Shifts happen. Each one has its own personality, rhythm, arc and potential. The problem is that most foodservice managers “run” shifts when they should be leading them instead.

A shift is composed of three linear stages; before, during and after. The stages are simple, but the variables within each stage are complex. Smart managers must consider and assess a variety of factors and how those factors may potentially affect the shift’s rhythm and revenue. Some of those factors include. rookie-to-vet ratio, absenteeism, weather, marketing, customer traffic, safety, sanitation, equipment repair and maintenance, deliveries, par and prep levels, training needs, accidents, etcetera. These variables can add up to trouble or triumph depending on how well they are managed. We recently interviewed 102 high-performing General Managers regarding strategies and tactics they use to plan and execute revenue-generating shifts. The biggest “a-ha!” we found was that while most managers plan their shift about a half-hour before it starts (if they plan it at all), high-performers get their ducks in a row a little bit further out…

What to do 7 days before the shift
Weekly manager meetings should focus on breaking period financial targets down to the lowest common denominator: incremental shift sales. For instance, let’s say your period financial goal is to raise gross sales at each unit by $3000. That’s 56 shifts a month, and if you divide that into the $3000 goal, it means that you’d only have to raise sales $53.58 per shift to exceed your sales goal. Now here’s the best part: break that $53.57 down into the menu items your wait staff would collectively have to sell to hit that target. Just 4 more appetizers, 5 more desserts, and 6 more sodas sold each shift would hit or exceed the $53 target, and beat the $3000 monthly goal. Why wait till the last week in the period and scramble to hit your goals when managers could easily make their numbers via incremental gains every shift? Share these goals with your server, kitchen, greeter and/or drive-through team in your pre-shift meeting. What’s that? You don’t do pre-shift meetings? See next point.

What to do 10 Minutes before the Shift
Gather each department together before the shift begins and detail your primary focus, goals and objectives for that shift. Specify the behaviors necessary to achieve the shift goal (or better still ask the team to). If your focus is that $53 incremental sales bump, you might begin by reminding both the front and the back-of-the-house teams that the servers’ goal is to sell all that the kitchen can make and that the kitchen’s goal is to make all that the servers can sell. Pump them up, show them the way and spread some energy. The pre-shift jumpstart meeting is the synapse between goal-setting and goal-achievement.

What to do 10 minutes after the Shift.
Keep the energy level high. Gather your team members together and quickly assess the success (or challenges) of what was accomplished relative to the goals you set. Do 30 second praisings for high performers in the kitchen and front-of-the-house. Now discuss the shift with the next manager if it’s a mid-day transition shift, and last, but most certainly not least, take the time to share the relevant key learnings from that Shift in writing in your manager log book.