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Montreal native, Christina Poon is a community-minded hotel executive who after graduating from the Institut de tourisme et d'hôtellerie du Québec (ITHQ) worked her way up over the course of a 25-year career from an entry-level room attendant to General Manager. She has worked for Delta, Hilton, and now Marriott, in a mix of urban hotels, both in full-service and luxury tiers, ranging from boutique style to large convention properties. Most recently, Christina was the GM of the W Montreal, a 152-room property, which under her leadership was one of the highest ranked in the brand for Guest Satisfaction. Her deft skills in motivating her team during a challenging integration of the former Starwood property caught the attention of Marriott bosses. Now she has been tasked with rebooting the original 270-room W New York––Union Square and turning it into a “cutting-edge W Hotels showcase” with a complete renovation.
The property first opened its doors in 1911 as the headquarters of the Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, and in 2000 opened as W New York – Union Square. Located at 201 Park Avenue South, the 20-story W Hotel includes historic Beaux-Arts architecture, panoramic views of Union Square’s namesake pedestrian plaza and park, and a W Union Square rooftop sign that stands out on the Downtown skyline.
“The renovation seeks to unlock the property’s untapped potential with an iconic rooftop bar and an expanded restaurant. Honoring the brand’s electric New York City roots and innovative drive, the renovated hotel will be the incubator and catalyst for a new vision for W in North America—one focused on immersive, next-level contextual design; authentic, experiential programming; and a fresh take on the brand’s signature “Whatever/Whenever” service philosophy. I am collaborating closely with the W Brand Team, as well as several Marriott International Teams, to bring the new vision of W to life,” Christina tells us.
With such a big and ambitious project, we were most curious about how and where do you even begin? We chatted with Christina about how she plans to get her team energized and on board, especially as the hotel will remain open during the renovation period. Turns out her first step is a leadership meeting!! We get the scoop on her meeting and tips for how to make any meeting a success.
Thanks for taking the time to share your process, Christina. So, you recently held a meeting to create a "roadmap" for the refurb and repositioning of the hotel?
Our purpose was to create a roadmap that will help us to elevate the guest experience. We are constantly looking for ways to improve and we always aim to do better than yesterday. We want to offer more than just a great-looking room to our guests, and we needed to uncover what <more> was for us.
What did you do to prepare for the meeting?
I am not sure people realize all the preparation that goes into great meetings! It starts with "Why?". We, the Guidance Team (aka Executive Committee), list the top 3-4 goals that we want to attain before we even start anything else. Once that is established, we build a thoughtful agenda, decide on the attendees to invite, and select the best date/time and place for a productive session. In everything that we plan, we ensure that our W Brand values are integrated. For example, is there a fantastic music component?
I am not sure people realize all the preparation that goes into great meetings! It starts with "Why?"
How do you engage your team in the meeting prep and during the meeting?
Several of the leaders that I have crossed paths with throughout my career gave me reading material to expand my knowledge, and I learned something important each time. I wanted to perpetuate this precious tradition. We got every attendee a book– Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara–which matched our ambitions for the brainstorming and asked them to read it as pre-work. As a big plus, they talked about the book with each other before the meeting and it created a nice buzz. During the meeting, we would keep them engaged by asking them questions, by having them read parts of the presentation, and by hosting activities where they are in small groups.
How did you structure the day?
We started with the heavier part of the agenda, followed by some videos and images, then a panel discussion, and ended the meeting with the brainstorming sessions in smaller clusters. Halfway, we had a break, and we concluded the day with a nice social moment with small bites and fun music.
What worked and what didn't?
I discovered that several of my colleagues struggled with finding time to sit down and read a whole book even if we handed it out a few weeks before. Unfortunately, I had not anticipated that, although I should have. In our industry, we have hectic schedules, and most have family obligations or other to attend to. However, they are solution-oriented people and quickly got themselves the audiobook. This option enabled them to listen to it while commuting or working out! Overall, we felt that the flow of the day itself was good, and we got strong ideas out of our team.
How did you incorporate fun?
We incorporate lighthearted moments by playing songs chosen by the team no matter how funky they are, a bunch of sweet snack options during, a selection of small salty bites after, and just genuine conversations filled with laughter.
What are your top tips for holding a productive meeting?
The classic recipe that works best for me:
Set a clear agenda
Invite the right people
Start, and end on time
Encourage participation
Takes notes
Follow-up
Limit distractions
What should leaders AVOID when holding a meeting?
Top things to avoid for sure:
Loading the agenda with too many things (i.e.: remember the era of 99 PPT slides?)
Going without a break for more than 2 hours
Having only one person talk the entire time
Choosing a stuffy and dark room
Letting distractions get out of hand
Not following up on the meeting with the attendees later
I would also add to avoid the overuse of technology or relying solely on it to conduct the meeting. It might cause a lack of engagement.
Were the outcomes what you expected?
Yes! The team worked hard during the group think tanks and they generated actionable solutions. Also, everyone bonded which is another valuable outcome we were sincerely hoping for. People have a profound desire to connect with other people. It is beneficial for newer managers to learn from more experienced managers, and it is equally as beneficial for the seasoned ones to hear fresh perspectives.
What are the next steps?
We have put together all their ideas and we are going to assign leaders to each one. They will be responsible to research the feasibility and come up with an action plan to implement them. We will be creating a Teams group and use that medium to track the progress week after week. We will meet as a group again in 6 months to evaluate our roadmap and adjust if needed.
Any other challenges for successful meetings, particularly for hoteliers?
It is extremely challenging to get everyone together because of the 24/7 nature of our business. Although we were able to get colleagues from other properties to manage our operations for most of the time that we were offsite, one of our managers had to work overnight and missed the team meeting. Not wanting them to feel left out or less important, we planned a one-on-one meeting with them and went through the whole presentation, and held a brainstorming session as well.
For our plan to succeed, we need everyone to participate, be heard, be aligned, and be engaged. They truly felt touched by the special attention and even said that they were willing to be left out of the next team meeting just to have another opportunity for such a personalized session!
Do you feel these types of meetings are essential for employee buy-in on whatever goals you have as they all would have had the chance to offer input?
Yes, meetings are essential. Team members get full access to the senior leadership team, they hear about our vision, our goals, and our aspirations in person, and they get to ask questions, make suggestions, and discuss with others. For our team, we aim to maintain the excitement around our transformation, to create a culture of collaboration and an ethos of excellence.