The restaurant industry isn’t an easy one to work in. Long hours, challenging customers, and good old fashioned hard work.
Too often you get sucked into late nights, answering text messages, and tracking down replacement staff.
And that’s not why you got into the business. Thankfully, there’s a way to run a successful restaurant business — and still have a life. Read on for five tips that will keep you cool when the pressure is on.
1. Delegate tasks
You can’t be everywhere all the time. You need to post the new schedule, give your staff their regular reviews, and hire seasonal workers. But when you delegate tasks you can split the workload so you can concentrate on what matters most.
You might have one employee who is in charge of inventory, another who is responsible for upholding safety protocol, one who handles front of house. However you decide to split up tasks, make sure you provide training to ensure your team knows exactly what they need to do and when.
2. Empower your staff
It’s the start of your shift and you already have 20 things on your to-do list. But one of your waiters called in sick and now you’ve spent two hours just trying to find a replacement.
Enable your staff to easily swap shifts. With the right tools, employees who need to take time off can find a replacement on their own. This gives employees more control over their work, not to mention that it saves you time and headache.
3. Sweat it out
When you’re on your feet or dealing with customers all day, the last thing you probably want to do is exercise. But a great way to ramp up (or cool down) from your day is with a little heart-pumping exercise.
Lace up your shoes and go for a run around the block. If running isn’t your thing, you can find plenty of free workouts online. Yoga to calm your mind? Boxing classes to release your stress? Jazzercise to get a good laugh? Give it a go.
4. Take a vacation and unplug
Treat yourself. You can’t effectively manage a successful restaurant if you’re constantly stressed.
One of the reasons you’re a good manager is because you’re so invested in your job. But sometimes you need to step away to not burn out. Get a haircut. Read a book in the park. Take a vacation. Make sure you carve out time off work where you can clear your head — and come back fully charged as the stellar boss you are.
5. Use tools so you can work from anywhere
When you’ve already put in a long day, the last thing you probably want to do is spend more time at the restaurant reviewing timesheets, creating schedules, or sending out team communications.
Use workforce management tools that streamline your work — and let you work from anywhere. That way you can create, copy, and publish schedules, manage shift swaps, and find replacements from any device.
Get the right work/life balance
If you’ve ever had to go back to your payroll team and let them know there was a mistake with an employee’s schedule, you’re not alone. New workforce management systems provide a valuable electronic record, substantially reducing the types of errors that can result from the old-fashioned “pen and paper” method. Sign up for a free trial of Deputy to see how you can get a better work/life balance.
