How to Improve Restaurant Management & Minimize Waste
- 1). Hire managers with demonstrated experience in the restaurant industry. Starting with a strong stable of managers that have shown a propensity for pushing staff performance and minimizing waste is the best first step in turning your restaurant around.
- 2). Establish standards for every element of your restaurant. For instance, appetizers should go from ordered to the table in less than ten minutes, entrees in less than fifteen. Each part of a guest's experience should be dictated by a pre-set standard. With standards in place, managers can monitor each area of the restaurant to ensure those standards are being met and troubleshoot accordingly.
- 3). Instruct managers to reward employees for each consecutive week they work without making a mistake. Managers should be monitoring this data anyway, but encouraging your servers and bartenders to avoid mis-rings and other errors will dramatically reduce the amount of food you end up throwing away.
- 4). Encourage the customer connection. Effective restaurant managers should be on the floor, speaking with customers. This serves three purposes. First, managers can spot any customer issues before they escalate. Second, it keeps the manager's eyes on the floor and servers. Third, it shows your customers they are important and encourages them to come back.
- 5). Conduct promotions on the most profitable foods you offer. Have your managers explain these promotions to your staff and reward those who sell the most of a given item. Selling high profit margin items maximizes your restaurant's income.
- 6). Invest in a point of service system like Micros or Aloha. These systems make server work more efficient, reduce kitchen mistakes and help managers to accurately track and order necessary inventory. They also help to monitor sales trends, like spotting the best selling item on your menu.
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