When things get busy in the restaurant it’s easy for plans and processes to break down. That is, if it’s unexpected and you’re unprepared.
Being busy should be the goal of every restaurant owner. That’s how we maintain our business’s profitability. What we don’t want is to be unprepared when that influx of business comes in. Stress increases as processes break down and chaos ensues. That’s what we aim to avoid.
This guide will show you five tips to handle a busy day, so you can make the most of your good fortune and maintain a high level of service for all your guests.
Read More: Choosing a Restaurant Business Structure
1. Don’t Panic
The number one thing to remember when business picks up is don’t panic. Panicking doesn’t help you or your team members. To ensure that each guest receives the best service possible take a deep breath and focus on what needs to get done.
The same rules apply for food quality and service when it’s busy or when it’s slow. Just keep delivering the best you can. Don’t let mistakes drag you down. Keep your head in the game so you can lead your crew to victory.
2. Schedule Coverage
If you’re feeling the strain of a busy service stretching your capacity thin is it because you didn’t schedule enough staff for coverage? You should be staffing according to projections for expected customer volume already.
Sometimes staff call in at the last moment. Is there anyone you can call in to be a clutch player? Keep a list of “emergency contacts” ahead of these events. Ex-employees who left on good terms, friends and family with restaurant experience may be able to help.
3. Well Trained Staff
When it gets extremely busy everyone needs to work together as a team to get the job done. The same is true every other night in the restaurant.
Everyone should know what their job is and what is within the scope of their duties. Processes breakdown when teams don’t support each other and no one knows what everyone else is doing.
This is essentially a problem with training. Staff roles in the restaurant should be clearly defined so everyone knows what they need to get done ahead of service and especially during service.
Read More: 15 Ways A Bilingual Restaurant Manager Improves Kitchen Operations
4. Trust Your Superstars
You have limited capacity to orchestrate a super-busy service all by yourself. A seasoned leader develops leadership skills in others. With a team of leaders you can trust them to take care of what you can’t reach.
When you’ve trained staff well and grown senior staff into lead positions trust them to help you get the job done so you don’t have to micromanage. You’ll take the pressure off yourself and spread the work around more evenly.
This is especially important on extremely busy nights.
5. Use Restaurant Management Apps
Ideally you can prepare for a busy service in advance. Often it’s lack of preparation that creates an emergency level of activity on a busy night.
Using a host stand management app like Rezku Reservations you can plan ahead for service days in advance, estimating the flow of customers by taking reservations. And there’s more: on the night of service you can see everything that’s going on, from table status to how long guests have been waiting, to how many guests are in each servers’ section.
If you don’t need reservations you can use Rezku Waitlist. You get all the same table management functions to help organize a smooth service just without the reservations.
Additionally, one of the most efficient things you can add to your service workflow is tableside ordering. With Rezku POS you can equip your servers with iPad tablets ready to rocket tickets wirelessly to the kitchen, keeping servers in their sections interacting with guests and eliminating the costly and inefficient back-and-forth
Read More: Choosing a Restaurant Business Structure
Conclusion
Maintaining a high level of service on a busy night can be a challenge but with these five tips you can ease the confusion and deliver a successful service. The first step is don’t panic. Focus on what needs to be done without putting additional pressure on yourself and your team.
Schedule enough coverage for a good service and call in emergency backup if needed. Make sure your staff are well trained and understand the scope of their duties. Grow leaders in your restaurant that you can trust to follow through and take care of customers.
Perhaps most importantly, use technology to your advantage. iPad based restaurant management apps from Rezku are reliable and affordable solutions to real world operational challenges faced by restaurants.
To learn more about Rezku and receive a free restaurant management technology consultation contact us today. Start your free trial and see for yourself how easy to use iPad apps for restaurants can drastically enhance your performance during service.
