8 Things Highly Effective Restaurant Managers Do
8 Things Highly
Effective Restaurant Managers Do
Restaurant managers
have high-pressured, demanding jobs that incorporate a multitude of tasks.
From time
management to employee care and customer service, restaurant managers must have
special skills to do their job well.
In this article, we
look at eight things highly effective restaurant managers do so you can make
your restaurant as successful as possible.
#1:
They Respect Their Staff
One of the best
ways to motivate your staff to provide the best customer service to guests is
to show them you respect them.
This is a trait of
highly effective restaurant managers – they respect their team.
The best managers
treat their staff like individuals. They respect their ideas and their
concerns. They learn about their team on a personal level.
When staff feels
respected by the manager, they perform better and are more loyal.
In addition, you
don’t want to play favorites. This is a quick way to ruin all of your hard work
building a rapport with staff.
#2:
They Communicate
Highly effective
restaurant managers communicate in a positive manner with their employees. They
know how to use constructive criticism to improve the work of their team.
Effective communication is an absolute must for
restaurant managers. Without it, your restaurant staff will have a hard time
coming together as a team, and morale will be low.
Great communicators
are skilled at problem solving, negotiating conflict and making their staff
feel empowered.
Here are a few
things restaurant managers can do to improve their communication skills:
·
Have an open-door policy. This means the manager
leaves the door “open” to encourage transparency and a theme of openness.
Questions, comments, concerns and suggestions are welcome at any time, and with
an open-door policy, employees feel like they have a voice. Staff feel free to
stop by the manager’s office at any time.
·
Hold consistent, regular staff meetings. The best plan is to do
this before each shift. Make sure each employee knows what’s expected of them
during the shift. Give a brief pep talk and encourage staff.
·
Use praise, a lot. Encourage communication by giving your team
feedback and letting them know anytime you see them doing something good.
Employees who feel
valued by a manager with good communication skills are better at their jobs.
#3:
They Are Consistent
One of the best
things about the restaurant industry is that each day is different. You meet
and serve different people, and oftentimes you offer different food in the form
of the day’s special.
While this can be
energizing, it can also cause stress among the staff.
Effective
restaurant managers are pillars of consistency. They are reliable, and the
staff can count on them no matter what the day throws at them.
The manager’s
consistency trickles down to the staff and helps everyone work together in a
more cohesive fashion.
#4:
They Set the Culture
The number one
reason people quit their jobs is their manager. Once you understand
this, you can work towards setting the right culture for your staff.
Highly effective
restaurant managers know what they want their team culture to look like, and
then they make a plan to encourage it. (tweet this)
For example, if you
want to encourage a culture of customer service, do your best to first provide
that to your employees. Praise your staff on a regular basis, reward them for
going above and beyond and offer thanks regularly.
Consider some of
these words when deciding what kind of culture you want to create at your
restaurant:
·
Energetic
·
Fun
·
Community
·
Leadership and autonomy
·
Teamwork
·
Honesty
·
Caring
·
Flexible
#5:
They Are Planners
Effective
restaurant managers begin
each day with a plan.
This is the best
way to manage a restaurant because things often come up, and restaurant
managers are pulled in many directions.
To stay on track,
begin with a plan. For starters, you need a list.
You can do this on
paper, or you can use an electronic system. Just make sure that whichever
method you choose, you keep it in front of you so you can work your plan.
Here’s a checklist
to get you started:
·
Know who is coming in to work. Plan their shift assignments.
Don’t do this on the fly because staff notices when managers aren’t prepared.
·
Do an inventory of food and supplies. Know what you’re starting
your day with so you can cross check it at the end of the day. You also want to
be aware of what ingredients you are low on so you don’t get caught
empty-handed.
·
Make a list of any tasks, other than preparing and serving the
food, that you need your team to take care of when it’s slow.
#6:
They Problem Solve
Often, a manager’s
task involves putting out fires. Some managers may even find themselves doing
this all-day long.
Highly effective
restaurant managers leave time in their schedule for problem solving and
conflict resolution.
Whether it’s
contentious staff, angry customers, an inventory shortage, late delivery or
something else entirely, restaurants often encounter issues that require quick
thinking and problem-solving skills.
If you need some
training in this area, look for a class that can help you learn how to better
problem solve.
#7:
They Multi-Task
As the manager,
someone usually wants you for something during a busy shift.
The best restaurant
managers are highly capable multi-taskers.
But, there is a
balance. While you need to be skilled at multi-tasking, you also need to know
when to delegate.
The goal of
effective managers is to be able to float through the restaurant taking care of
several things at once.
Perhaps you need to
greet customers. This is an important task because it makes customers feel
valued. Yet, you have a problem in the kitchen. Great managers can handle both
of these scenarios at the same time.
The best managers
don’t get flustered and work their way from one task to the other with ease.
They are calm and patient.
#8:
They Set an Example
Highly effective
restaurant managers are the first to arrive and the last to leave. They set the
tone for the rest of the staff.
If you want your
staff to be the best they can be, you have to lead by example. Here are some
tips:
·
Be on time. You can’t expect staff to arrive a few minutes early
if you’re always late.
·
Leave last. Stay until all the work is completed.
·
Be thoroughly versed in every job in the restaurant. Make sure
if needed that you could take over seamlessly.
·
Solve problems immediately and don’t let them fester.
Final
Thoughts
Highly effective
restaurant managers are superhuman. They wear a number of hats each day they
work.
If you want to
create a dynamite team and have a smooth-running restaurant, you want to be a
highly effective restaurant manager.
Hone your
communication skills, work on your customer service, plan and be positive.
You’ll soon have your team following suit. (tweet this)
Highly effective
managers have a great team ready to work hard for every shift. This reflects
itself in the great service your staff provides your customers which in turn
puts your restaurant ahead of the competition.
Restaurant
Management Tips: What Every New Manager Needs to Know
Managing a restaurant
is like watching over the gears of a complicated machine. Not only do you have
the usual managerial concerns of employees and customers, but you’re dealing
with food service and the unique baggage that comes along with that.
As a new restaurant
manager, this can be overwhelming. It’s a demand for psychology and artistry
coming at you at 100 mph. Improve your managerial skills with these helpful
restaurant management tips:
1. Be consistent
No two days in a
restaurant are the same. New crises pop up in a restaurant at the drop of a hat
like no other business. Things move fast, and the worst thing a manager can do
in that kind of situation is taking an inconsistent approach to how he responds
and resolves issues.
What do you need to
be consistent in?
·
How
you communicate.
·
How
you maintain rules.
·
What
your expectations are.
When there’s a rush
happening at the door and a small circus in the kitchen, your employees need to
know that you are going to be consistent. Your consistency makes it possible
for them to handle the high-stress loads without cracking.
2. Manage proactively
In the restaurant
business, things come at you fast. You need to be proactive and stay ahead of
the curve instead of being reactive. This means that you look and work in the
future, not in the current moment, for managing decisions such as:
·
Staffing
needs
·
Menu
changes and updates
·
Marketing
campaigns
·
Inventory
·
Spotting
consumer trends
·
Updating
technology
If you’re not
proactive, you won’t manage the restaurant, it’ll manage you.
Managing
time off requests fairly begins with a clear and easy way to track them.
Download our free time off request form to get started.
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3. Learn the
operation by doing the work yourself
As a manager, the
more actual experience you have in working the business the better you will be
in problem-solving when something goes haywire.
Be a manager who
isn’t afraid to get your hands dirty, who knows how the kitchen operates, what
the cooks are dealing with, the stresses of the servers. Talk to your employees
about what they do and why they use the methods they use. You’ll gain respect
(and knowledge) from your employees and have a better foundation for making
decisions that affect them and the customers they are serving.
4. Prioritize staff
retention
According to a recent survey, 46% of restaurant
managers and owners said that hiring, training, and then retaining staff is
their number one challenge.
Not sales. Not
inventory. Not trends. Staffing.
Make staff
retention a priority. Constantly replacing staff is a huge
expense in an industry that already has tight profit margins. Customers in
restaurants come for the experience (as we’ll talk about in a minute), and part
of that experience is becoming comfortable with the staff they expect to see at
their regular haunt.
Build
the work schedule in minutes, communicate with employees, and handle schedule
changes with ease with When I Work.
START
SCHEDULING
5. Keep your eye on
customer satisfaction
Managing customer
expectations in any business is difficult, but a restaurant tops that list.
You’re dealing with everything from food preferences, dietary issues, traffic
flow in the restaurant, irate customers, last-minute reservations, and people
who show up to eat five minutes before you’re ready to close.
Customer satisfaction is the end goal
for every decision you make when a customer issue pops up. How you go about
getting that satisfaction may vary, but the end result is always the same. No
joke: a basic understanding of psychology wouldn’t hurt.
One word of caution:
get to customer satisfaction without sacrificing your staff. Protect your staff
from customer tempers and wrath. Remember, you don’t want to lose staff,
either.
6. Improve the
customer experience
The restaurant
industry now commands nearly half of the food dollar in
the United States. That’s a lot of people eating out instead of cooking at
home.
There are practical
reasons for this shift from a budget for grocery over to eating out (e.g. don’t
want to cook at home because of convenience issues). But there’s more to it
than convenience.
Food isn’t just food.
According to the National Restaurant Association, 56% of surveyed adults said they’d
rather spend money on an experience than simply going to the store to buy food.
You might think you’re merely managing the preparation and delivery of food,
but you’re also managing the customer experience.
It’s easy to get
caught up in the obvious concerns of good food and efficiency, but if you lack
concern for the overall experience your diners are having, you miss the big
picture. Managing customer experience involves a mix of ambiance, cleanliness
(restrooms especially!), friendly staff, fair prices, unique food, and even
no-fuss no-wait seating. If people are willing to pay to eat out because they
are looking for experiences, a grumpy server or 40-minute wait at the door
won’t impress.
7. Take word-of-mouth
seriously
The most popular way
people choose a restaurant is by word-of-mouth from friends (78%). The second most popular? Social
media. These are essentially the same in that they originate not from your
message (what you control) but what others say about you.
Online reviews
matter. Making a unique and memorable experience that gets people to talk about
your restaurant matters. Have a social media presence matters (as long as you
can manage it well). Monitoring what is said about your restaurant on social
media matters.
And remember,
word-of-mouth can go both ways. It can be positive, or it can be negative.
8. Invest in
advertising
A restaurant can’t
live by word-of-mouth alone.
You will still need
advertising. You need signs, you need print ads, you need online ads—
advertising is especially important in a competitive market or when you are a
new restaurant.
As a manager, the
trick is to establish a budget and stick with it. Obvious, sure, but a smart
advertising budget is built on gathering data that fits the needs of your
restaurant. You have to be gathering necessary data. That includes:
·
Demographics
(Who eats at your restaurant? Advertise where they are. Social media ads can
work well and have ample audience targeting capabilities).
·
Trends
·
Sales
(Including peak times and seasons)
·
Food
trends
That kind of data is
useful for many of the decisions you make about your restaurant, but it’s vital
if you want to avoid throwing money away on thoughtless advertising.
9. Take care of your
health
After all of the
usual managerial tips, this last one is the most forgotten: take care of
yourself.
This sounds odd, but
let’s be realistic: restaurant work is hard work. A restaurant manager isn’t
sitting at a desk lording over everyone all day. She’s out there on the floor,
in the thick of it, pulling long hours, standing on her feet, pinch-hitting in
multiple roles.
It’s tiring. And
physical weariness can lead to emotional and mental weariness.
Take care of your
health, and stay fit. Your staff and restaurant will thank you for it.
10. Find a mentor
Many of the best
restaurant management tips will come from someone who actually has experience
in the food service industry. Our final tip is to find someone who’s already
covered the ground you’re facing. If you can’t find one in person, go to
websites like Quora, or Reddit. Find forums where
managers are asking and sharing.
And remember, don’t
lose your head in what doesn’t matter. Keep the big picture—customer
experience—always at the forefront. Everything must point to that one main
thing.
If you’re new to restaurant
management, figuring out where to begin can be daunting. Your tasks often
include handling community outreach, mediating staff conflicts, crunching
inventory numbers, meeting customer expectations, and more, all while making
sure both the front and back of house run smoothly. From prioritizing to
delegating, restaurant managers need to tap into a variety of skills to be
successful. Luckily, we’re here to help!
We’ve got a few restaurant
management tips that will help you feel confident tackling the next steps of
your career in this fast-paced industry.
1. Ensure
your staff feels valued
It’s no secret that employee
turnover is a problem for most restaurants. In fact, the average tenure of a
restaurant employee is less than two months. Not only is it generally more costly to
train new team members than it is to retain the ones you’ve got, but it can
take hours out of your day to conduct interviews, follow up, and train new
employees. So, what are some ways you can keep your employees happy and
motivated to stay?
If you don’t already have one,
consider starting an “Employee of the Month” program. Make sure the winning
employee gets a bonus check, gift card, or something valuable to signal their
achievement and motivate others to follow suit. You can also
practice open-book management to foster more transparency and loyalty
among your staff. This is when a company is transparent to employees about the
company’s financial information, profitability, profit sharing, and educational
classes. It can also allow your staff to feel more valued by you as a manager.
Particularly during busy seasons,
it never hurts to offer a free meal for employees working double shifts, or
give everyone a gift card during the holidays as an incentive for a job well
done. You can also have set incentives for those who stay with you for certain
amounts of time, like three months, six months, a year, and so on. It can be
monetary, or something like a higher schedule priority or free monthly dessert.
2. Revamp
your menu on a seasonal basis
Sure, having signature dishes is
a great way to keep customers coming back — but so is switching
things up. Even just revamping your menu for each season helps your kitchen
keep things fresh, and makes it easier to work with local farms and suppliers
who grow different fruits, veggies, and herbs, depending on the season.
During summer, peaches and
zucchini are great additions to a salad or appetizer. During winter, Brussels
sprouts and carrots can really liven up an entree or side dish. Using seasonal,
local ingredients will not only keep your restaurant menu (or kitchen) from
feeling stale, but you’ll likely be able to save money on transportation costs
you’d normally pay to import items.
3. Be
thoughtful about marketing
Often, part of managing a
restaurant also means helping to drive new customers through your doors. One of
the most effective ways to do this is by having a solid restaurant marketing
strategy. Social media, in particular, is ideal when it comes to
restaurant marketing. It’s either free or much cheaper than more traditional
marketing outlets, like television commercials or print ads. Not to mention,
it’s relatively easy to maintain a good social presence.
It’s also wise to have a
well-maintained presence on Facebook, Instagram,
Twitter, and LinkedIn. The ideal frequency of posts varies across each
platform, but at least once a week is a good place to start.
Once you’ve got the handle of
regular posting, don’t forget to interact with your customers who message,
comment, and like your posts on these channels. It’s another way to convey the
feel of your brand, make fans feel special, and show your authenticity. If
you’ve got the budget, you can also leverage paid social media ads to spread
brand awareness about your restaurant and target certain audiences. They’re
also easier to track — win-win.
4. Train
employees to expect the unexpected
“The customer is always right” is
a classic phrase that is commonly thrown around in the restaurant business.
But, depending on your customer’s demeanor, it can certainly be easier said
than done. Your diners provide the revenue your eatery needs to stay afloat, so
it’s important to do everything you can (within reason) to ensure they have a
positive experience.
Make sure all of your staff know
how to respond when someone asks about menu modifications for dietary
restrictions. They should also know what to do in response to angry or
out-of-line customers (alert the on-duty manager), and people who show up to
your restaurant 10 minutes before you’re about to close (seat them and let the
kitchen know how many people are in the party). Restaurant managers have to
handle it all, so the more you prepare your team for a variety of scenarios,
the better.
5.
Suggest hosting events
As a manager, you’re affected by
how much revenue your restaurant brings in. Looking for creative ways to give
your bottom line a boost? If you have a private or semi-private dining area
that can hold groups of eight or more people, let higher-ups know that they
should consider renting out those spaces for events,
if they’re not already. Events can quickly fill up your calendar if you’re
struggling to meet sales goals. If you’re worried about accommodating events
and regular customers at the same time, you can always start off by only
hosting events during times you’re normally closed or slow.
If you’re just starting out and
want to drum up some initial interest through introductory deals:
·
Give a
discount to customers who want to rent out your space on a weeknight
·
Offer 10
percent off to someone who books a party within the first three months of your
new events program launching
·
Send a
gift card or a nice bottle of champagne if a client’s referral books within
three months
If you already have a program and
want to make sure your customers know about it, add a page on your website with
the latest event info and photos of previous events held in your space (with
permission from your clients). This page is also a great place to highlight
that your space is ideal for multiple event types, like rehearsal dinners,
birthday parties, and corporate
events. You could even slip a small, well-designed piece of paper
with event info into check presenters, to encourage diners to host events
in your space.
6. Make
tracking sales and inventory easier
Number crunching is often part of
a restaurant manager’s day-to-day work life. In addition to tracking sales
from dining reservations and events, you have to keep up with food and bar
inventory, customer counts, payroll costs, and more. One way to help you
accomplish this in an organized way is through a point-of-sale (POS) system.
Depending on the type of system you choose, you can change menus, access
up-to-date reports, manage online ordering, and predict future sales trends,
all in one place. POS systems are typically cloud-based, so that means you can
work on-the-go instead of being tied to your desktop.
We know what you’re thinking:
Manual inventory is traditionally time-consuming. Luckily, advances in tech
mean there are inventory management solutions that automate the process, which
saves serious time and increases margins to boot.
7.
Experiment with fun promotions
If you’re in a state that permits
hosting happy hours, this can be a prime opportunity for your restaurant to
bring in additional sales. Happy hours, which typically fall on weekdays
between 4-7 p.m., are ideal for people who are getting off of work and looking
to meet up with coworkers or friends for a quick drink before heading home.
Come up with a few easy-to-make drinks and appetizers that are discounted to
entice customers, like half-off nachos or $5 margaritas. You can even go as far
as to create full happy hour menus.
You can also work with a deal
site (like Groupon) to raise more awareness for your brand. You’ll bring in
more customers through your doors, and they might even tell their friends about
it. Many restaurants have seen success through creating special promotions
based on things like:
·
Sporting
events
·
Holidays
·
City-specific
themes
·
Seasons
·
Pop-culture
references (a Stranger Things-themed cocktail to celebrate its latest season?
Yes, please.)
8. Pay
attention to online reviews
As a restaurant manager, your
company’s reputation should be something you keep tabs on. Did you know that
word of mouth and website reviews are the biggest factors that help people
choose a restaurant? Knowing how to get and leverage positive
reviews while making a good impression on your customers can have a huge
impact on your online presence.
Make sure your Yelp, TripAdvisor
and Facebook pages are all up to date, then read through what your customers
are saying about you. Word of mouth can be both positive or negative, so
staying on top of it and checking reviews on a daily basis (and responding when
appropriate) will help you have a good handle on how your brand is being
perceived.
9. Save
money where you can
Monitoring cash flow is a big
part of a restaurant manager’s job. And one way to tangibly showcase that
you’re doing your job well is by finding creative ways to help your company
save money. For example, you can:
·
Suggest
switching your light bulbs to more energy-efficient ones — as long as it
doesn’t sacrifice the dining room ambiance
·
Swap out
your current faucets with low-flow faucets, particularly in customer bathrooms,
to save money on water
·
Let your
back-of-house staff know that they should only run the dishwasher when it’s
completely full (if they’re running out of dishes before this happens, that’s a
whole other issue to address)
Look at your menu as an area of
your restaurant that can help you cut costs. Are there items that aren’t
selling well? Remove them, and hit “refresh” on your offerings.
10. Find
a mentor
It’s no easy task to manage a
restaurant alone. One of the best tips we’ve heard is to partner with someone
who has experience as a general manager and who can guide you through the
process. From handling irate customers to the easiest ways to train your staff
and make sure they stay happy, they’ll have some tricks up their sleeves that
they can pass down to you. If you can’t think of anyone who you can meet with
on a regular basis to teach you the ropes, the internet is your second-best
bet. Using Facebook groups or forums to ask people in the restaurant industry
their advice is sure to help you become a better restaurant manager.
11. Make
work fun!
Plenty of experts taut the
importance of fostering bonds with your team members and ensuring they feel
valued from day one. And while no efficient workplace is all fun and games, if
every employee is dreading their shift, something is very wrong. Do casual pulse
checks, be open to thoughtful criticism, and truly listen to what your team is
saying about their job experience.
No manager is perfect, and
there’s no way to be prepared for all the unexpected hiccups that can occur at
your eatery. But there are certain strategies and traits you can adopt that’ll
help make sure you’re doing your job to the best of your ability — and to the
benefit of your staff and the company as a whole.
Next
steps
Now that you know how to manage a
restaurant, see how our software can help you manage your events
program. Schedule a
demo at a time and date that works for you to learn more about
how Tripleseat can help you build and streamline your events and private dining
business.
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