How to Take Charge

Every restaurant I've ever worked in has used a hierarchy of sorts among its server staff. Sometimes there is a whole totem pole of seniority; others, it's just one king (or more commonly, a queen) in charge of a motley crew of servers. I have spoken with servers from the north, and they swear I would only be a mediocre server past the dixie line (and of that, I have my doubts.), but suffice it to say; Once you reach the top of the totem pole, you gain more responsibility. Different places allot different responsibilities to Headwaits/Checkers/Closers/Shift Leaders. I've worked in places where the headwait made the floor chart in order to keep people on their sidework. I've worked in restaurants where servers come in dressed in formal attire and do manager work for a mediocre hourly rate. No matter how the totem pole works, once you're at the top, you need to have a game plan.

Since I've pretty well seasoned in a plethora of environments, I rose very quickly at my current restaurant. I found myself outranking, yet under-seniority of most of the Front of house labor schedule. In an ideal world, your peers would all respect and applaud your seizing the day. Unfortunately, in reality, quick ascent leads to quick jealousy in most cases. Most places make Closer shifts worth while in some way. Even if its just to stay on alone for 2 hours at the end of a shift; a daunting task if you get a rush, but bank in your wallet if u can hack it.

My particular strategy involved an under utilized white board (thanks Dr. House) that had really become little more then a skrawl board for servers petty announcements. I began to prepare sidework and divvy it up on the white board very large, and very clearly. Everyone saw that everyone pretty much got an even chunk of sidework, no matter how many people we had on the floor. After a few shifts experiencing great success (people doing what I had assigned without even a word being asked of them) I began to explore the boundaries of how I could utilize the board. I began to consult management about special sidework and special cleaning duties to accomplish if the restaurant lulls and then divvy it up amongst the whole floor, including myself. From some miracle, the fact that it had been clearly written, evenly, and very fairly lead our staff to just go with the flow. Some worked slower then others; some socialized to much and had to be asked to do sidework. However, I found a tool that managed to set the pace of the shift neutrally, without demanding copious amounts of respect, yet still building confidence from management staff. That is the Key.

It had to be made very clear that the board can only be utilized for business and management announcements. Birthdays and parties had to be contained to word of mouth. Once the staff knew that management fully backed what I was doing, they followed suit. I got a little courageous and tried to expand it even farther, and started putting non-religious, non-racial, fairly neutral famous inspirational quotes on the board. This lead to dissent from one who then decided everyone needed to know about the party he was throwing on Saturday and could only be notified via the white board.

Picking your battles is also very important. Theres not much cause in fighting with anyone over any one thing. If an argument arises, direct the server to management. Get their take on the situation. I have been corrected as a closer before, and so long as we view every mistake as merely an opportunity to begin again, yet more wisely this time, it does not diminish us as people. (That Last line isn't credit of me, its one of the quotes I used on the board. The last one, actually. I believe it was anonymous.) It is much more common, however, that management has backed me up and corrected the attitude. Having a next line of defense is a handy tool, in any profession.

Taking lead can be very difficult for some. Some just do it naturally. At the very least, if you find yourself in a place where you are assigning any kind of responsibility to anyone; make sure you have a clear idea of exactly what management expects from you, a clearly stated, concise as possible list of duties to accomplish (even if you have to draft it yourself), and endeavor to distribute these duties evenly (including yourself.) Combine these three elements and your own style, and you will be successful in your front of house position.