Communication is fundamental in any organisation as well as in any relationship. It defines whether people understand each other, it defines whether people are heard. Especially in an international environment butlers operate in and hotels operate in, complicated multi-cultural issues can easily jeopardize the outcome of request, projects or events if communication fails.

I always instruct staff to keep communicating even when you do not know what to do or when it is obvious what you are doing. You can never assume the other person or the organisation just knows what you are up to. This is valid for keeping your guest informed on the progress of a request but also for example when dealing with an e-mail. Unfortunately e-mails get lost, or can be deleted by the receiver by accident. The sender is left with big question marks. A short note to confirm the receipt would be nice.

Even when you are not interested in the e-mail, when it is addressed explicitly to you, common courtesy dictates that a short note ‘Sorry, but not interested’, or something of this kind should be send. Or do you also put down your telephone without saying a word when you are not interested in the other person?

Communication is a big topic and especially with the huge number of options to communicate with nowadays, as well as our time restraint, we are bound to forget our manners here: please don’t. It saves you time, it saves time for others and in the end it is a win-win for all parties concerned.