SODOTO is See One, Do One, Teach One.

In 1890, William Stewart Halsted became the first Chief of Surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital who transformed surgical education by creating the residency program. Halsted’s model of “see one, do one, teach one” is based on acquiring increasing amounts of responsibility that culminated in near-independence.

Why is it relevant to Hospitality & Service Industries?

• For a very long time, apprentice programs were the only way skill was taught. A novice would join a Master's practice and spend years learning by watching, doing, relearning and redoing. The cycle repeated till a skill was learnt to the level expected by the Master or the apprentice giving up.

• The hospitality & Service Industries have an element of skill in almost every task. We also have the added complexity of creating the service in the presence of the customer/guest. This is known as Inseparability, a service attribute.

• Add to this tasks that require multiple levels of inputs from multiple people. Catering a banquet for example would involve a lot of people putting together their talents to create a unifying experience for the guest. One element that does not reach the desired level puts the entire effort in jeopardy.

• Attrition. Our industries see a lot of attrition and hence we need to keep training new talent.

• Brand Standards. While almost all hotels have similar processes, the details could be completely different. New joinees, not only need to learn your brand standards, they need to unlearn old habits.

Actionable Insights - SODOTO ver 2.0 (some ideas on maxing each part of the equation)

See One.

• There were no multimedia in those days, today it exists and the tech is getting cheaper and easier every day.

• Capture the skill on video, make an interactive learning app, have the apprentice/students/newbies go over this as many times as required. Let them make a note of questions.

• Then when they do see one, performed live, they will take in that much more. They will focus on the nuance.

Do One.

• We suggest a name change to this part. 'Do One Perfectly' (or at least to the minimum standards agreed upon).

• We also suggest that this happen in pairs. One person does, the other watches (see more than one), corrects and repeats till both are happy with the results. A typical suggestion here is to have a mentor do the watching. That might be a good idea in the start for a while, then let go.

• Again, use tech. Let them record their version of 'perfect' and this can be assessed by the mentor/skill specialist.

• We also submit that the 'do one' part needs a heavy dose of deliberate practice.

Teach One.

• Each One must teach. That is the core of this. It may not necessarily be taught to another newbie. It can be each of the learners, teaching the other learners, but teaching is the key.

• It is only when we need to teach, that we clarify the entire process and articulate the task and action taken.

• Once again, record the teaching, and use the best as learning material for the next batch.

• Most hotels may have a departmental trainer and currently, this might fall under their purview. We feel the DT must help others teach.

Real-World Example

Let's take the room cleaning process as an example.

• Step 1 - Break down the process into smaller parts. In this case: Bed Making, Bathroom Cleaning, Rest Of The Room.

• Step 2 - Have your DT/Mentor/Senior make a video detailing the process. If you can create a simple text file, as a handout, that would be great. You can also transcribe the audio of the video to create this. Share this with all your learners.

• Step 3 - Have a live session - real world or online. This is the SEE ONE. Let the learners know there will be a test. This makes the learner pay a little more attention.

• Step 4 - Let the learner's pair up and DO the process. Let them observe each other and give feedback.

• Step 5 - Let them teach their partner first. Once you are sure they know what they are doing and teaching, let them teach the next batch of new joinees.

I have 2 things I would like you to think about:

1. Which skill would you like everyone in your company, hotel, department to get better at?

2. Which skill if you had been made to teach early in your career, would have created 10X gains?

If you like this and want to implement it, we would be the 'remote' mentors for you. Let's try it out for one process and take it from there? I am on p.bedi@eclathospitality.com and one process is on the house.