Leading a Shift

Understand excellence starts with you, the leader, owning everything. There are no excuses. 

Arrive early: physically, mentally, and emotionally. 

Gain situational awareness by asking good questions and through observation.

• How is everything going? What is going on? How is everyone? What is going well and what has gone wrong?

• Walk around and check critical and important items. Use a checklist to ensure you don't forget anything.

Have a tentative plan well in advance of the start of your shift. Every leader at every level must have a role and a plan. If you have other leaders on your shift and in your area then utilize them in key positions and with real responsibilities. Furthermore, the level of detail increases from the top down. This means there will be more details at the team leader level than at the shift supervisor level. 

Think through the variables and plan for contingencies. 

• What is the expected sales volume? Correct staffing level? Where will you place your other leaders? What tasks or responsibilities need to be delegated? Any special events in the restaurant or community? How's the weather going to affect sales volume? Is there any training needing done? What is the level of training or effectiveness of the members of my team? Is there any maintenance or cleaning needing done?...

Delegate tasks and ensure everyone is involved. 

Ensure your plan for your area coordinates with other areas and other leaders. 

Set up the restaurant according to the established requirements.

• Trash cans in the right locations or cones correctly placed in the DT, for example. 

Ensure operational systems are in place and in use.

• Breading, Chutes, Zone Rotation iPads, for example.

Put the right people in the right roles that they are trained and competent to do effectively. If they are not trained or capable, do not put them in that position. 

Prioritize critical roles and positions. 

Be aware of normal and abnormal conditions and what you can do to organize the team to meet those conditions

Make adjustments as needed. 

Influence = Lead

A respectful, encouraging, and vocal leader is required. A quiet, passive leader is not effective. 

Keep your eye on what the team is doing and speak up.

Do the work of serving guests but keep your eyes and ears open.

Coaching is not an event it is a mindset. Always be coaching. 

Supervisors: Lead through other leaders when you have other leaders on your shift. 

"Doers do, checkers check." 

Control with intentionality everything in your responsibility.

Spot check against requirements using the eRQA, SAFE Daily Critical, and informal evaluations/checklists. 

Give feedback to the team on how they performed.

Start the plan for your next shift with lessons learned from this shift.

Hand off a better situation than you received to the next leader, team and/or shift.