A team player must see the whole picture

 

『The bible of the restaurant』

Chapter 7 

A team player must see the whole picture 

「周りが見えていない人」はチームワークを乱す 

[Raise your head and to look around every 5 seconds] and [observe every customer’s facial expression every 3 minutes] should be the basic movement for service members, but it is not so easy to do unless you always keep this in your mind. A lot of people tend to concentrate too much on their duty or only sees the task lying in front of them. This will make them difficult to see the whole picture of what is going on in the restaurant and also makes it difficult to feel the atmosphere in the restaurant which is changing every single second. Person who has fallen into this kind of situation will be left out the team. It is often seen by a member who is not able to choose their job priority correct according to the situation. When you have this kind of member on your team, the restaurant will lose the balance. Once the restaurant loses its control, just a slight blow of the wind could capsize your ship easily.      

Let’s give few specific examples to explain what kind of a person has a narrow-view and is not able to [raise their head and to look around every 5 seconds] and [observe every customer’s facial expression every 3 minutes].  

1.     Concentrating too much on cashier task at the entrance and couldn’t notice the new customer stepping into the restaurant. 

2.     Concentrating too much replenishing plates and cutleries and not being able to recognize the dishes coming out from the kitchen or not being able to recognize customer’s eye contacts. 

3.     Too busy focusing sorting the order slips or paper works and not being able to communicate with other team members or not being able to recognize team member’s eye contacts. 

4.     Relaxing too much or losing their concentration 

 

5.     Taking a break-time just because it is the usual time for you to take a break even though the preparations for the next peak hours are not finished, such as table setting and refilling, etc. Decision must be made based on the restaurant’s situation and should be communicated carefully with all the team members.   

6.     The more you become aware of a certain table, the service to the customers around the table tends to be neglected. This case is commonly seen when you try to provide special service to VIP customers and regular customer tables. And this happens often with managers, captain and experienced waiter/waitress who tries to deliver excessive service to specific VIP customers and regular customer tables. A true professional should always deliver their best to provide 120% service no matter what kind of situation it is or what kind of customer they are. The amount of the attention and service level should not be changed depending on customer’s social status or the amount spent on the table. Yes, the amount of the tip might be different that day, but you never know what kind of customer they really are and how much they can give you back in return in a long-term.  

I've given some specific examples above, but I believe it shook some people’s heart. And I think there are many people who have been in the same situation. To prevent you or your teammates from falling into these kinds of situations, stop once when you start to feel busy or starting to lose control of the situation. I don’t mean by actually stopping your hands and feet physically but just calm down your mind and relax mentally. Look carefully around you and see the situation. Look at all your team member’s movement and customers face to feel the restaurant’s atmosphere. You will not be able to choose the correct priority and judge the situation correctly if your mind is not calm. 

 

You only fit in the team when you can see or understand the whole picture or environment.  

『The bible of the restaurant』

https://amzn.asia/d/idWhbzB

(Amazon Kindle)

 

『Author』

Mr. Masayuki Sato

Japanese restaurant consultant. Spent his childhood in Texas, USA. Over 25 years of his hospitality industry career started during his high school age in Japan. He gained his experience in many of 5 star hotels, resort hotels, fine dinings, casual family type restaurants, bars, night clubs, wedding halls, banquet facilities, etc. He has become a successful restaurant producer by gaining professional skills through his career managing many of places, creating operation manuals, implementing efficient operation system and establishing new restaurants. Believing that the biggest asset in hospitality industry is “human resource” his consulting style is very unique and concentrating on creating a strong professional team by training members. Mr. Sato says “The success of the restaurant is based on how much professionals with a warm heart you can create. And I believe this is possible by implementing Japanese hospitality mind set to every single members in the team.”