Are you micromanaging or empowering your Restaurant Managers and Employees?

As a leader, it's crucial to communicate effectively with your team. But how do you strike the right balance between micromanaging and empowering them?

Here are some of my top tips:

• Communicate clearly and set expectations from the beginning
• Share the "how and why" of basic tasks and execution
• Watch your team's performance and ask follow-up questions
• Empower your team members with more responsibility as they gain confidence
• Prioritize ongoing education and mentorship for your team's success and include higher-level business areas to develop your team's expertise

Communicate clearly and set expectations from the beginning:

Communicate clearly and set expectations from the beginning: This means ensuring that your team members understand the standards for customer service, food quality, cleanliness, and safety. Clearly communicate your expectations for each of these areas, and provide training and resources to help your team meet those expectations. Be transparent about how their performance will be evaluated and rewarded. By setting clear expectations from the beginning, you can ensure that your team is aligned and motivated to provide the best possible experience for your customers.

I CAN NOT express enough, the need to communicate in every area or aspect of the restaurant... Cell phones, call outs, shift changes, tardiness, uniform expectations, even how or when to sweep... Sounds crazy, but the more you communicate even the small things on the front end... the less headache and confusion you'll have on the back end.

Share the "how and why" of basic tasks and execution

It's important to not only communicate what needs to be done, but also why it needs to be done a certain way. For example, if you're training your team on how to properly clean and sanitize equipment, it's important to explain the reasoning behind each step. By sharing the "why" behind basic tasks and execution, you can help your team understand the importance of their role in maintaining a safe and hygienic environment for both customers and employees.

Additionally, it's important to provide your team with the necessary tools and resources to execute tasks effectively. This could include providing them with proper equipment, such as gloves or cleaning supplies, or offering training on techniques for food preparation or customer service. By investing in your team's skills and knowledge, you can help them feel more confident in their abilities and improve the overall quality of your restaurant's operations.

Watch your team's performance and ask follow-up questions

As a leader in restaurant management, it's important to monitor your team's performance and ask follow-up questions to ensure that they are meeting expectations and performing to the best of their abilities. This could involve observing their interactions with customers and coworkers, watching them prepare recipes, or simply checking in with them regularly to gauge their progress.

If you notice any areas where your team members are struggling or could use additional support, or not meeting expectation, it's important to address those issues proactively. This might involve simply having a conversation to understand their perspective and offer support.

By actively monitoring your team's performance and asking follow-up questions, you can identify areas for improvement and take action to address those issues before they become bigger problems. This can help ensure that your team is performing at its best and that your restaurant is providing the best possible experience for your customers.

You CAN build a strong and successful team that is capable of achieving great things. Don't hesitate to provide the support and guidance they need to succeed.

Empower your team members with more responsibility as they gain confidence

This means giving them the autonomy to make decisions and take ownership of their work. Start by delegating small tasks and gradually increase responsibility as they demonstrate their ability to handle it. Encourage them to take risks and make decisions, but also be there to provide guidance and support when needed.

Empowering your team members not only helps them grow and develop, but it also benefits your organization by creating a culture of trust and accountability. When team members feel empowered, they are more engaged and motivated to do their best work. This can lead to increased productivity, higher job satisfaction, and better customer experiences.

Some responsibilities you could use to empower employees:

• Allowing them to train other employees
• Let them be involved in the onboarding process or orientation of new employees.
• Allow them to head up "Safety" with food temp checks or day label checklists.
• Allow them to organize or hosts pre-shift huddles.
• Have them offer ideas of how to make the guest experience even better.
• Train them on pre-opening, shift-change, or closing checklists.
• Ask them for ways they see to cut costs or improve efficiency.
• Let them assemble or follow-up on assigned cleaning tasks.
• Show them how to read POS reports and offer ideas on things like increasing check averages.

Prioritize ongoing education and mentorship for your team's success

This could involve providing regular training sessions on new menu items or cooking techniques, offering mentorship opportunities for team members who are interested in advancing their careers, or simply encouraging your team to pursue their own professional development goals.

Investing in your team's education and development not only improves their skills and knowledge, but it also demonstrates that you value their contributions and are committed to their success. This can lead to increased job satisfaction, higher levels of engagement, and lower turnover rates.

Some ways to prioritize ongoing education and mentorship include:

• Providing regular training sessions: Ensure that your team members have the resources and support they need to stay up-to-date on new industry trends and techniques. This could involve bringing in outside experts to conduct training sessions or simply offering in-house training on new menu items or cooking techniques.
• Offering mentorship opportunities: Identify team members who have expressed an interest in advancing their careers and provide them with mentorship opportunities. This could involve pairing them with a more experienced team member who can offer guidance and support, or simply providing them with resources and tools to help them develop their skills and knowledge.
• Encouraging professional development: Encourage your team members to pursue their own professional development goals, whether that involves attending conferences or workshops, taking courses, or simply reading industry publications. Provide support and resources to help them achieve their goals, and recognize and reward their achievements along the way.

By prioritizing ongoing education and mentorship, you can build a strong and successful team that is capable of meeting and exceeding your goals. So take the time to invest in your team's development, and watch as they grow and thrive under your leadership.

And don't leave out higher-level business areas.

This could involve providing your team with training on financial management, marketing and promotions, or other business-related topics. By helping your team understand the bigger picture of how your restaurant operates, you can empower them to make better decisions and contribute to the overall success of your business.

For example, if you're providing training on financial management, you might cover topics such as budgeting, forecasting, and cash flow management. By helping your team understand these concepts, you can empower them to make better decisions when it comes to pricing, inventory management, and other financial aspects of your restaurant.

Similarly, if you're providing training on marketing and promotions, you might cover topics such as branding, advertising, and social media management. By helping your team understand these concepts, you can empower them to contribute to your restaurant's marketing efforts and help attract new customers.

Take the time to invest in your team's development, and watch as they grow and thrive under your leadership.

Conclusion

These tips have helped me grow many FOH & BOH team members into successful restaurant leaders. By investing in your team's development, you can create a culture of success and growth within your organization. Remember, education and mentorship are ever-ongoing. Let's lead together! ??