Start by listing each job position by category and add one for management. Then look at tasks that would make the following shift’s opening easier. Ask yourself: “If an employee fails to report, which tasks in his or her position could already be done for a smooth open.”

A key to the “close to open” philosophy’s success is the consistency with which it’s executed. You and your employees must follow through on individual responsibilities every shift. Constant and consistent follow-up will lead to permanent, positive behavior changes from your managers and your hourly employees. You’ve installed a series of checks and balances. As employees pick up and complete tasks they are responsible for, you’ll never enter the restaurant facing surprises due to the previous shift’s shortcomings.

Check out Get a Life: Running Your Restaurant Without Running Out of Time, for more restaurant leadership tips.

The bottom line is that businesses fail every day not because they couldn’t “serve” their guests but because they couldn’t cover their costs. “Service” may create word-of-mouth traffic in your restaurant or bar but it’s making sales that keeps the restaurant or business open and the staff employed. “Service” alone won’t sustain any company.

Service and sales (combined with effective cost control) is what makes and keeps a restaurant successful, your staff employed and your business in operation. Service is the handle. Sales is the pump. Service is the most important thing you “sell.” Service is your invisible product, good service adds value to the purchase, and service is what ultimately brings your customers back.

Excerpted from Service That Sells! The Art of Profitable Hospitality, the best-selling book in hospitality history written by restaurant managers for restaurant managers. Click to learn more!

To get your operation moving forward again, it’s paramount to set goals supported by well-defined, written objectives. They specify what needs to be done, how it will be measured, who will be responsible, when goals will be reached, and what the overall impact will be. They get your operation off the treadmill and back on track.

In the hectic, high-turnover environment of a restaurant, however, goals and objectives can seem impossible to manage on a consistent basis. It’s easy to slip into a reactive mode, responding to things that have already occurred. It doesn’t take long to realize the need for long-term planning. When it comes to establishing goals and objectives, one proven acronym can help you remember the process: SMART – Smart, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented, Timely.

Want more real-world solutions to becoming a better restaurant manager? Check out Get A Life: Running Your Restaurant without Running Out of Time

When sexual harassment is reported in your operation, you have to react quickly, appropriately and definitely. Follow your company guidelines – or check out the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for legal procedures – as soon as the first complaint is made. In the meantime – before problems occur – implement these steps to prevent sexual harassment in your workplace:

• Study, post and train employees on your sexual harassment policy. Communicate to your team that you are taking a “zero tolerance” approach toward sexual harassment and ask them to sign the policy, acknowledging that they have read and understood its contents. (If you have employees whose primary language is not English, have the policy translated.)
• Train, train, train. There are countless sexual harassment training options out there. Some are even specifically focused on the hospitality industry. Find the program that works best for your operation and make sure all employees participate.
• Make it easy for employees to complain. Provide a few people (team leaders, managers, etc.) who an employee can confide in. Give the option for a male or a female and make sure all employees know who they can talk to if they’re being harassed.
• Conduct a survey. Ask employees to anonymously complete a questionnaire that asks if they’ve been sexually harassed in your operation. Often this simple tool will let you know that there’s a problem, even if nobody’s talking about it.

 Protect your operation with a solid anti-harassment training program such as Harassment in Hospitality. Click here for more details and check out an excerpt from the DVD below:

A restaurant or bar is not merely a “place to eat or drink,” but rather a building designed to accommodate, facilitate and promote the retail sales of food and beverage to customers through service. We provide service as a way of making sales to those customers. The restaurant or bar is a physical space. Our business is designing and using that space to make sales. Why do you think we call our restaurants “stores”?

Once the analogy between foodservice and retail sales is understood we can then differentiate between what we do and what we should be doing. First, we begin by making a distinction between our business’s function and our goal.

• Our function as a business is to acquire and maintain customers.
• Our goal is to be profitable.

If you agree with this, you must ask yourself: “How do I successfully manage my business’s function every day so that we will make money? The answer is quite simply: TRAINING.

Excerpted from Service That Sells! The Art of Profitable Hospitality — the best-selling book in foodservice history. Click to learn more!

Keep it light and sincere, mentioning noteworthy performances. It’s crucial to leave your followers with the knowledge that you appreciate what they do. Citing specific examples demonstrates your awareness and ability to recognize desirable shift behaviors. Thanking employees communicates that you’re approachable.

Need more ideas to improve management in your restaurant? Check out Leadership Now: Achieving Restaurant Management Excellence In 30 Days.

During this period, the things you say and do, the tests of will you encounter, the decisions you make and the bonds you develop all will contribute to how quickly your employees follow your lead. Remember, your followers make you a leader, not the other way around. Although your title as manager carries a certain level of distinction and authority, it no longer supersedes the need to earn respect and establish credibility with your employees.

It’s critical to make every day count, which is why your plan to leadership success should be broken down into daily leadership activities and a weekly action plan like this one:

Week One

• Be Approachable
• Get Organized

 Week Two

• Implement Change
• Make Sound Decisions

 Week Three

• Surround Yourself With Great People
• Be a Great Counselor

 Week Four

• Build Your Team
• Make Things Happen

 Are you ready to take action? C’mon, Big Kahuna, it’s time to stop bossing and start leading.

 For a detailed action plan to restaurant management success, click here to check out Leadership Now: Achieving Restaurant Management Excellence in 30 Days.

The concept of internal customers is nothing new. Most people understand and agree with the general theory. Happy and satisfied employees lead to happy and satisfied guests. When it comes to achieving a successful relationship between managers and staff, one fundamental concept stands above the rest: appreciation.

When employees feel that their hard work isn’t taken for granted by their managers or their co-workers, they are much more likely to go above and beyond the call of duty, both for guests and for each other. As the economic climate continues to test operators’ abilities to adapt to the changing needs of customers, don’t forget to spend time focusing on internal customers. How they’re treated is a direct reflection on guest satisfaction – and guest loyalty.

Sick policy. Consider your employees’ needs and family responsibilities. Sick days may be needed to care for sick children or aging parents.

Eating on the job. Consider starting a 15-minute “family meal time,” during which employees sit down and eat together. Serve inexpensive dishes (lasagna, for instance) rather than allow ordering from the menu.

Personal phone calls. Doctors or sitters may need to be called or consulted. Again, think of employees’ lives outside the walls of your restaurant.

Tardiness. Listen to the reasons for late arrivals, and judge each on a case-by-case basis. Deal with repeated tardiness as needed.