16 Creating Housekeeping Document in English

Objectives:
 Describing housekeeping menu in computer system
 Writing document by computer system
 Reporting housekeeping document

Competence Element 1: Describing housekeeping menu in computer system

1.1 Identifying terms / keywords in housekeeping menu
1.2 Using properly the terms / keywords group of housekeeping menu
1.3 Exercise
1.4 Case study
1.5 Practice
Competence Element 2: Writing document by computer system
2.1 Identifying document purpose
2.2 Writing document based on identification result
2.3 Writing document with proper grammar
2.4 Exercise
2.5 Case study
2.6 Practice
Competence Element 3: Reporting housekeeping document
3.1 Writing housekeeping report
3.2 Presenting housekeeping report to the concerned with proper grammar
Bibliography
1.1 Identifying terms / keywords in housekeeping menu
Housekeeping management is an art of managing the performance of
housekeeping employees to achieve the goal or target of work in the service. It is
realized by running a process or showing and leading work instructions to the
process of planning, organizing, leadership, and control, in which the four
processes have their respective roles to achieve a goal and housekeeping
department target.
There are so many softwares that aims to assist hotel management in hotel
daily activities required reports such as check in, guest folio, and guest payment.
With this system, it is expected that the guests get good of service. Other results
achieved with the use of the management system are the efficiency and security in
the daily hotel operational. The system should be able to handle the work of
divisions in the organizational structure of hospitality, one of which is the division
of housekeeping. The main aim of the Housekeeping software for hotels is to
provide and assist the hotel management with a fluent and efficient system that
helps in better productivity of the housekeeping staff. This results in better and
increased profit for the hotels. Housekeeping softwares contain features that help
manage the data of room service. These features handle the services menu such as
room service, lost and found, and loan article.
This system is handled by a housekeeping order taker. Housekeeping order
taker is included in organizational structure of Housekeeping Department which is
in charge of ensuring that guests receive housekeeping services related to the
condition of the room, such as additional facilities or handling damages to the
facility. Guest requests usually come by phone which will then be recorded in the
order taker log book. This record will then be a work order (WO), or work request
(WR), or maintenance request (MR) to be delivered to the room attendant,
housekeeping supervisor, or executive housekeeper.
 Housekeeping is divided into 4 divisions, namely 1) floor section or room
section, 2) houseman section, 3) linen and uniform section, and 4) laundry section.
In handling guest requests, an order taker and staffs assigned to each division must
know the housekeeping terms inputed in the order taker log book. The terms
usually displayed in the housekeeping menu on the hotel management software are
related to the division of the floor section or room section. This section handles
room cleanliness, maintenance, treatment, and order to the comfort for guests
staying at the hotel. The staffs assigned to this section are called floor housekeeper
or floor section manager, floor supervisor, and room attendant. The terms that must
be known are related to:
a. Room type / unit type
i. standard room, the smallest room with limited facilities
ii. superior/ deluxe room, bigger room than standart room with
additional facilities such as sofa, dressing table, hairdryer, coffee
maker.
iii. suite room, room with complete facilities and another room like a
living room with a few chairs or a sofa. Some hotel divide suite room
into standart suite, deluxe suite, suite superior, junior suite, family
suite, presindential suite, penthouse, etc.
iv. studio room, room with studio bed.
b. Room status / room occupancy
i. Occupied (O) : A guest is currently occupied in the room
ii. Vacant Dirty (VD): the room is dirty and not ready for occupancy.
iii. VIP (Very Important Person): The guest should be given better
treatment than ordinary people
iv. Expected departure (ED)
v. Do Not Disturb (DND): The guest has requested not to be disturbed
vi. Out of Order (OOO): Rooms kept under out of order are not sellable
and these rooms are deducted from the hotels inventory. A room may
be out-of-order for a variety of reasons, including the need of
maintenance, refurbishing and extensive cleaning etc.
vii. Out of Service (OOS): Rooms kept under out of service are not
deducted from the hotel inventory. This is a temporary blocking and
reasons may be bulb fuse, T V remote not working, Kettle not
working etc. These rooms are not assigned to the guest once these
small maintenance issues are fixed.
viii. On-Change: The guest has departed, but the room has not yet been
cleaned and ready for sale.
ix. Cleaning in progress: Room attendant is currently cleaning this
room.
x. Sleep-out (SO): A guest is registered to the room, but the bed has not
been used.
xi. On-Queue: Guest has arrived at the hotel, but the room assigned is
not yet ready. In such cases the room is put on Queue status in-order
for the housekeeping staff to prioritize such rooms first.
xii. Skipper: The guest has left the hotel without making arrangements to
settle his or her account.
xiii. Lock out: The room has been locked so that the guest cannot re-enter
until he or she is cleared by a hotel official.
xiv. Did not check out (DNCO): The guest made arrangements to settle
his or her bills (and thus not a skipper), but has left without
informing the front desk.
xv. Due Out: The room is expected to become vacant after the following
guest checks out.
 xvi. Check-Out (CO): The guest has settled his or her account, returned
the room keys, and left the hotel.
xvii. Late Check out: The guest has requested and is being allowed to
check out later than the normal / standard departure time of the hotel.
c. Cleaning methods / techniques
i. Light cleans
ii. Full cleans,
iii. Towel drops.
iv. Dusting
v. Sweeping
vi. Moping
vii. Vacuuming
d. Guests special requests
i. Additional guest room supply such as slippers, tissue, mineral water,
etc.
ii. Additional guest bathroom supply such as soap, shampoo, towel, etc.
iii. Extra bed, blanket, towel, pillow,
iv. Dirty linen change
v. Lost and found report
vi. Room change, etc.

Another feature found in hotel management system is lost and found. The
feature is used to record lost or found items reported, both hotel properties and
guest belongings. The items found in the room will be directly submitted to the
Front Office to be immediately confirmed to the parties concerned. The items are
classified into valuable, non-valuable, perishable, and trash.
a. Valuable
 Valuable items are important and worth a great deal of money, such as
electronic stuffs, money, jewelry, passport, credit card, and high-branded
items. These items will be kept in the executive housekeeper’s custody in
the valuable locker in office for 6-12 months.
b. Non-valuable
Non-valuable items are considered unimportant items such as iron,
clothes, toilet paper, etc. Nonvaluable items will be stored in the lost and
found room for 3 months.
c. Perishable
Perishable items are things which is likely to decay or go bad quickly,
especially foodstuff. The items will be kept for 48 hours, but it the items
are not claimed until then, it will be removed from the list.
d. Trash
Items in the trash can in hotel room.

1.2 Using properly the terms / keywords group of housekeeping menu

After identifying the terms or keywords relating to housekeeping menu, a

housekeeper must know how to use them. The following is the example of
housekeeping report in a hotel management software,
 Picture 1: Example of housekeeping report display on
hotel management software

Picture 2: Example of Lost and Found report in Computer System

1.3 Exercise
Please choose the right answer from the following questions:
1. What are the three important components of technology of information?
a. Computer, data, and computer’s advance specification
b. Computer, data, and storage media and methods for representing the data
c. Computer, data, and computer’s brand
d. Computer, data, and computer’s upgraded operating system
2. The following is the reason of why using computer system for housekeeping
management system is efficient, except...
a. Because computer is equipped by storage media for large number of files
b. Because computer is equipped by program for managing data quicker
c. Because computer is equipped by program for displaying data
systematically
d. Because computer is equipped by hardware for impressive look
3. The following are the tasks of housekeeping order taker, except...
a. Receiving the guests order
b. Making order taker log book
c. Opening the door for the guests
d. Delivering the work order to the staff on duty
4. When the guests just check out and the room has not been cleaned, the
proper room status is...
a. VD
 b. DND
c. OOO
d. OOS
5. Used wrapping paper is included into...
a. Valuable items
b. Non-valuable items
c. Perishable items
d. Trash

1.4 Case study

The guest of room number 104 was overslept.
1.5 Practice
2.1 Identifying document purpose
Computers are capable of performing many other functions depending on
which program is being used at the time, including creating document. In the
modern business office nowadays, documents are prepared on a computer using
a word processing program, like Microsoft Word, for it is so much quicker and
easier to use a computer and a word processing program rather than a
conventional typewriter. In addition to, most word processing programs can
perform special functions such as showing text on a screen, storing text,
deleting or adding text, re-arranging text, checking the spelling of text,
automatically adding headers and footers to text, etc. Besides, the document can
be drafted, amended, and printed out so many times without typing them all
over again. All these important functions can save a good deal of time. It should
also, in theory, be possible to produce a perfect document every time.
However, whether using computer system or conventional typewriter,
before writing a single word, there are some steps we can do as the following,
a. Set your objective
It is vital to establish your precise objective or terms of reference. You
must first be absolutely sure of the purpose of your report. Only then can
you even begin to think about what you are going to write and how you are
going to write it. Before starting to write, you should ask yourself whether
your report is going to inform ? to describe ? to explain ? to instruct ? to
evaluate (and recommend) ? to provoke debate ? or to persuade ?
b. Assess your readership.
The next stage is to identify and assess your readership. In many cases,
you know who will be reading your report and the detailed content,
style and structure can then be matched to their level of knowledge and
expertise. Some strategies you can use are 1) concentrate on points they will
care about, 2) explain things they do not know, and 3) address questions and
concerns they would be likely to raise.

c. Decide what information you will need.

For some reports, you will need to collect very little information, while
for others you will require a great deal. You will need to think this through
carefully, either on your own or with other people. It is often useful to
discuss this with the person who commissioned the report and with
prospective readers, particularly any key decision makers. You can draw up
your lists of general areas to be covered and specific questions that will need
to be asked in any way you like. Using mind map to obtain the information
they will need is also useful.
 Picture 1: Example of Mind Mapping

2.2 Writing document based on identification result

After the purpose of the document is firmly establish, you are now in a
position to think about the overall plan of your report. This is known as the skeletal
framework. It is like drawing up the plans for a new house. Not only will it show
its overall structure, it will also remind you of the materials (information) you will
need to gather before the process of construction can begin. A number of
significant benefits will accrue in constructing a skeletal framework: to have an
overview of the entire report, to order your thoughts before considering how they
should be expressed, to identify any gaps in coverage or logic, and many more.
A well-planned skeletal framework is the key to effective report writing.
There are three components involved in the preparation of a skeletal frame work:
a. Working title
Working title defines the subject matter of the document. The title must
accurately describe what the text is all about. For the planning phase, use a
functional title rather than a creative, attention-grabbing title. For example, ‘why
ABC should build a factory in Anytown’ is more attractive, rather than ‘Anytown:
A Town of Growth’. In addition to, a functional working title is helpful in
continually reminding you of the document’s objective. Save the more creative
title for the final, pub lished version of the report, possibly adding the working title
as the sub title.

b. Structure of the report

A report consists of components, they are beginning, a middle and an end.
Each components also have their own components. It is your task to select the most
appropriate components to build up each of these main sections. The beginning
section consists of 1) title page, 2) foreword, 3) preface, 4) acknowledgements, 5)
contents page, 6) summary or abstract, and 6) introduction. The middle section
consists of main body, including substructures. The end section consists of 1)
conclusions, 2) recommendations, 3) appendixes, 4) references, 5) bibliography, 6)
glossary, and 7) index.
c. Information presentation within the main body
If you have already mind mapped the information you will need to obtain,
you can now re-shape this material into a structure that your readers will find both
acceptable and intelligible.