Invisible Managers

Invisible Managers

Is there such a thing as an invisible manager?  I often wonder if a manager can arrange daily tasks with personnel in such a way as to afford being absent!

It is always a difficult question to deal with and too many factors can shape the answer. In my recent staying at a favourite hotel of mine a came across this question over and over again.

For three consecutive days and having spend most of my time at the hotel facilities I saw only one of the duty managers and only for a few seconds! This was not a common thing for me as in the past I used to see the duty managers "being around" most of the time, dealing with their daily duties.

The result of their "invisibility" was more than obvious to me and many of the other people staying at the hotel.

At the hotel lobby the waiters (of various nationalities and with clear problems of communication) were making continuous mistakes when serving customers. Wrong drinks, wrong bills, delays in serving and no coordination, were only few of the examples I witnessed.

At the restaurant even worse! No one to ask as if we want something to drink, the food was almost finished since 21:00 with no replacement coming, the chef was arguing inside the kitchen, the quality of the food was terrible and so on....

Thinking about the above later on, it was more than obvious that the absence of the duty managers was the most important reason for the failures in customer service.

This example applies in all situations and in all companies. A managers place is were the action is. Its job is to coordinate, solve issues (even before they appear), and make sure customers are satisfied!

I do not know if there is a situation where everything can run smoothly when the manager is away. Do you?