If we take a look at the restaurant industry 3 or 4 years ago, we would notice the massive changes that occurred in the industry.

Covid-19 has certainly impacted the way we do business and it affected operational processes.

And not necessarily in a negative way. The pandemic has offered businesses the opportunity to improve their operations and to work more efficiently with decreased cost.

Of course business operations are not identical for different restaurants and hence improving them might be different when it comes to execution but there are certain guidelines that remain true regardless of the size of the restaurant.

Reconsidering your business operations might sound frightening. You should take it slowly and start with one area then move subsequently to the other.

What are restaurant operations?

Restaurant operations are the various activities performed at the restaurant to run the business. They include all the activities carried out such as food preparation, orders, cleaning, customer service, purchase of inventory, staffing, accounting, reporting, ….

Areas of operations you should start with

Keep your staff trained and technology savvy

Enhancing your operations cannot be achieved without technology implementation.

Train your staff to use technology seamlessly for a faster and more efficient service.

Covid-19 forced restaurants and other businesses to adopt new technologies for the continuity of their work.

Your employees should be familiar with different technological devices if you expect smooth operations.

Aside from technology, your employees should have a clear job description and role to perform.

Provide them with cross training to get an overall idea of others’ roles as well.

Improve staff communication

Poor communication at restaurants can be the most important driver causing inefficiency especially among your front of house and back of house employees.

The work of one member of your staff affects all the rest and this should be clear to your employees.

Let’s say the server (front of house) takes the wrong order from a client and passed to your chef (back of house).

This wrong order equally impacts the work of the server and his customer service and the chef preparing the food who has to spend more time preparing the right one and causing delays for other customers.

Not to mention the reputation of your restaurant that is at stake here.

Using technology is crucial in improving communication among different employees and hence in reducing the errors caused by human intervention.

Make sure to use a kitchen Management system that reduces the need of verbal interaction between your front of house and back of house employees and organizes food ordering and preparation process.

Stay updated with your reports and analysis

Don’t neglect reports generated about sales, employees’ performance, expenditures….

Keeping an eye on this data guides you to a better operations’ processes.

Knowing what to look for and how to act upon the reports enhances your management and helps you control your expenditures while increasing your revenues.

A thorough reading of data provided is the first step toward identifying your operations’ flaws.

Don’t ignore your employees’ feedback

Employees are the ones going through the procedures so they are the best landmark for the success of this procedures. Talk to your employees and listen to the problems they encountered in different procedures.

Most of the times you’ll be able to know the flaws from them while operating.

Listening to your employees empowers them for enhanced operations even when you are not around.

Go for a simpler menu

No need to crowd your menus with many options of the same category. Even customers don’t like a menu with lots of options to choose from.

First, customers only focus on few items.

Second, it is costly to have many options. You are purchasing more raw materials and increasing the risk of wastage.

Third, it is easier for your employees to create offers or specials on chosen days with a simpler menu.

Maintaining efficient operations is challenging but rewarding and with technology available it becomes a simple process.

Incorporate these tips into your performance to increase operations efficiency.