Bring Together Your Back and Front of House
February 21, 2019Does your restaurant feel like a simmering battle between the back of house (BOH) and front of house (FOH)? Or do both units get along famously?
If your restaurant is like many, you find yourself somewhere in the middle. Rarely do you have an all-out war, but generally, there are some resentments or conflicts that make things run less smoothly than they could.
Fortunately, there are things you can do. From making sure everyone has the restaurant supplies they need to preventing other team issues, here’s what you can do to bring everyone together.
Prevent Mixed Messages
One of the biggest causes of resentment is miscommunication. When someone doesn’t hear another person correctly, makes assumptions, or doesn’t know who to ask for information, there is likely to be conflict.
If your wait staff has a plate return, do they know where to take it to get it remade? If they get into the wrong part of the BOH flow, the cooks can get frustrated. At the same time, if your chef has a question about a special order, how do they get ahold of the right waiter?
Have restaurant supplies in place that facilitate better communication, and create processes in advance – before problems happen during dinner rush.
Clearly Define Everyone’s Role
Does an assistant manager know their duties, or are they constantly in conflict with the shift manager? Do the cooks know who to listen to regarding process changes, dishes that are out, and more?
You have to clearly define both BOH and FOH roles, and those roles have to be enforced. Believe it or not, everyone gets along much better when they stay within their assigned positions. It brings stability and predictability to your operation, which is essential for your success.
From the person in charge of ordering restaurant supplies to the person who makes the final call on new menu items, it pays to know who does what!
Know Your Cliques
The sad truth is that there will always be cliques in your restaurant. It’s not a fault of yours – there are simply cliques (or, said more kindly, “friend groups”) everywhere.
Your FOH staff are likely to bond. Your BOH staff are likely to do the same. The cooks are likely to get along well with each other, and your managers with each other as well.
Unfortunately, there can be conflicts between these groups. FOH and BOH may feel a rivalry. The cooks may think the managers are out to get them. Your day and night shifts may not get along.
By knowing what friend groups exist within your restaurant, you can use them to your advantage. Create contests where they have to work together. Help everyone work on clear communication. Make sure that agendas aren’t hidden and resentments don’t simmer.
Find ways where everyone can share their concerns from time to time in a safe, low-key environment. By staying on top of the cliques in your restaurant, you’ll be able to harness natural relationships to help your restaurant succeed.
Get the Restaurant Supplies Your FOH and BOH Need
No matter what other steps you take, your restaurant staff will have a hard time working in harmony if the restaurant supplies they need aren’t available.
Stay on top of your inventory and order restaurant supplies regularly. We can help. We’ve been serving Little Rock restaurant owners for many years. Contact us today to see what we can do for you!
Kitchen Equipment: Choosing the Right Cutting Board
Every kitchen, from a food truck to a large restaurant, needs cutting boards. From vegetables to bread to meat and fish, your chefs and cooks have to chop things every day. Have you put a lot of thought into this important piece of kitchen equipment? Like many other...
Catering to Generation Z
As time marches on, we continue to have new generations arising behind the ones we’ve already named. Most recently everyone has been focused on Millennials, whose tech-savvy and focus on experiences over things have shifted the face of every industry. Now, there’s a...
4 Ways to Keep Your Restaurant Employees Engaged
You can have everything you need to run an amazing restaurant – a great menu, incredible chef, the best location, perfect pricing, and top-of-the-line kitchen equipment. But even with all of that, you won’t succeed if your employees are disengaged and unprofessional....
Kitchen Fun : Food and the Oscars
Hollywood’s biggest night was February 24th, 2019, and was it ever a show. There were stars, glitz, glamour, and amazing outfits everywhere. There were also cameras catching every moment, from the red carpet to the after-parties. What happened at the show and after...
4 Keys to Successful Commercial Kitchen Design
If you’re opening a new restaurant or renovating your existing kitchen, you probably already have some ideas about how it should look. However, it’s important to look beyond your own ideas and understand the keys to good design in general. This will help you...
Commercial Kitchen Fun: Cooking With Mustard
One of the things that make owning a restaurant so fun is the ability to be creative with your menu. With the help of your chef and cooks, you can come up with some really fun dishes to serve. To get your imagination going, we’re going to share some fun dishes that...
Drive Traffic to Your Restaurant From Instagram
You have a lot of restaurant equipment that you need to make your location run smoothly. You might think about your point-of-sale system, refrigeration units, cooking equipment, and more. But what about Instagram? That’s right, a social media platform can be one of...
Handling Theft in Your Convenience Store
Running a convenience store is challenging to say the least. You need to staff it, but not with too many people. Then again, too few and you have a lot of problems – including theft. There are three groups that can be responsible for product and money loss in your...
Kitchen Equipment Spotlight: How Clean is Your Coffee Pot?
If you were going to rank kitchen equipment based on how much work it does, the humble coffee pot has to be near the top. In almost every restaurant, people order coffee with their meal or dessert. The problem is that because the coffee pot is working so hard, it...
Should You Add a Food Truck to Your Restaurant?
If your restaurant is doing well, you might be thinking about opening a second location. After all, that’s usually the next step when it’s time to expand, right? Before you jump in, though, consider another option. Maybe having a food truck would be a better choice....
Kitchen Equipment Spotlight: How to Maintain a Commercial Freezer
Your commercial freezer can be a lifeline for your restaurant. Safe food storage is vital, and a high-quality freezer is essential kitchen equipment. However, a freezer is only as good as the maintenance that goes into it. Without proper care, your freezer will become...
Take Advantage of Your Customer’s Technology
Some restaurant owners hate seeing customers snapping photos of food – it means that the food isn’t eaten at its best, and sometimes it’s a sign of a table that’s going to be slow to turn over. Then there are other owners and managers who see an opportunity. The truth...
How to Reduce Turnover at Your Restaurant
Having the right employees can make or break your restaurant. You can have the best food and kitchen supplies, but tension in the back of the house can cause delays, poor morale, and even the loss of key staff. You can have a beautiful dining room, but surly wait...
Should Your Commercial Kitchen Consider Catering?
As a business owner, it’s important to always be looking for new ways to grow your business. There are a lot of ways to do this, and one of the most common for many restaurants is catering. Of course, catering changes how your commercial kitchen runs a lot of the...
Why Your Restaurant Needs an App
We know, you’re a restaurant owner, not a developer or programmer. Let other people worry about apps, you just want to run your restaurant! The truth is if you want to have a successful establishment, you have to take advantage of the technology that brings people in....