Do you have the skills to be a great yacht stewardess? Climbing the ladder to be well on your way to Chief Stew in no time.

In this episode, we dive into the skills that you need to become the best damn yacht stewardess out there. These core skills will make you effective at your job as a SUPER STEW. They are also transferable skills as you develop them over time and take them with you as your career develops; think of them as your passport to yachting success. 

The skills necessary to be a great yacht stewardess:

• Be a team Team player: You will need to be able to pay attention and be a part of a  team that works well together 24 hours a day in stressful situations. This involves helping in other departments such as jumping into housekeeping and assisting if they need it or helping the service team in the pantry if they are busy. You will also need the ability to respect steward/ess’ personal values, opinions, and ideas and be able to listen and respond when appropriate.
  
• A good planner: To achieve long-term goals onboard it’s important to share the vision with the crew. Thinking and planning out strategies for improving the quality and efficiency onboard and then planning out directions from here allows for good time management and the best result.
  
• Good communication skills: Having the ability to communicate clearly and efficiently is a key part of being a stewardess. Within your team, you need to able to communicate well and pass on any information to your team members to ensure they are up to date on what is happening on board so everyone is in the know. When you are looking after guests you have to radio any movements to the captain, deck department, and the interior team. For example, if the guests are nearly finished breakfast and you hear them talking about watersports you radio the deck department and let them know the guests could potentially want to do water activities soon so they can prepare. Just like when the guests leave the table and head down to the swim platform you need to tell the deck department so they can have a crew member waiting. Communication is vital during service as you can imagine a chef has to prepare everything and works to specific cooking times. They don’t have eyes on the table, you’re their eyes so communicating back to the galley with any information such as how far the guests are through a course is key to a service that flows well. You will also need to communicate clearly to guests in a clear and concise manner with appropriate body language. If you get the communication element right it shows that we as stewardesses understand the needs and wants of guests.
  
• Be a Motivator: As a chief stewardess, you have a powerful role in motivating your team as well as ensuring you are keeping yourself motivated. Having the ability to structure a task, set goals and be a great motivator is crucial to having a positive Interior team. If you are constantly uplifting your team and encouraging them, they are going to be doing a better job than if you are complaining about tasks and not motivated yourself.
  
• Be A Problem solver: Being able to deal with issues that arise on a daily basis is a part of being a stewardess. A captain once said to me I don’t need you to come to me with problems I need you to come to me with a solution to the problem and I think that is relevant to being a great stewardess. You should also be able to deal with any issues in a professional matter, avoiding frustration anger, or stress.
  
• Be an organiser: If you are a list person, or love meetings, being OCD is a strength in a stewardess role. There is no such thing as being too organised onboard a yacht, the more organised you are the better prepared you are for likely and unlikely events. For example prepping service items such as plates, cutlery, utensils, and pulling your table decorations well before the next meal service allows you to be organized if the guests decide they want to eat earlier. This is a flow-on effect to remaining calm, not frantic when things need to happen quickly. Guests can sense when crew members are stressed just like any other person can, you need to remain calm  even at times when you have a thousand things on your to-do list. The calmest stewardesses look graceful, they are not erratic or stressed and are pleasant to be around.

+ Some other skills: Good conduct, great personal hygiene, and appearance, having a good memory and concentration skills, being punctual, having local knowledge, positive personality and can-do attitude, being honest and reliable.