Service is Black and White. Hospitality is Color.
Early in Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect, Will Guidara introduces a deceptively simple but powerful idea: service is “black and white,” while hospitality is “color.” This distinction reframes how we think about professional excellence. Service is about accuracy, efficiency, and execution—getting the right form submitted, meeting deadlines, and ensuring compliance. Hospitality, however, is about how people feel as a result of that execution. It is the difference between completing a task and creating an experience. In research administration, where precision is paramount, this distinction challenges us to ask whether we are simply delivering outcomes—or intentionally shaping the experience around them (Guidara, 2022).
Within academic research environments, service is the baseline expectation. It is demonstrated through correct budgets, timely submissions, and adherence to institutional and sponsor requirements. These are non-negotiable and foundational to the integrity of the research enterprise. However, when service is delivered without attention to the human experience, it often becomes transactional—efficient, but emotionally neutral or even draining. Faculty, scholars, and trainees receive what they need, but not necessarily in a way that reduces stress, builds confidence, or fosters partnership. Guidara emphasizes that people may forget what was done, but they will remember how they felt, underscoring that emotional impact is not peripheral—it is central to how our work is experienced and remembered (Guidara, 2022).
Reframing research administration through hospitality requires a shift from task completion to intentional experience design. This does not mean doing more work; it means doing the same work with greater awareness of the human on the other side of it. For example, responding to a last-minute request from a principal investigator can be handled as a simple exchange of information, or as an opportunity to create clarity and reassurance. A hospitality-driven approach anticipates next steps, simplifies complexity, and acknowledges the broader pressure the individual may be under. These small, intentional adjustments transform routine interactions into moments of trust-building. Over time, these moments accumulate, shaping how individuals perceive not only the interaction, but the relationship itself.
Importantly, hospitality does not replace rigor—it elevates it. Guidara’s work demonstrates that the highest-performing organizations succeed not by choosing between excellence and hospitality, but by pursuing both simultaneously. In research administration, this means recognizing that accuracy gets the job done, but experience determines the impact. When hospitality is embedded into communication, workflows, and expectations, it transforms administrative support into a strategic, human-centered function that enhances the entire research ecosystem.
To be sustainable, hospitality must be operationalized—not left to chance. This requires embedding it into systems, not relying solely on individual effort. Clear, supportive communication templates, proactive onboarding processes, and intentional follow-up practices can ensure that hospitality becomes consistent rather than exceptional. In doing so, organizations reduce variability in experience while also protecting staff from burnout by making excellence repeatable.
Ultimately, this distinction invites a broader reflection: Are we simply executing processes, or are we shaping experiences? Service ensures that work moves forward. Hospitality ensures that people feel supported, valued, and confident as it does. In a field defined by complexity and pressure, that difference is not trivial—it is transformative.
Action Items for Research Administrators
- Audit one routine interaction this week. Ask: Is this purely transactional, or does it reduce stress and create clarity for the recipient?
- Rewrite one communication (email, template, guidance document) to be more human, clear, and anticipatory.
- Add one “next-step” sentence to your responses so stakeholders know exactly what comes next.
- Build one small follow-up habit (e.g., post-submission check-in) to reinforce support and partnership.
- Identify one friction point in your current processes and redesign it with the user experience in mind.
Start small. Be intentional. Add color.
