You hear it constantly – from your boss, your spouse and even your parents – you want to save? “Do less with more!” If you ask a restaurant consultant, this usually means using Friday’s baked potatoes for Saturday’s Loaded Potato Soup, but I’d like you to begin leveraging a much larger asset – your staff! Save advanced menu engineering for another day – let’s focus on some cross training tips that help you learn how to run a successful restaurant.
We all know your guests’ first and last impressions usually hinge on the host or hostess, but what if this team of naturally cordial employees could offer a lot more than a smile and quick wave? In many cases – your wait staff is already tipping out a portion of their sales for these team members – so why not motivate both sides to do MORE? Here are just a few ideas to get you started.
- Be a human in the middle of the weeds! It’s easy for customers to feel lost or neglected in the middle of a rush between fast orders and clanging plates. Let your hosts and hostesses acknowledge your customers, even if only giving a quick nod as they pass by. This gives customers a chance to raise a hand if they need something – or just smile back. Let them venture away from the front door!
- Back to basics! Train your staff to look for the key items each table needs to succeed – full drinks, napkins, silverware, condiments and clean space. Then, empower your host and hostesses to help fill the gap. Whether dropping off a pile of napkins to that table with five kids or clearing the Leaning Tower of App Plates, every little bit helps!
- Pick-up artist! Ensure he or she is comfortable carrying both a drink pitcher and a food tray. Two ounces of water in an empty glass can be the difference between happy and angry customers.
- Be a clean machine! Before, during and after each meal – the host and hostess can help improve everyone’s visit by keeping things tidy. This can include spraying down sticky menus, sweeping under the table that saw all nine innings and/or simply picking up a straw wrapper here and empty bottle there.
- Host to guests; assistant to wait staff. The most effective teams are those who communicate best. That means the host or hostess will actually ASK the server who just got a table of 12 in addition to her private party in the back what she needs. A good server can delegate a task and handoff three “please do…” items immediately. A good host or hostess will be able to perform these tasks with perfection.
Once you empower your staff to contribute outside of their normal comfort zone, you’ll be amazed at how each team member seeks new opportunities to both contribute more and to seek assistance. This is also a great way to identify potential for cross-training into other areas. If you train each of your teams to contribute to the success of the other teams, you never have to staff for peaks – you already have! You’ll reap the benefits in terms of restaurant accounting and restaurant operations as you streamline headcount without sacrificing on quality.
