Restaurant Leadership Tip: Get SMART

At any time during the day, you can encounter “pop-ups” ­– unexpected events that steer you away form your current course of action. Stacked side by side, they disrupt your daily, weekly and monthly plans. Before you know it, you’re caught on a treadmill, running as fast as you can but getting nowhere.

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