Senior and Middle Management must realise that they are there to support the folks who are working day in and day out in the restaurants. If you support your restaurant teams, you will increase their chances to be successful.  If Restaurant Teams are successful, the organization is successful.  Don't let the organization become “Head Office vs. Managers”. It is not Us vs. Them.  If we do our jobs properly; they can do their jobs properly. Nothing demonstrates an organization doomed for mediocrity then Head Office Staff who think the people running their restaurants are below them. #myopinion

Cover Page of Report

Mexican Restaurant Juggernaut Wahaca ‘s well publicized takeaway Burrito concept called Burrito Mama introduced their Burritos to the world this past Friday at Uber-trendy Street Feast in the Dalston Yard. Being a Burrito Aficionado by trade, I was invited to come down and taste the goods before things opened up to the public.

There was an appropriate amount of chaos surrounding the Burrito Mama site with the crew putting the final touching on their service line and a handful of PR and marketing folks making sure everyone was comfortable with a cold beer and some well-chosen sound bites:

“The Burrito Mama brand will stand on it’s own and not be directly associated with Wahaca”

“We will be opening our first site in One New Change this October, hopefully to be followed by more” - In what I understand is the old Sumo Salad space. I wonder if they got a change of use permit and will be operating on an A3 lease (with primary cooking on site)?

“We perfected our recipes and processes using the Burrito Truck on the Southbank”

“We are 100% focused on better burritos, faster. Over the years, we have noticed that around 90% of customers order our burritos without making any bespoke tweaks, but we still go through the process of asking them every ingredient to put in, slowing things down. At Burrito Mama, we’re taking all our knowledge of what people love, making it taste extra special and then using that as our recommended choice for customers." Wahaca and Burrito Mama co-founder Thomasina Miers

They intend to operate with the “Order, Pit, Auction” Model. This means a customer will place their order and pay then be given a receipt with a name or a number. They will then wait in the pit or designated open space for their name or number to be called. There will be a Burrito Mama employee who will be expediting the finished orders into the hungry mob, usually by shouting their name/ number or auctioning their food. This is a common Model in the USA with Fast Casual Mexican brand Baja Fresh being the most well known. Examples here in the UK can be found by visiting new Burger Giants Shake Shack and Five Guys in Covent Garden. All of these brands cook their food to order so it will be interesting to see if Burrito Mama pre-make their Burritos or make each order fresh once placed.

As this was the first time Burrito Mama was offering it’s product to the public, we can assume they will be making some more tweaks along the way. It is likely the Burritos we sampled (which were the first two produced) will evolve over the coming weeks. Unfortunately, Burrito Mama does not yet occupy their Restaurant space so it would be challenging to address the quality of their people and Operations. We can only base our analysis off of what we observed and tasted this afternoon at this one off event.

To read the full analysis - Buy it now!

Sometimes Starbucks has two types of Espresso Beans in their machines which allow the aficionado to order different versions of their favourite drinks.  Currently there is a  promotional bean in most of the Espresso Machines in London.  This year promotinal bean is a Mild Guatemalan Roast called Casi Cielo™ - the name means "almost heaven", which basically describes the level of happiness I ascended to after drinking my first one.  If you don't normally drink Ice Coffee - this is an excellent choice for the beginner. Iced Guatemalan Recipe:

1. Start with a Venti Cup
2. 3 or 4 shots of Guatemalan Roast over ice (depends on preference)
3. fill with equal parts cold milk and cold water
4. Sugar to taste (Simple Syrup if they have it)

Why it works: This roast has the right amount of acidity to stand up to the dilution once the ice melts. The resulting flavour has a well tanned, smooth body that leaves an lingering Cocoa taste on your tongue.  On hot hot Summers day, there is nothing more refreshing the a brief South American deluge.

Hurry while supplies last!!!

In any medium sized company, the Organisational Structure is roughly the same. Bigger and smaller companies have more or less members of each group.  While everyone works hard to make a startup company successful, only a handful of people will actually realise substatial financial upside should there be an liquidity event. Senior Management: 3 - 5 people - This are the key stake holders.  The Founders, the Officers, the People who stand to make Millions if there is an exit event such as IPO or Accusation.  These are the people running the company, they seldom have much connection with the details of how the business operates... they are too busy running the company.

Middle Management: 30 - 50 people - These are the people running the business.  Directors of departments who moving forward initiatives, lead large teas of people and generally slaying dragons.  Less than 10% of all Middle Management will ever be considered for a Senior Management role.  These people stand to gain a Million or less if there is an exit event such as IPO or Accusation.

Managers: 300 - 500 people - These are the workhorses of the business.  General or Department Managers who are responsible for executing Middle Managements initiatives. These people deal with the bulk of the business's problems, customers and day to day activities.  It generally sucks to be a Manager and any =one in this position should be pushing and fighting to be promoted to the next level.    Less than 20% of all Managers will ever be considered for a Middle Management role. If you Middle Manager is one of the 90% who are going nowhere, it may be best to transfer out of that department into one with better growth potential. These people stand to gain 100K or less if there is an exit event.

Staff: 3,000 - 5,000 people - You have to start somewhere.   Basic, routine and repetitive tasks for a low hourly wage sum up this role.  If you are fortunate you will work for an excellent Manager who is going to grow in the organization.  This will mean opportunity for you.  If your manager is one of the 80% who are going nowhere, best to transfer out of that department or consider another job.   You will be very lucky if you receive any upside from an Exit Event.

Everyone who starts at Staff has has the a chance to break into Senior Management, most of them will not.

Know the company culture. All companies promote based on the same two criteria: Performance and Politics.  Philosophically I believe the correct combination for a successful culture is: 80% Performance and 20% Politics (or soft skills).  Some organisations run on a 50/50 breakdown, some 20/80... identify this.  Have a look at your performance reviews, bonus criteria or the types of people who get promoted.  What a company tells you and how a company operates can be two different things.  Defer to the compensation structure to understand how an organization values performance.

More tips for breaking into Management:

• Being good at Politics is extremely important to develop into Senior Management.  It is what sets you apart from the brilliant technicians.
• When there is a dispute, rise above the detail and work towards the solution.
• When at a meeting, ask everyone else's opinion.
• Do not get involved in the squabbles, rise above them.

Society conditions us to be sheep. From the first day of school we are taught to sit quietly, raise our hands and wait to be called on. Leaders do not raise their hands and wait to be called on. Leaders say what needs to be said and do what needs to be done. Leaders do not seek permission, they give themselves permission to do what needs to be done. Your company does not need you to be a sheep, it needs you to be a leader.

When Senior Management talks about hiring "Great" people who "Fit" the Culture and will perform well, what exactly are they talking about?  A lot of them do a poor job clearly defining the aspects of performance so I am going to do it for you.  I will be citing finding from a Psychologist named Jeff Johnson who looked into this and in 2003 published a paper called Toward a Better Understanding of the Relationship Between Personality and Individual Job Performance (2003). In general terms, performance has three major components which can than be further broken down into more specific components:

Job Performance - Refers to being effective in tasks that make up one's job.  Every job (Chef, Server, Accountant, Director) can be defined by the tasks performed in that job. This component may be further refined into such factors as: adhering to procedures, oral communication, knife skills, recipe execution, etc.  This dimension of performance is clearly JOB orientated and refers to performing ones job effectively.

Organizational Performance - Refers to being a good organizational citizen and helping make the organization run smoothly by contributing in ways that go beyond ones particular job. This component may be further refined into such factors as: conscientious of others, not showing up hung over, not getting stressed out and being committed to the company.  This dimension of performance clearly goes beyond ones job and refers to being effective in contributing to the overall welfare of the ORGANIZATION.

Adaptive Performance - Refers to the ability and willingness to cope with uncertain, new and rapidly changing conditions on the job. This component may be further broken down into such factors as: adjusting to new equipment/ procedures, working under different managers, changing restaurant environments and continuously learning new skills.  An environment of change often requires the organization to work around projects rather than well-defined and stable jobs, which in turn requires workers who are sufficiently flexible to be effective in poorly defined roles.

This is not the black and white, task-focused work environment our parents lived in.  Gone are the days when an employee could say "That is not in my job description" or "you pay me to cook, not do dishes" or "why should I do the inventory, I do not get paid to do the inventory".  Drawing a line between your job and the organization is career suicide in todays work environment. Today the effective performer must make additional contributions that go beyond their job description.  Task Performance will always be relevant because that is the job we are hiring employees to do.  But the expectations now are for employees to go beyond their jobs, to help the organization in whatever ways present themselves and to adapt to rapidly changing work conditions.  To be a top performer in todays work environment, one must exhibit a wider range of skills than our parents had to.

Senior People walk into a Restaurant and Set the Tone #myopinion

You set the tone when you walk onto a shift. Be as consistent as a recipe's execution.

1 Kilo of Energy

1/2 Cup of Determination

1/4 Cup of Punctuality

2 Scoops of Sugar

Toss in a large mixing bowl and serve alongside Talent.

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A disorganized dish area is a symptom of poor shift management. Manage the problem, not the symptoms.

• Keeping the dish area organized is everybody’s responsibility
• Do not “Dump and Run”
• Pre-rinse everything
• Utensils should be soaking and collecting in the same spot
• Similar items stacked
• There should never be dishes in the sink unless they are being washed
• It is OK to let dishes build up a bit, hopefully never on the floor
• Leave not sharp objects in the dish area
• Wash as you go, stack if you must

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If your are not using a Managers Diary in your Restaurant, your going nowhere.  I believe a Manager Diary should have 2 sections: Checklists & General Notes I like to have a Checklist for each of the day-parts of the Business.  At most of the Fast Casual Brands I have worked at, we trade over Lunch and Dinner.  On a typical day we will run with an Opening Manager (OM) and a (CM).  Therefore each day has an Opening and a Closing Checklist.

AM Manager ______                    

Opening Check List          

• Complete Prep List for the Day                               
• Complete Food Safety Checklist                
• Complete & Email Weekly Sheet                
• Check Email                                                                       
• Count Safe/ Set Tills                                               
• Order Change                                             
• Complete Deployment Chart
•  Lead Service
• Handover

Notes:

The Managers Log should sit in the office and be a means of communication between the Management Team.  Every person on the management team should start their shift by reading it and end their shift by writing notes in it.  It works particularly well for the CM to communicate to the following days OM without having to disturb them with a phone call/ email.  If filled out correctly, the OM will have no reason to call the previous nights CM for clarification.   The less Managers are disturbing each other during their time off, the better quality time off they can enjoy. Managers enjoying their time off without non-critical communication is an attribute of a strong Team.

These are examples of things that should be recorded in the Manager Log:

• Any problem that has been successfully resolved for the following Manager
• Any non-critical problem that you did not resolve for the following Manager but want them to be aware of
• Anything to do with Transfers
• Marketing Activity
• Vendor Activity
• Non-critical information about people
• Notes from phone calls
• Weekly Manager Meeting Notes
• Something positive that will make the following Manager smile

When I visit sites, I always try to flip through their Manager Log to get a sense of the team.  I feel comfortable making the following assumptions:

• If they are using it to "Bitch" at each other than the team is not functioning well
• If only one person writes in it but nobody else writes in it than the team is not functioning well
• If the entire Management Team is using it, if tasks have been initialed, boxes checked, meeting minutes documents than that team is going places.

MANAGER_DIARY

@fiveguys shares value with free peanuts while you wait for your food to cook

Customers expect more and more value for their money. Operating in this environment means being forced to make lots of tough Invest vs. Return decisions.  Should you invest lots of cash Toilets? Faster CC machines? Social Media? Seating? Music? Kitchen? Packaging? Discounts? What will your customer find most rewarding?  Where will they feel the investment the most? The answer is obviously - everything.

Todays customers expect everything to be perfect, wonderful and tasty for their hard earned money… and they rightly should. #myopinion

Solving for what your customers value is so important to do in the start up days of the business. If you can figure out your customer early on, you can build the brand with them.  You may spend years trying to make the perfect burger, only to find out your customers love you for your home-made ketchup.  All you had to do was bottle it.

What we need to do is share some of the profit back with them or to better word it, run with higher operational costs.  We need to spend more money then we are comfortable with on Ingredients.  We need to pay more than Minimum Wage. Do not try to squeeze extra profit by cutting your Maintenance and Repair budget… nope your restaurants need to be refreshed every 5 years, the brand every 7.  We need to spend more than the guys down the street because today’s customer can tell the difference.

When you get it right and give your customers a Brand Experience that exceeds their cost of acquisition, your giving great value for money.  When we do this, the business prospers. When the business prospers, we grow in volume.  When volume grows, we get better pricing on controllables.  With better pricing, we can make more profit.  When we make more profit, we invest some of  it back into the Brand Experience to make it more valuable.  We keep the price of acquisition the same.  The business prospers...