Top-of-the-House

Questions From Readers

Posted on Oct 14, 2009 in Top-of-the-House by Jeffrey Summers 0 Comments

Q: I have been asked to become the GM of my restaurant – I am currently the AM. The previous GM ran things into the ground to the point that everything pretty much sucks. The owner is no help. What can I do to turn things around?

A: Working with Your Boss. You must first make sure you have the owner’s mandate for the level of change that is necessary to turn this place around – without it, you are just wasting time. Identify specific strategies for conversations with the individual who can most impact their transition’s success: your boss.

Diagnosing Your Situation. Given that all transitions are unique, this task provides a framework that helps identify the most critical skills and strategies to apply in this unique transition – and which ones to NOT!

Assessing Your Situation and Yourself. You have to first realize that any negative attitudes and comments need to stay in your head. You cannot vocalize about “…how bad things are screwed up…”. You will kill any goodwill you have with the staff and help to perpetuate the negative culture that exists. Also, many leaders fail because they rely too heavily on the success of actions they previously took” actions that were appropriate in a different context. Identify your potential strengths to leverage”as well as your vulnerabilities that could significantly impact the transition.

Accelerating Your Learning. You must learn a vast amount of information at the beginning of a transition. Learn the guests, staff, the systems the good and the bad before you begin to change the situation. Then…

Prioritize to Succeed. Coaches have much to do in a limited amount of time. Identify early wins and establish A-item priorities to ensure short- and long-term success. Eliminate inefficiencies in the existing systems by focusing on refining your food cost, beverage cost and labor cost as soon as possible so that any business increases you start to effect will allow more profit to flow through to the bottom line while you fix the rest of your business.

Building Your Team. Speaking of culture, that’s what you have to work on. You must become the walking talking expert and Coach for everyone. Be positive and find good behavior to reward. Start now to create the type of high-performance culture you need to be successful in the future. While a Coach is in transition, so is his or her team. Focus on building a team to generate team momentum. Remember to never waste time solving a problem you can eliminate. Get rid of the C & D level people now. It would be better for you to run short handed than to keep these people aboard who will do everything in their power to maintain their status quo. Plus you wont be able to hire “A” level staff when they see the “C’s” and “D’s” they must work with. Also, do not befriend any of the staff. Be a leader – yes. But do not fall into the trap of the employee who bemoans the previous management and is instantly your best buddy/employee. Maintain your distance with them. You may have to terminate anyone at any time as you uncover the “dirt”.

Tags: restaurant operations