There are many times when the two principles (being the servers and the kitchen staff) do not see eye to eye and it is the agent's responsibility to resolve this issue. For example, when the kitchen sends out a order that isn't necessarily correct, the servers usually get upset because they are the ones that have to deal with annoyed customers, usually resulting in a lower tip. The manager's job is to check on both the kitchen and servers to see what was wrong and then go and talk to the table that had the wrong order sent out. This usually resolves the issue because the customer then sees that it was just a minor mistake because it is from someone other than their server.
Is there more than one way to solve this issue? Maybe. Another way would be for the manager to talk to the customers first, and maybe offer a free dessert of comp something on their bill. This is probably what I would do because this shows the customer that the restaurant really cares for the customer by giving something extra in return for a mistake.
Other than just focusing on the customer and their needs, the manager also has to make sure that the kitchen staff and the serving staff are okay so that no further conflict arises. Sometimes, one of the parties are not completely satisfied. For example, like I said when the manager gives a free dessert, the kitchen suffers because on top of the orders that they already have, they need to make this free dessert. On the other hand, this helps the server because it makes them look like they really cared because they are the messenger who brings out the free dessert.
So I'd say, when it comes to running a restaurant, the manager has tons of decisions that need to be made and the results aren't always favorable to every party. The difference between a good manager and a mediocre manager is that a good manager can apologize to the party that was hurt in the process and keep the operation moving along without any further confrontation.
Reading this, it would have helped to explain why the wrong order gets made. Is this something the manager could help to prevent in the future? Your discussion talks about addressing the problem after the fact, once the wrong order has been delivered. What about before the fact? I really have no idea how frequent such errors are in restaurants, but as a patron I'd say it is rare. More frequent is that they put the a dish that is right for the table in front of the wrong person, which is no big deal.
ReplyDeleteIf you think of the kitchen and servers like an upstream and a downstream division of a vertically integrated firm, it is not obvious to someone who doesn't work there that the preferences aren't aligned. If there are issues of capacity constraints in the kitchen when the restaurant is crowded, that could produce tension. If there are inexperienced staff in either position who make errors because they don't know better, that could produce tension. Whatever the story is, it would be good to explain why the two groups don't work smoothly together. I'd guess that in a well managed restaurant these things aren't quite like you depict them.
Usually mistakes like these are made on accident. So yes, these could be prevented in the future but in some instances there is simply no way of predicting what could happen. These errors don't occur often, sorry if that was confusing, but when they do we are very accommodating to in turn make sure the patron is happy.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to staff, the turnover rate in this particular restaurant is very high which contributes to some of the staff being inexperienced. I don't know why but a lot of serves and cooks quit within a week of being hired. Maybe it's because it's a relaxed environment but the owner holds high standards? Don't know.
As for the management, the restaurant is run very well. I should've been more clear when saying these instances happen very rarely. Like I said before, when they do happen management handles the situation very well.