Training staff by department when switching hotel software

Part 1: Switching hotel software at 4–5 star level — why "staff are used to the old system" is a real concern

Staff who have mastered a system over many years are an asset to the hotel. They know special cases that no manual fully records. When a switch disrupts operations, the cause is usually not the staff but four mistakes in the way training is done:

• Learning by feature instead of by role and shift. The training session walks through every function of the system. Each person needs a small part of it but has to filter out their own part themselves.
• Training the whole hotel in one go. Front office, housekeeping, restaurant and accounting staff sit in the same hall. The night shift and staff on rotating days off are absent; one department's questions dilute another department's session.
• No data to practise on. Learning on a sample hotel with an unfamiliar room layout, rates and partner list means staff have to learn again from scratch when they see the real system.
• No one alongside on the first shifts. The trainer leaves after the session; the first shift, and especially the first night shift, falls to staff fending for themselves while the hotel is busy.

At 4–5 star level the risk is greater still: the hotel has no closing time in which to switch, and staff rotation and seasonal hiring mean that one initial round of training is not enough for the whole year.

Part 2: Training staff on new hotel software by department and by shift

The principle: each department learns its own sequence of tasks, in the order they happen during a shift. Front office learns from taking over the shift to handing it over. Housekeeping learns from receiving the room list to reporting rooms as clean. Outlets learn from opening a table to transferring the bill to the room and closing the shift. Accounting learns from the night audit to the period-end reports.

A lead for each department

• Each department chooses an experienced person as its lead, usually a shift supervisor or a long-serving employee whom colleagues trust.
• The lead learns first and goes deeper, and also reviews settings such as service codes, rates and access rights so they match the department's own rules.
• The lead stays alongside on the first shift, gathers questions and acts as the link with the vendor.
• The executive team assigns the lead role in writing, with time set aside for it within the shift, rather than treating it as overtime.

Learn by shift, not in one big session

Each department splits into groups by shift, so that night-shift staff, split-shift staff and staff on rotating days off all have their own session. Written operating instructions and video recordings of the training sessions help those who were absent to catch up, but they do not replace doing the tasks hands-on with the lead.

Part 3: Learning on the hotel's own data in a trial system

With DiHotel, training takes place in a trial system built from a copy of the hotel's own data: room layout, room types, rates, partner list and future bookings. Front office staff see the actual group booked for next week; accounting sees the actual list of contracted companies; the restaurant sees its own menu.

• The live system is not touched. Every practice action is written to the trial system alone; however many mistakes are made, real guests and real books are unaffected.
• Practice situations come from the hotel's own reality: a group checking in late, a guest moving rooms mid-stay, splitting a bill for a company, charging services to the room, a no-show.
• The old system is kept in read-only mode after go-live for a period of look-ups. Staff do not need to remember old data, just where to look it up; every new transaction is recorded in the new system alone.

Data migration, the trial run and group-by-group reconciliation before training are covered in the article hotel management software migration checklist. Training should start once the trial run has passed reconciliation, so staff learn on figures that are already correct.

Part 4: A sample training plan by department

The table below is a sample framework; each hotel adjusts it to its own organisation chart.

The table deliberately gives no number of sessions or hours, because that depends on the size of each department, the number of shifts and the number of people. The detailed schedule is set out in the service contract between the hotel and the vendor.

Part 5: The night shift and day-end close — the link that is easily forgotten

The night shift is often missing from general training sessions, yet it carries the night audit, the day-end close and the situations where there is nobody to ask.

• A separate session for the night shift, at a time when staff are alert, not straight after a duty shift.
• Practise the night audit in the trial system several times with real situations: late arrivals not yet checked in, no-shows, open restaurant bills, a cash difference.
• A pre-close checklist printed as a card at the desk: any guests not yet checked in, any outlets not yet closed, any payments not yet recorded.
• The first night on the new system must have a lead alongside, and the chief accountant has a plan to reconcile the first day's revenue the same night.

Part 6: Keeping accounting and reporting to owners and GMs uninterrupted

Switching mid-period can easily break the flow of figures: part of the month sits in the old system and part in the new one. Three things keep the flow intact:

• Accounting goes first. On DiHotel, the DiACC accounting module runs on the Circular 99 chart of accounts and posts revenue from the front desk automatically. The chief accountant understands this flow before front office starts practising, so when the desk makes a mistake, the books show it straight away.
• The balance sign-off record is signed before the first shift, so the opening figures in the new system have a documented basis. The details are in the article agreeing opening balances for the chief accountant.
• Owners and GMs see the figures through DiOwner, a read-only phone app with figures that match the operating system. In the first days, owners and GMs see revenue and occupancy right on a phone without having to call departments that are busy getting used to the new system.

For chains, each property that has moved to the new system appears on the same dashboard for owners and GMs in DiOwner. DiOwner is a read-only app for owners and GMs, not a system for running operations: every transaction is still recorded in DiHotel. Together, DiHotel and DiOwner form multi-property hotel management software: DiHotel runs operations at each property, and owners and GMs share one view of the figures.

Part 7: Chains and resorts — a property-by-property rollout

• Switch one property at a time, not all at once. Start with a property that has tidy data and a stable team; the first property becomes the model for the whole chain.
• Leads from the first property support the next ones. They have already been through go-live day, know where people get stuck and speak the same language as the staff.
• Standardise first, train second. Service codes, room types, rate rules and access rights are agreed for the whole chain before the first property is trained, so that the lessons of the first property can be reused at the next ones.
• Resorts with scattered villas and many outlets need extra sessions for outlets far from the front desk, with separate practice on charging services to the room from many points.
• New and seasonal staff: the operating instructions, the video recordings of the training sessions, the desk cards and the department leads form a framework for the hotel to retrain on its own, without waiting for the vendor every hiring season.

Smaller properties in the portfolio that still keep their books in spreadsheets can follow a step-by-step guide to switching hotel management software from Excel on the DiCloud Blog.

Part 8: Go-live day and the first week — measure by the five core tasks

• Pick a day at the start of the low season, avoiding days with large groups or events.
• Each department has its lead on duty for the first shift, and on-site support from the vendor for that day is arranged in advance.
• A one-page card at each workstation: the front desk, outlets, the housekeeping office.
• The DiHotel Help Portal at dihotel.vn/en/help-portal has illustrated and video guides so staff can look up a task again on their own.
• Measure by what people can do. At the front desk, each person does the five core tasks without asking: check-in, check-out, room move, taking payment, and the day-end close. Every other department has its own core sequence, as in the table in Part 4.
• Track two numbers every day: the number of questions sent to the leads, and the result of the daily revenue reconciliation.

Part 9: The "Zero-Cost Switch" package — training by department is one of the commitments

For hotels with 50 rooms or more, or chains with 2 or more properties, currently running an older on-premise system and signing a contract up to 30 June 2027, DiHotel makes five commitments:

• 1. Data migration at zero cost: a trial run first, reconciliation by data group, with a rollback point.
• 2. Parallel run: the old system is kept read-only for 3–6 months, with no pressure to switch it off.
• 3. No paying twice: the remaining term of the old system's contract, up to 6 months, is added to the DiHotel subscription term.
• 4. A balance sign-off record signed by both parties before go-live.
• 5. Training by department, on site under the service contract, with written operating instructions for the software and video recordings of the training sessions. The hotel assigns enough people from each department to attend by shift; after training, DiHotel sends one person to provide on-site support on go-live day.

The DiHotel subscription for switching customers is no higher than the maintenance fee the hotel currently pays for its old system, calculated by the number of rooms and the modules used. We do not discount the subscription; that amount goes into removing the risks of migration. Detailed terms are set out in the contract. If the old system's server is also nearing end of support, see the article Windows Server 2016 end of support: what hotels need to do before January 2027.

When switching hotel software, should staff training be organised by feature or by department?

By department and by shift. Each department learns its own sequence of tasks in the order they happen during a shift, on the hotel's own data in a trial system, instead of sitting through a tour of every function in the system.

Who should be the lead for each department?

An experienced person, usually a shift supervisor or a long-serving employee whom colleagues trust. The lead learns first, reviews the settings against the department's own rules, stays alongside on the first shift, gathers questions and acts as the link with the vendor.

How do night-shift staff learn if they cannot attend daytime sessions?

The night shift needs its own session at a time when staff are alert, practising the night audit and day-end close in the trial system with real situations, with a checklist card at the desk and a lead alongside on the first night on the new system.

Will switching software interrupt reporting to owners and GMs?

The flow of figures can be kept intact if accounting learns before the other departments, the balance sign-off record is signed before the first shift and the first day's revenue is reconciled the same night. Owners and GMs see the figures through DiOwner, a read-only app whose figures match the operating system.

Should a multi-property chain train all properties at once or one at a time?

One at a time. The first property, with tidy data and a stable team, serves as the model, and its leads support the properties that follow. Service codes, room types and access rights should be agreed for the whole chain before training starts.

What training support does the Zero-Cost Switch package include?

On-site training by department under the service contract, with written operating instructions and video recordings of the training sessions, plus one person providing on-site support on go-live day. The package applies to hotels with 50 rooms or more, or chains with 2 or more properties, for contracts signed up to 30 June 2027.