Servers are incredible folks. This is especially true when you consider just how much they’re responsible for during each shift. That said, having so many different tasks to complete can become overwhelming.
And when this happens, servers can struggle to be efficient. Don’t let this happen to your staff. Instead, explore some methods for ensuring that your servers have everything they need to be successful during a shift.
Provide Adequate Training
Providing your staff with adequate, comprehensive training is one of the most basic ways to improve restaurant server efficiency. From taking orders to communicating with the kitchen, servers have to juggle multiple tasks.
And when they don’t receive the proper training to manage all of these things, it forces them to slow down. For this reason, teaching servers how to organize themselves and consolidate their work properly is crucial.
Further, when they struggle, give them actionable suggestions to help them improve. Well-trained servers are also well organized and quick on their toes. So if you want your staff to be more efficient, prioritizing excellent training is a fantastic start.
Emphasize Clear Communication
The restaurant industry thrives on clear communication. And if we’re being honest, without it, servers and everyone else on your staff will struggle to do their jobs effectively. To illustrate, perhaps a server forgets to write down a crucial instruction on their order ticket.
Well, if the server isn’t able to quickly and clearly communicate this to the kitchen, it causes significant issues. However, when servers feel empowered to be clear and direct about their needs, it makes their job much more straightforward.
And inherently, they’re able to perform their duties quickly and more effectively. So when you’re looking for ways to improve restaurant server efficiency, it’s wise to emphasize the importance of direct communication.
Streamline Server Duties
Of course, training and communication are excellent ways to increase efficiency. But if you want to take it a step further, streamlining server operations is a perfect way to speed things up. For instance, maybe you’re used to letting your servers divvy up work themselves.
But this leads to confusion and frustration. So instead, you could implement a rotational schedule for all servers to follow. Or perhaps the issue lies with the speed and accuracy of order taking.
In this case, you could opt to incorporate tablets into your operations. You could even use restaurant POS software for tablets so that your servers can send their orders directly to the kitchen without having to run back and forth from their tables to other POS stations.
However you decide to do it, streamlining specific duties for your servers can take some of the weight off their shoulders. As a result, they’ll be able to focus on staying as organized and efficient as possible.
