11/10/2012–Schedule and do your priorities first
Last week I had my first O3 with a brand new employee. Her goal was to sell a bottle of wine by the end of the week… It took her three hours. O3s work!
I’m sold as a Drucker fan after experiencing the uptick in my productivity after writing a calendar. Peter Drucker wrote The Effective Executive, my first book as a manager I’ve read. Basically I’ve seen the difference between having my free time planned, but I’ve not yet scheduled and stuck to a calendar of tasks while at work, after my shift. The latest benefit I’ve seen is sticking to scheduled O3s. One employee whom I predicted would resist the idea did just that saying, “I just don’t know why this is a good way to spend time.” That was at the beginning. She was late, by the way, saying she “might not have noticed it on the schedule.” Sure… It went well–silent at first–but I offered to “go first” with my part though it’s supposed to be they who start. She opened up faster than I expected and ended up saying she’s glad we did it. She explained her resistance was due to her previous manager doing one on ones but only doing one. Then the manager went nuts and it ruined everything the manager was associated with–including one on ones. I’ve got to convince one less person now, though.
I worked a kitchen shift this week and–as with every kitchen shift so far–I learned how much “opportunity” our kitchen has for improvement. I’m discouraged from working in the kitchen because when I do I encounter issues I cannot solve effectively. Through this experience I’ve realized a weakness of mine–I have trouble remaining effective doing my priorities when I recognize that something else is out of place. For example, I did not do a line check–a vital part of every shift–because I felt like cutting the amount of fish Joe told me to cut was more important. So, once it came time for line check (at 3pm) I chose to keep cutting fish instead of doing line check. Before I knew it it was 6pm and I had to be expo and find a dishwasher and saute cook (both of which had not shown up). Not only was I way behind, I also had scheduled a one on one with someone at 2:45. I decided to stick to the O3 because I knew I would end up pushing it further and further back as the week went on and I would have to then reschedule other O3s.
Another thing I learned after working in the kitchen is the difference between managing kitchen employees and front of house employees, or ours at least. Our BOH does well–when they want to. BOH problems can be fixed quickly–by showing the better way. FOH problems require tact, thought, and time. FOH employee’s are more spoiled and unwilling to change. They have more of a “below the line” (The OZ Principle) mentality as a whole. That said, I’m thoroughly enjoying working with the servers and learning about them. Tonight I had 2 different servers upset with things I did. Both made my night when they apologized for acting the way they did. I’m learning that giving people space when they’re upset with you often allows them to end up apologizing.
QOTW: “Whoever is leaving your chef coats in the restroom, I consider you an asshole.” –Kyle
?FNW: How will the trainees do?
11/11/2017–One of my favorite work quotes of all time… I remember the staff liked it too. SO much gratitude for whomever recommended Drucker early in my career (I’m pretty sure it was Manager Tools). To this day, I’m re-reading his material to implement his wisdom. Knowing where my time goes is crucial to productivity–not just getting a lot of things done, but the important things (beyond work, in life).
One tweak I’d make is to avoid seeing discomfort (working in the kitchen) as ineffectiveness so quickly. It was a skillset I had yet to learn; naturally there’d be a period of time before I was good at managing issues in that environment. I made the right call honoring my O3 with the employee. Honoring commitments with people is vital; benefits from doing so (and relationship harm from not) compound over time.