Restaurant staff scheduling ties straight into the living area service and crucial for keepin constantly your staff tight, happy and well connected. In most way, a balance must be performed by matching the living area service labor needs to forecasted business. There must be a method whereby the staff shift availability days can be communicated in writing to the one who makes up the schedule. An easy staff shift availability sign-up sheet posted conspicuously can do as each staff member should work a balanced quantity of shifts through the entire week. If the schedule maker is burning out staff members with extra shifts or scheduling way too many staff members to work only 1 or 2 shifts, it'll subtract from customer service. A restaurant are certain to get more efficiency from staff members working 3, 4, or more shifts per week as opposed to only 1 or 2 shifts per week. One may have to bend this guideline to keep the task schedule filled, but it should be kept to a minimum. Constant communication with the staff while staying abreast of these available work shifts will facilitate the scheduling process immensely employee scheduling software.
The person who makes the schedule should be highly conscious of the projected business in the restaurant. The schedule should contain the proper quantity of labor needed to offer a suitable degree of service for every work shift. Seasonal aspects, (e.g. busy holidays/slow summers), special events, private parties etc. must be figured into the schedule. Any outside activity which could affect business in the restaurant such as food festivals, parades etc. needs to be studied into account. If there are separate dining rooms, the busy times must be properly forecasted for every room especially if one living area is popular than another. If you have outdoor seating, the weather should be watched because of it can change quickly.
Forecasting helps you to schedule the proper quantity of living area service staff with the perfect balance always being sought. If you have light scheduling on each day that gets very busy, the restaurant service is likely to be slow and inefficient --affecting sales and reputation. On the contrary, when there is heavy scheduling on light business days, it will become frustrating because the waiters is likely to be working not many tables while draining the payroll.
Generally, the schedule should start Sunday; therefore it needs to be posted by Thursday or Friday of the last week. Excel spreadsheet formats are good for scheduling organization. The schedule should be posted in a easily viewable location with enough copies readily available for all staff. Staff phone lists should be also be printed, copied and made readily available to all. This improves communication particularly for work shift substitutions.
This contributes to the substitution process for staff work shifts. There needs to be a Substitution Book readily available with blank spaces for names, upcoming dates and work shifts for the following 1 to 2 months. In case a substitution made, the info must be recorded with the date and shift time (a.m/p.m.). It must be initialed by both parties involved in the substitution and finally initialed by way of a manager ensuring no mistakes in communication. A substitution mishap may cause a shift not being covered.
Scheduling may look perfect for payroll cost control, nonetheless it must be remembered that living area service staff are real individuals with real lives whose cheerful and efficient service is what restaurants are dependant upon. The schedule maker needs to be understanding towards the staff's schedule requests, but shouldn't roll over and play dead (again, balance). It's impossible to please everyone 100% all of that time period, but a suitable scheduling balance will truly improve restaurant living area customer service.
*** It is much better for a manager or service consultant to handle the schedule at the original phases of a new operation and should be monitored by way of a second or third person especially if the restaurant has just opened. Some mature restaurants may let a senior person in the service staff handle the schedule because there is better communiqué with schedule concerns. Please use whichever system works best for the establishment for the staff schedule is a strong element of customer support and shouldn't be studied lightly.
Richard Saporito may be the founder of Topserve Restaurant Consulting. He's over 30 years of restaurant service experience in lots of profitable New York City establishments. Discover how to enhance living area service employee scheduling software.