additional conveniences of large lounges and halls

It will be noticed that, except that this is on a larger scale and for a different class of customer, there is much the same tendency to provide for non-resident lunchers and diners as there is in the larger city public-houses, and similarly the rooms are all of considerable size and luxuriously appointed, with the additional conveniences of large lounges and halls, more exclusively for the use of residents.

the first-floor plan, which it will be seen is more completely that of a residential hotel. The Regent Street frontage is even here occupied by the upper storeys of shops, but the Piccadilly and Vine Street frontages are given up to suites of rooms, generally arranged so that they can be let off in pairs or groups, a sitting-room and bedroom being usually grouped together, it being always possible to open communicating doors if desired. These suites are complete, each sitting-room and bedroom being pro- vided with separate cupboards and separate bathrooms, all properly lighted from the exterior, while the bed- rooms have standing washing basins. These rooms, occupying the exterior of the site, are all reached by internal corridors, which are lighted from large wells which also provide top light to the dining-room on the ground floor. The Air Street frontage is given up to drawing and reading-rooms, while the interior is devoted to hotel dining and coffee-rooms, served mainly from the kitchens on the lower floors, and having here only a service kitchen communicating by means of lifts with those below. There are also several service lobbies, pantries, etc., the general idea being to obtain ample internal communication, by means of which the servants can easily reach all parts without unnecessary interfering with the guests.

The same tendency to provide suites rather than single bedrooms is to be seen in the upper floors, of which that shown in Fig. 18 may be taken as a type. In many cases it would be possible here to provide groups of three or four, or even as many as six rooms, which would practically be independent residences within the great hotel, showing in a striking fashion the tendency at the present day to follow the American manner of hotel rather than home living. This floor is planned on the direct central corridor system, with two such corridors radiating from the main staircase, while the lift service is remarkable for its completeness.

Similarly, the way in which all parts can be reached by the servants from the back entry from Vine Street, by means of the stair which runs up and down from the goods entrance shown in that position in Fig. 15, is worth noticing. On these upper floors, by means of enlarging the areas, it has been possible to obtain external lighting to all the rooms, though the corridors will to a certain extent have to depend on electricity even here. There are no great general reception-rooms, and the need for them scarcely exists so much in a hotel of this character as it does where the guests are provided only with private bedrooms and not with private sitting-rooms also. This is an American idea rather than an English one, but it appears to be becoming general, and doubtless future hotels of the larger character erected here will be upon this system, unless it be found to pay better to provide somewhat large bedrooms which can be utilised for sitting-room purposes also, as is commonly done upon the continent. There is no stinting of room, but plenty of space is given to provide comfortable and even luxurious apartments for which a high rent can be charged.

The first floor is given up entirely to a large grill and dining-room

The first floor is given up entirely to a large grill and dining-room, which occupies the whole of one frontage and would be used principally by lunchers and diners, and to a coffee-room for the service of meals for those using the place as an hotel, there being a combined servery and still-room for supply- ing each of these, the former across the landing of the back stairs, and the latter through a servery hatch. The main staircase does not proceed above this floor, where it is replaced by a more private inner stair for hotel use, leading up to the second floor, on which is a smoking lounge for hotel residents as well as a number of bedrooms and a rather curiously placed bathroom. On the second floor the back stairs are changed in position on account of a certain portion not being carried up farther. The third floor is almost identical, the smoking lounge being replaced by an additional bedroom, and the hotel staircase going up no farther. The method of lighting this staircase does not appear on the illustrated plans, but would be seen if the third-floor plan were illustrated. There is a good deal of heavy brickwork on these upper floors, particularly in the chimneys, which has to be carried by girders, but this presents no difficulty if modern steel construction be adopted. The chimneys are generally arranged so as to group the flues and to permit of beds being placed comfortably in the rooms.

There are yet two more storeys, the fourth and fifth, and the kitchens occur on the fourth floor, being served for most purposes by the large lifts, while themselves serving the various dining-rooms and bars by means of the smaller lifts. The large lift is carried right from bottom to top of the building from sub-basement to the fifth floor ; while the smaller lifts commence on the ground-floor level and go up to the fourth floor only. A large storeroom is interposed between the kitchen and the staircase corridor, a scullery also serving somewhat in the same way to cut off the smell of the cooking from the bedrooms on this floor. At this level the angle takes a circular form, which is more emphasised again on the fifth floor, where the circle is complete, the room being used as a sleeping place for bar attendants ; for this top floor is naturally given up to the staff bedrooms and to a large larder above the kitchen a most sensible and airy position for such a room, where it would be possible to ventilate it thoroughly.

KLM Captain to assume that the word ‘Okay’ was the complete message

It seems likely that this caused

the KLM Captain to assume that the word ‘Okay’ was the complete message. In any

event the KLM Captain then took off and collided with the Pan-Am Jumbo killing a total

of 573 people. The investigators commissioned by the American Airline Pilots

Association concluded that this was the most likely explanation of events. They also

commented on the ambiguous use of the term ‘take-off’. Their comments on the use of

the telm ‘Okay’ were as follows:

The word (or letters) ‘O.K.’ can be ambiguous also: to the controller it was either a word

of acknowledgement or a delaying term to allow a moment to think. It can also mean a

host of other things, such as a state of well being, a check off of a task accomplished, or

a statement of approval. It could have had the latter meaning for the KLM crew.

Cultural differences can obviously present barriers to effective communication as well.

Some of the cultural barriers-such as language-are obvious but there may be more

hidden obstacles. A recent example given to me which illustrates this point concerned

the communication between the male Asian workers and the female canteen workers in

a London factory.

be reluctant to admit that he cannot understand the language

The person receiving the explanation may also,

understandably, be reluctant to admit that he cannot understand the language that is

used. The skill is in recognising that, even when ordinary English is used, there may. be

problems of comprehension. The initiator of any cQmmunication needs to get positive

confirmation that the ‘language’ he is using is one that can be understood.

In identifying the appropriate’ language’ for communication, attention needs to be given

to the possibility of ambiguity. The more important the consequences of error, the more

attention needs to be devoted to avoiding ambiguity. If stress is needed on this point, it

can be provided by the ambiguous use of words which contributed to the world’s worst

air disaster at Tenerife in the Canary Islands in 1977. The pilot of a KLM Jumbo Jet, who

was ironically. also the head of their Flight Training Department, was preparing to take

off at Tenerife. He explained that he was ready to the air traffic controllers and in

response was told “Okay. Stand by for take-off I will call you”. In the pause after the world

“Okay” there was radio interference because of a radio query by the Captain .of a

Pan-Am Jumbo about the intentions of the KLM Captain

Choice of language

Language difficulties can obviously hamper communication between people who have

different national languages. Regional dialects can also, and predictably, complicate

matters. However, there can be many other and more subtle language problems even

between people who are from the same country’, region and class. Technical language

may be used. in discussion which is beyond the comprehension of some of the

participants. In any organisation there are likely to be abbreviations, words with special

connotations, and ‘in-terms’ whose meaning is

taken for granted by those inside the organisation. A

colleague of mine recently gave an example of two nurses trying to communicate about

sterilisation policies in their respective parts of the Health Service. One was a midwife

and the other a community nurse. It took a quarter of an hour before they realised that

one was talking about sterilisation as a means of. birth control and the other about

sterilisation as a means of protecting babies from infection! Problems of language

invariably get exposed in the rectangles drawing exercise previously explained. The

diagram may be explained by the use of geometric language, points of the compass, the

hands of a clock or the use of symbols such as ‘L shaped’ and ‘an inverted V’. The

language chosen by the instructor is likely to be more convenient to some people than

others and a person’s ability to understand the instructor will in part depend on whether

the instructor chooses a language convenient to him or not

The recurring problem with language in communication is that the person who is trying to

explain something may understandably use the language that is most convenient to

himself without perhaps realising that

there. is a choice of language.

The choice of time and place

The choice of time and place to invite people to talk can be critical, Just as one knows

oneself that there are times when one is prepared to open up, and times when one is

not, so this can obviously be the case with other people. One of the skills of

communication is picking up the cues as to whether a person \s or is not prepaI’ed to

talk about a sensitive matter. Even if the place cannot always be chosen, sometimes the

geography of a room can be arranged to encourage, or for that matter to discourage, a

person from talking. The more status symbols surrounding the authority figure, the less

likely a subordinate is to feel free to talk. One remember one personnel officer who was

over six feet tall always made a point of seeing that he had an able but peppery works

superintendent who was short were both seated if anything of consequence was to be

discussed. The personnel officer had learned from experience that the superintendent

was self-conscious about his lack of height and so he did his best not to emphasise it.

Listening effectively

Listening effectively

Adopting a listening role can be far harder than taking the lead by talking. The problem

with this can be that, the more the authority figure talks, the less the other person may be

inclined to talk. There can be a critical moment when people in the subordinate role

might just start saying what they really feel, if only the authority figure stays quiet long

enough. Once the ‘subordinate’ has started talking, things may come out with a rush and

to the amazement of the authority figure. One have often found that such a critical

moment can occur when one leading classroom discussions.. One useful technique in

any such situation can be to count silently to five before breaking the silence after a

particularly important question has been asked. Time after time one have found that

such a delay has resulted in someone making a contribution that one had not thought

possible. Once a person has started to talk it can be relatively easy to get him to

continue and for any others to join in. The problem is likely to be how to get them started.

The authority figure needs to be aware of letting his ignorance, impatience or even his

own

nelVousness prevent such a process staI1ing. Care has to be taken with the timing of

invitations for people to open up-it is not only the time and the place that can be

important but also the stage in a discussion.