| Restaurant Service Consulting, by definition, is a | | | | not wanting anyone to be very close to |
| review or evaluation of the restaurant dining room | | | | operations etc. |
| service system. This means, "how the dining | | | | In truth, a restaurant and its dining room service |
| room runs" which includes all of the service tools | | | | cannot progress over time without experienced, |
| provided (or to be provided) by the management. | | | | objective, constructive criticism -- whether it |
| These tools include readable floor diagrams, | | | | comes from the outside or within. |
| seating coordination, menu descriptions, properly | | | | Restaurant service system flaws can continue on |
| done staff schedules, sidework postings and a | | | | for years without being correctedcosting time, |
| whole host of other things. | | | | money, and headaches. And just the same, |
| There are two main aspects to the Restaurant | | | | waiter service technique flaws can go on for |
| Service Consulting field: | | | | years as well. |
| 1) On-site Restaurant Dining Service Operations | | | | Sometimes, it's not necessarily deep rooted flaws, |
| Evaluation and Review | | | | but just a better, faster, more organized and |
| 2) Waiter Training | | | | streamlined way of going about procedures -- no |
| After the dining room service system is organized | | | | matter how small the solutions may seem to be. |
| properly, the waitstaff is now ready to be trained. | | | | Time is money when it comes to the repetitive |
| The big mistake is to train the waitstaff without | | | | nature of dining room service and there are no |
| having understandable and coordinated systems in | | | | two ways about it. |
| place. | | | | To improve restaurant performance, you need to |
| If there are flaws in the service system, then | | | | know what areas are in need of improvement. |
| even the most highly trained and experienced | | | | The Restaurant Manager should ask for feedback |
| waitstaff will make errors translating into | | | | from experienced staff and repeat customers as |
| unnecessary headaches and lost revenue. It is | | | | well. |
| plain common sense to train a staff according to | | | | Once you know what you are doing right and |
| that particular restaurant's procedures otherwise | | | | what needs work, you can develop systems and |
| the balance and consistency of customer service | | | | documentation to improve your establishment. |
| will be thrown off. | | | | Many times, it's simply a matter of confusion as |
| At times, in my restaurant consulting experiences, | | | | the "left hand" doesn't seem to know what the |
| I find that owners/operators can be very hesitant | | | | "right hand" is doing (or why). You'll find that clear |
| to let an outsider do the initial restaurant | | | | communication between all staff members and |
| evaluation prior to waiter training for a score of | | | | management goes a long way in helping you |
| reasons such as fear of embarrassment, dealing | | | | achieve your restaurant performance goals. |
| with egos being stepped on during the process, | | | | |