Whoever coined the phrase "common sense" was either exaggerating or having a good laugh. After all, whatever sense people have tends to be a bit rarer, and what people frequently do have, is often not used much, at times.
Even if you recruit a team of true professionals at your restaurant — people who automatically clean up after themselves, label and date any food they're refrigerating, and handle open flames, razors, knives and raw chicken juice with extreme caution — still won't be able to read your mind. Expectations and assumptions can truly wreak havoc if left un-checked.
You’ve probably learnt a lot about all of these experiences since managing your restaurant and kitchen. So why not be fair to yourself, the crew, team members and your customers, you could bring-in and maintain a proper set of written standard operating procedures aka SOP’s.
HOW TO CREATE AN INDIVIDUALIZED AND EFFECTIVE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE FOR YOUR RESTAURANT:
Writing is challenging; anyone who tells you otherwise doesn’t understand the need to be able to be good at this task. The reasons behind this have less to do with the physical act of being able to hammer out words and more to do with the necessity to clearly be able to deliver a proper picture of what you desire to share. The consequence is that if you codify your expectations for your managers and staff as a set of SOPs, you'll have employees who know how to put your ideas into action.
It's truly rather amazing what happens when this is implemented. (It's no surprise that the phrase "on the same page" refers to purpose alignment in English.). By creating a set of SOPs, you become the author of the experiences that your customers and employees will have at your restaurant. These should include issues with safety, hygiene, or food quality.
They could also include how your employees communicate with customers, managers, and one another. They would detail opening and closing times, as well as shift changes. In summary, anything you care about, and have everyone performing well and properly should be included in your SOPs.
A printed handbook of SOPs, if well-conceived, will govern your restaurant's overall flow and certainly act as a script guides a play. Employees know what is expected of them when SOPs are in place, clients have a more predictable experience, and if anyone on your staff is unsure of what a circumstance calls for, they have an accountability that they can consult.
There are many questions which need to be answered: If you answer these questions in writing, no one will be able to come back to you later and say they didn't know what to do.
Yes, this is quite a lot to get going with, but it does not have to be overpowering. You can use the process of developing your SOPs to better define how you want your restaurant to operate, and you can look forward to it being completed.
Consider how much time you'll save if everyone on your team can download your vision in one guidebook! Of course, it’s always going to be a work in progress. …
But first and the best place to get started is at the beginning.
Examples are:
- - How long till the fish can be utilized for stock?
- - In an emergency, who should a manager call?
- - How should the bartender take inventory at the end of a shift?
If you answer these questions in writing, no one will be able to come back to you later and say they didn't know what to do.
Yes, this is quite a lot to get going with, but it does not have to be overpowering. You can use the process of developing your SOPs to better define how you want your restaurant to operate, and you can look forward to it being completed.
Consider how much time you'll save if everyone on your team can download your vision in one guidebook! Of course, it’s always going to be a work in progress. …
But first and the best place to get started is at the beginning.
Slowing down and taking time to consider why you need a SOP will assist you in creating a sensible, effective document for your employees and supervisors. It makes no sense to create a slew of checklists without first thinking who will use them and for what.
Here are some goals for you to consider for this document.
Overall efficiency will improve. Written instructions create a flow within a busy kitchen. Having recipes and guidelines on hand helps ensure that junior personnel aren't pulling aside your top cooks and servers during a stressful shift to double-check on what you want from the cuisine or service. The SOP book's job answers queries as they get raised.
Having a standard operating procedure (SOP) improves communication.
- An SOP ensures that everyone in the home speaks the same language, from the front to the rear. Setting the standard with a SOP guarantee that your staff knows how to do things correctly no matter who is on shift.
- A thorough SOP enables efficient and fast training.
- When you hire a new employee, make sure they read, understand and sign the built-in SOP manual.
You can get people to do things your way whether they enter as a brand new team member or as a restaurant veteran who may have specific ways of doing things. You can also spend less time training them on Front or back of House systems. Of course, a little homework can go a long way, here, so it’s best to investigate accordingly.
Every restaurant should create standard operating procedures that are tailored to their individual requirements. In general, you'll begin by considering the following categories.
Food Prep and Delivery flow.
This involves food and beverage storage, serving, and presentation. This is something that you think about it all the time, otherwise you wouldn't be in this business.
Write down your expectations and observe how your employees begin to emulate you.
Cleanliness and personal hygiene.
Your restaurant will not be closed because the flavor of the béarnaise sauce was off. However, if your Eggs Benny make people sick, there’s a good chance that there will be city or certain municipal authorities visiting to ‘discuss’ the situation with the relevant repercussions.
Make sure your SOP includes everything on a hygienic level, including cleaning of dishes and cutlery, cutting and prep surfaces, floors, hoods, vents, eating rooms, freezers, and ice machines.
Consider how frequently your employees should wash their hands and what they may need to wear for their duties, such as non-slip shoes, hair nets, gloves, aprons, or neckties.
Include information regarding the brand name, type and cleaning products that are being used in order to maintain hygiene in the kitchens and restaurant areas.
Customer support.
When guests arrive to be seated, how should your hostess greet them? How should you deal with grievances? What are your policies regarding reservations? What should a hostess do with an ostensibly six-person party whose fifth and sixth participants are running late but will be there in a minute, etc? Otherwise, you risk your workers winging it according to what they think will be best at that point, which is often not the best.
Equipment upkeep.
Equipment maintenance may play some of the most details within your SOP lists. You need your equipment and tools to run smoothly and safely for as long as possible.
You'll want to make sure your crew understands and cares for anything with wheels, gears, or blades.
Policies concerning safety.
Burns, cuts, and slips are all possibilities. Break-ins and hold-ups are common. Fires, flooding, and brawls.
Outside the building, there are vagrants and animals stalking your trash. Running and managing a restaurant means many things are going to be thrown at you at some point, so it's best to be prepared. Well prepared.
Now that you've outlined the requirements and audience for this working document, let's work out how to put it together. Use the following guidelines to organize the various components of your SOPs.
Determine who should know what.
Health, clothing, HR rules, and professional behaviour aspects may be open to everybody. But it's unlikely that the dishwashers need to know how to host, or that the hosts need to understand the complexities of the sous chef's checklists. Section off areas so that individuals may find what they need.
Detail each step of what you want done.
Get down to business. Break down each item on the list into small, actionable steps. Have you ever authored a recipe? Consider each task or procedure to be a recipe with ingredients, quantities, and instructions. (Including your recipes!)
Determine who is responsible for what.
Responsibility and accountability are two different things. Employees and managers alike must understand which tasks are theirs and theirs alone to do. If you do this correctly, you'll have actual checklists that your team can maintain (and initial) as they complete their duties during each shift.
Explain when you will require everything.
What use are lists, sub- category lists, and assignees if there are no deadlines? Timelines for each work, even if they are only "once a week" or "daily," offer structure and require proper response - all of which helps things get done.
Operators and management can now spend more time focusing on improving the guest experience and less effort on busy work. Let’s grow that experience and improve your working conditions together. We hope you have gained some insight from this article and look forward to sharing further with you in our next post.
In conclusion, a standard operating procedure (SOP) is an essential tool for any restaurant. It ensures consistency in all aspects of the business, from food preparation to customer service. It helps to keep the staff on the same page and maintain quality and safety standards. A SOP also helps to improve efficiency, as it provides clear instructions for all tasks, allowing staff to complete them quickly and accurately.
Furthermore, it can be used as a training tool for new employees, helping them to understand their roles and responsibilities. Having a SOP in place can greatly reduce the risk of errors and accidents, which can save time and money in the long run. Overall, a standard operating procedure is a vital component of any successful restaurant operation, and it should be regularly reviewed and updated to ensure that it remains effective.
Copyright: Post based on article from Restaurant Technology Blog | QSR Automations