It is important to examine the different types of dining establishments, because the different types will often call for slightly different management styles to make sure that they are running as smoothly as possible.
Understanding this will make your job as a restaurant manager a lot easier, as your targets will be different, the way you interact with customers will be different, and also even how you deal with staff will change according to the type of restaurant. If you thought that there was just one type of management to fit all needs, then you are wrong because the opposite is true. The reason for this is simply because of the expectations that come with different types of dining and that is something that you must understand from the outset.
In order to fully explain this, we need to provide some examples in order to clarify the actual difference.
Fine Dining
With fine dining, it is important to remember the type of diners that will come to that kind of establishment. Generally speaking, they will be looking for an exquisite experience and to effectively be treated like royalty from the moment that they walk through the door.
With this dining establishment, the role of the restaurant manager is to make sure that everything runs like clockwork and this type of restaurant is all about precision. People expect staff to be immaculate both in their appearance as well as their manners. The restaurant manager has the task of making sure that this is the case with staff at all times as people expect the best of the best.
Remember that this type of restaurant is referred to as being full service since the customer is served at their table with everything brought to them. This means that it is up to the manager to make sure that every section of the staff are working in tandem, so that the customer has the best possible experience.
The manager has to make sure that the customer is welcomed into the restaurant, is taken to their table in an appropriate time, that the bar staff are preparing drinks, the menu is explained, orders are taken, and that the kitchen get the food out in an appropriate time scale. Diners that go to this kind of restaurant want everything to work perfectly every single time and they will be quick to complain or provide negative feedback should things not go to plan.
With fine dining, the restaurant manager has to pay particular attention to certain key areas including the following:
Staff members are attentive at all times.
Staff members are appropriately dressed.
A willingness to send individuals away from work if they are not suitably dressed.
An eye for detail with the layout of the table.
Have an intricate knowledge of both food and wine.
An ability to judge the atmosphere that is being created in the restaurant.
With this type of restaurant the key is in providing the best possible level of customer service. It is no surprise that often a restaurant manager in this kind of establishment will have at least five years experience within the industry and of running another restaurant that may not be at this level, but is still established in the industry.
Casual Dining
Casual dining is another example of a full service restaurant, but it is seen as being slightly less formal than the fine dining experience.
However, that is not to say that the role of the restaurant manager with this kind of establishment is diminished in any way because that is certainly not the case. One major difference with this type of restaurant is that the customers that come in to this establishment will often be families, so it does require a slightly different approach by the management.
With the staff, their attire will often still be relatively formal, but certainly less strict than with fine dining. It is still important for you to make sure that they are dressed appropriately and are neat. You will also have to pay attention to how they deal with customers from the moment that they walk into the restaurant with there being a need for customers to be taken to their seat and then given the menus. There is certainly still a great deal of contact between staff and the public with this type of dining, so your management style has to reflect that relationship when dealing with both aspects.
With casual dining, you may expect the following to apply:
Your approach still needs to be relatively formal.
You have to keep on top of staff who are perhaps less experienced.
Pay attention to their attire.
Pay attention to their customer skills.
Pay attention to the overall atmosphere.
Educate staff on pushing specials, desserts, and drinks.
Make sure that families are well catered for as they will often be loyal customers.
With casual dining it may not be as restricted or as precise as is expected in fine dining, but that is not to say that you are to allow standards to slip. Instead, the best management approach is to make sure that everything in front-of-house is perfect and that the staff members are managed correctly so that they can then do their job to the best of their ability.
Casual dining is capable of producing a number of loyal customers and it is perfect for those individuals that prefer a real hands-on approach when it comes to their form of management.
Fast, Casual Restaurants
With fast, casual restaurants, there is a tendency for them to be far more relaxed, but the pace at which these restaurants operate tends to be much faster than any other form of dining. This type of dining falls between casual dining and fast food restaurants, so they will still be relatively inexpensive and have a higher turnover of customers throughout the day. This is less of a dining experience and more a case of delivering good food at a relatively cheap price and getting those tables cleared for the next customers to sit down.
When it comes to dealing with staff, you need to stress the importance of dealing with customers in the correct manner, but there is undoubtedly less contact with them throughout their time in the restaurant. It is often the case that the staff uniform is less formal, but you must still make sure that the staff adhere to the rules as set out by the owners or senior management as they still have to be presentable.
With this type of dining establishment, you may expect the following:
There is a faster turnover of customers.
There is a faster turnover of staff.
There is a need to create a hierarchy of staff you trust.
By doing so, they can help train new staff.
There is less contact with the customer.
This type of dining is often less formal.
There is often a need to work faster.
Due to the number of staff you need to have good people skills.
Customer complaints still happen, so an ability to deal with them is essential.
We are not looking down on this type of dining experience because it does form a large part of the industry. From a management perspective, this type of establishment is ideal for those starting out on this career path. It gives experience in a fast paced working environment along with the opportunity to work with a large number of staff. It has its very own pressures due to the speed at which everything has to be done, and it provides you with a good opportunity to get to grips with the concept of stock control and other parts of the actual business.
Quick Casual Restaurants
By quick, casual restaurants, we mean fast food outlets. This type of restaurant manager is going to operate in a vastly different way to those that work in the realm of fine dining.
The entire idea of this type of dining is limited interaction with the customers, delivering their food in the quickest time possible, and then moving onto the next customer. Time is of the essence, so from a managerial point of view, the main areas to focus on is in motivating staff and constantly making sure that people are doing the jobs that they have been assigned to do. The manager must be able to keep on top of stock levels due to the speed at which the restaurant moves, so even though it may not be as elegant as fine dining do not be fooled into thinking that it is any less stressful.
So, from a management point of view there are several key points to learn from this particular section of the course:
The type of establishment determines the type of customer.
The type of establishment determines your type of management.
It is the least formal type of dining.
The turnover of staff can be huge.
You must be good at training people quickly and effectively.
Staff members often have no experience, and motivating them is key.
Even though it is informal there is still a uniform.
Enforcement of company laws and rules is still required.
With this type of dining, your focus will be on keeping things running from a staff perspective rather than the actual customer side of things. However, you do have to make sure that customers are being served in an adequate manner and that the general housekeeping is also being done. You should still not overlook the fact that this will all run quite smoothly if your management style is suitable for this type of dining.
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3.2 Dealing with the Restaurant Layout
You may wonder as to the role that the layout of the restaurant plays in your management style of skills, but being able to stand back and understand the layout is more important than you think.
In order to provide the best level of customer service, you must be able to divide the layout up into different sections whereby certain members of staff deal with certain tables.
The idea behind this approach is to reduce the workload on any one individual by allowing them to focus on just a handful of customers at any one time.
As the manager, it is important that you micro manage these areas and are careful with how you seat the customers to make sure that there is an even spread throughout the restaurant.
Doing so can prevent certain staff members from being over worked while others are left with virtually nothing to do. This is seen as being good people management, but of course this is a situation that is fluid and constantly changing.
However, another factor that plays a role is the actual number of tables that you are dealing with as this then clearly has an impact on the number of staff that are under your control. The more staff, the better your management skills need to be especially when it comes to delegating tasks to people. At this point, you may have to break down the layout even further by making sure that staff understand their own individual boundaries when it comes to the areas where they work.
3.3 Layouts and the Type of Restaurant
However, the issue of the layout of the restaurant can also be determined by the type of dining establishment, so it is also important to be aware of the differences in that respect to help you to provide the best possible experience for your customers.
For example, fine dining will often be laid out in such a way that there is more space between tables providing people with more privacy. Layouts will often be more formal in their nature especially when it is compared to that of casual dining, where there will be more tables for larger groups than in the fine dining setting.
The same approach to dealing with the layout does not apply when we are looking at fast food restaurants.
A number of them operate a system whereby the customers clear the table, but it is still the responsibility of the management to make sure that the tables are cleared and cleaned to allow others to use them.
However, with this there are no waiting staff, so all of your focus in that respect is behind the scenes with the initial order taking and then the food being sent out in as short a time as possible.
So, when it comes to the layout, we can say the following:
The type of establishment can often determine the layout.
This then has an impact on your type of management.
Consider using the layout to determine how to operate the customer service.
You must have the ability to micro manage individual areas.
Never be afraid to alter the layout to improve staff management.
There is more to the layout of the restaurant than simply attempting to get in as many tables as possible. Instead, you can use it to your advantage to make your management of the restaurant a lot easier.
3.4 The Decor and Management
We are discussing the décor because it plays a role in determining the type of restaurant and the atmosphere that is then created.
As a direct result of this, there is a need for you to adapt your management skills and approach to fit in even with the décor and this is something that is often overlooked by a number of potential managers.
You need to understand the psychology that is attached to the décor of a restaurant as it will directly influence the type of dining experience that is to be expected as well as the type of customers that tend to dine there.
For example, you will never see the same kind of décor in a fast food outlet as you would do a restaurant that has a Michelin star. The décor helps to create a certain ambiance within the restaurant and, as a result, this has a direct impact on the type of customer and what they expect in the way of customer service.
If we use this comparison and take it a step further, then a bright and cheerful fast food outlet is seen as being the type of place where there is a lot of noise and there is less contact between staff and customers. The main role of the manager is to make sure that the food is getting to the customer as quickly as possible and from a general housekeeping point of view that staff are cleaning the areas quickly enough to prepare it for the next batch of customers.
However, if we then switch over to a more formal type of décor that tends to be associated with more fine dining, then the ambiance is different as is the type of diner and what they expect from staff. Your management style within this kind of setting is more to do with not looking as harassed and stressed,
Finally, it is also a known fact within the restaurant industry that the type of décor can have an impact on the amount of money that an individual is likely to spend within the restaurant. If the décor is seen as being cheap and cheerful, then the customer is more likely to just venture in with a pre-set idea of what they want, and they will not spend anything extra.
However, when we look at the other end of the restaurant décor spectrum, it is accepted that the better quality décor, and we mean even with casual dining and not just fine dining, can lead to people having a better time and more likely to overspend as a result. This is good news for the profit
margin for the restaurant, so your management style has to reflect that feeling as should the staffthat are then trying to promote drinks, coffee, and desserts.
So, when it comes to the types of décor and restaurant management, we can say the following:
Formal décor often leads to more formal customer service.
Relaxed décor does not necessarily mean a more relaxed management style.
The décor can influence what people spend.
Decor helps with the ambiance in a restaurant.
As a restaurant manager, you need to understand the way in which the décor of a restaurant has a direct impact on not only how the restaurant operates, but the type of people that come into the restaurant and what they expect from staff.
It is also worth your while looking at how the décor can be changed to improve the experience of customers and you may wish to conduct studies as to how even a refurbishment can boost profits in the long term.
Summary of Module
This module has looked at the different types of dining establishments and how they can alter your actual management style.We have also discussed how different layouts, including the number of tables, will impact on your management style, and to make sure that you always provide the best service possible.
Finally, we have discussed the décor as even the way that the restaurant looks inside can have an impact on the type of service that is expected as well as the amount of money that they spend. However, perhaps the main point to take from this module is that as a restaurant manager you need to be able to adapt to a number of different things in order to help the restaurant to perform as wellas it should. We will explore this idea in later modules.
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