals, the desk clerk is responsible for posting
accurate charges on the guest folio and relies on transfer slips. Also,
the night auditor’s job is made easier if the transfer slip is
accurately prepared and posted. The front office manager should work with
the food and beverage director in developing standard operating
procedures and methods to complete the transfer of charges.
The
supervisors in the food and beverage department rely on the predicted
house count prepared by the front office manager to schedule employees
and predict sales. For ex- ample, the restaurant supervisor working the
breakfast shift will want to know how many guests will be in the hotel
so he or she can determine how many servers to schedule for breakfast
service. Timely and accurate preparation of this communication tool
assists in staffing control and sales predictions.
Authorized
members of the food and beverage department will occasionally ask the
front office for cash, in the form of a paid-out, to purchase last-minute
items for a banquet, the lounge, or the restaurant or to take advantage
of other unplanned opportunities to promote hospitality. Specific
guidelines concerning cash limits, turnaround time, prior approval,
authorized signatures, and the general manager and front office manager
develop purchase receipts. These guidelines help to maintain control of
paid-outs. The banquet department, which often combines the functions of
a marketing and sales department and a food and beverage department,
requires the front office to relay information to guests about scheduled
events and bill payment.
The front desk staff may also provide
labour to prepare the daily announcement board, an inside listing of the
daily activities of the hotel (time, group, and room assignment), and
marquee, the curb-side message board, which includes the logo of the
hotel and space for a message. Since the majority of banquet guests may
not be registered guests in the hotel, the front office provides a
logical communications centre.
The daily posting of scheduled events
on a felt board or an electronic bulletin board provides all guests and
employees with information on group events. The preparation of the
marquee may include congratulatory, welcome, sales promotion, or other
important messages. In some hotels, an employee in the front office
contacts the marketing and sales department for the message.
The
banquet guest who is unfamiliar with the hotel property will ask at the
front office for directions. This service might seem minor in the overall
delivery of service, but it is essential to the lost or confused guest.
The front office staff must know both how to direct guests to particular
meeting rooms or reception areas and which functions are being held in
which rooms. Front desk clerks, must be ready to provide information for
all departmental activities in the hotel. The person responsible for
paying the bills for a special event will also find his or her way to the
front office to settle the city ledger accounts. If the banquet captain
is not able to present the bill for the function, the front desk clerk
should be informed about the specifics of food and beverage charges,
gratuities, rental charges, method of payment, and the like.
With Human resources department:-
The
human resources management department may rely on the F and B service
staff to act as an initial point of contact for potential employees in
all departments. It may even ask the F and B service to screen job
candidates. If so, guidelines for and training in screening methods must
be provided.
Some directors of human resources management depend on
the F and B service to distribute application forms and other
personnel-related information to job applicants. The potential employee
may ask for directions to the personnel office at the F and B service.
The human resources management department may also develop guidelines
for the F and B service use in initially screening candidates. For
example, the guidelines may include concerns about personal hygiene,
completion of an application, education requirements, experience, and
citizenship status. This information will help the executives in the
human resources management department interview potential job
candidates. Each situation will describe some communication problems
between departments, trace the source of mis-communication, analyse the
communication system, and present methods that will help improve
communications. The purpose of this method of presentation is to help
future professionals to develop a systematic way of continually
improving communications.
With Security department :-
It
coordinates with security department to create a safer environment for
the guests, hotel personnel and the assets to control them properly.
It coordinates with engineering department for repairs, maintenance,
and installation of various equipment and physical features required
during operation hours and special functions.
Information system
It coordinates with information system department regarding the
updating and installing of different electronic information system.
Every personal are provide with the password as access into the computer
system of the hotel by the IS department. Similarly, the micros cards
are also issued to the F&B staffs and the degree of accessibility is
governed by the rank of the staffs.
With Stores:-
It coordinates with materials department for regular supply of food, beverages, and essential stationeries for the outlet.
Sales and marketing department: It coordinates with sales and marketing
department for the sales of banquet halls, fixing the menu price, and
providing provisions and service as per the Banquet Event Order. F &
B personnel will do the necessary arrangement for the preparation and
see to guests needs. Get clients to hold functions using hotel
facilities in banquets.
Finance department: It coordinates with finance department for payment of salary and budget development.
