TO FEEL SLOW WHEN IT’S BUSY

I’ve worked all of my adult life in the quick service restaurant industry. No matter the pay, the status of the economy, or the income level of the town, one thing always has held true.

Bad bosses give poor customer service.

I’ve created and taught scheduling classes, hiring & selection workshops, and created new hire onboarding. Through it all, results were always dependent on the unit manager. The easiest way to overcome a bad boss is to manage the process. The second? Set the team up for success before it gets busy. It won’t make it a great experience, but it won’t be terrible either! Shoot for the middle and you won’t miss. (SIDE NOTE: I would love to tell you something mean and corporate like “Just fire those that don’t care” or “promote them to customer”. The reality is right now, you don’t know if a team cannot do the job because of you or them. We’re going to start with YOU as the issue and move from there.)

PREP YOUR WAY AHEAD

Ok, a few topics to clarify before we get into the meat and potatoes of this concept. First a definition:

WHAT IS PREP?

The number of products, equipment, and assigned teammates needed to handle a specific amount of sales volume.

I want to be clear, preparing 7 days of pizza sauce on Monday because you have the time, it isn’t a good use of your time. It takes up space, could expire, could be rotated incorrectly, and is more difficult to count. Also, having 4 extra teammates on for a rush shift because you always forget to do the dishes at open creates more problems than it solves.

Follow these prep thoughts instead:

  1. Prep what you need for this current shift.
  2. Prep what you need for the rest of the day.
  3. (Assuming your product won expire) Prep what you need for tomorrow.

Following this, you take care of this shift and your stress, you set up the next shift for success, and then you’re getting ready for tomorrow. Making your prep less and greatly decreasing the chance of running out of something.

What does any of this have to do with BE BUSY WHEN IT’S SLOW TO FEEL SLOW WHEN ITS BUSY?

Completing the prep for the opening shift before opening sets you up to handle whatever comes your way. If slow, you can setup the next shift for success by getting everything ready for them. The idea is that once you’re busy, no one should be doing anything that doesn’t directly affect a customer.

Don’t over prep. Don’t prep more than a day ahead. Be sure to stock everything as soon as possible to allow for less movement when busy.