Restaurants are busy environments - in every sense of the word busy.
They are spaces filled with voices, laughter, ice cubes making music in a shaker before poured into a coupe, footsteps, conversations, silverware accidently dropped on plates, the oopsies glass shattering or plate dropped by the team, and if it’s an open, you can hear the fire, the pots and pans taking on the heat as the food hits the sizzling fat. And let’s not forget the playlist too. All of this exists in all restaurants, no matter if it’s a diner or a 3-star Michelin restaurant.
The sounds of the restaurant make up the music and the rhythm of the dining rooms. Each dining room has a unique beat that changes ever so slightly at every service, throughout service since each guest that joins in, brings a different tune to the rhythm.
This was always my favorite part of operating restaurants and leading teams. I call it “the dance of service”. It teaches us how to be graceful and how to move our bodies & energies in a way that is cohesive around the dining room and each other. We become nimble and cohesive as a team. If someone makes a mistake, no guest notices because someone has swopped in before anyone can experience the missed step.
I train owners and leadership teams on how to navigate this music through “the dance of service”. This type of dance requires acute attention to detail and training all of our senses to be open and present for what is happening around us. It invites us to become active listeners and tune into the energy of the room. When we are clicked into the dance of service, we are in tune with each other’s vibrations and can usually predict our teammates' next move.
Like any other dance performance, it requires structure, practice, adjustments, reflections, participation, and more. Now how do you get to a place where your team is dancing through service with grace?
Let’s dive into my favorite topic - training.
Training programs are a non-negotiable to get your team aligned, informed, on board and committed to learning the dance. Training is front and center to any business. Without a detailed and rigorous training program, your team will dance with intention but not the proper beat or count. As a leader, it is your duty to provide each team member with the guidebook, coaching and reinforcement to feel confident in their role within the business. With these tools and structure, you are setting the expectation and baseline all while walking them through the steps of service. As your team goes through each day, they become more fluent in the dance of service and confident in adding in their beat to the rhythm. It’s a vibe, it’s fun and it creates an environment where your team is excited to be there and create magical experiences for your team and guests alike! And you will reduce turnover as a result.
What to include in your training program without feeling like you’ve included too much information?
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Here are 8 things that I include in each training program that I build for my clients.
1- The story of the guest experience. I encourage them to write this as if they were telling the full story of what it looks, feels, smells like to walk into the restaurant - covering each detail and step, without leaving out how the guest leaves the restaurant. This gives clarity of the vibe, energy, and steps of service to anyone that is joining your team.
2- A detailed schedule for each day of training so the team member knows what to expect each day, how to properly prepare themselves and what to study
3- Detailed steps of service
4- Detailed floor plan (table and seat numbers) and floor map (where they can find what they need to be successful on the floor - ie, pens, printer paper, menus, CGS…)
5- Menu builds and allergy sheets for each item on the menu (food and beverage)
6- “How to’s” - writing these out gives your team the resources they need to navigate certain encounters and situations with confidence.
7- Evaluations for the trainee to take to test their knowledge daily
8- A communication SOP between leaders on how the trainee did so there is cohesive and consistent support to guarantee the success of training for the new hire