We have an informal mini-series going on here in which we reach beyond our typical scope of conversation in favor of addressing a point which managers of restaurants might find particular value in — being an effective restaurant manager.

Because a restaurant manager wears so many hats, it’s fairly difficult to try to boil it down to just five habits or so. Life is rarely so simple, unfortunately. But at the same time, being able to have your hand in so many different cookie jars is what makes the life of a restaurant manager worth living! Avoiding the nine to five office life where you do the same kind of predictable and moronical tasks on a daily basis is why you wanted to be an entrepreneur in the first place, right? We suppose you have to take the bad with the good.

That complexity being established, the reason why we are spending a good deal of time on this topic is pretty clear — there’s a lot to cover. And while we aren’t restaurant managers here at Online Orders Now, we’ve worked with myriad restaurant owners and managers over the years. This gives us a unique perspective of seeing what kind of managers are successful and what kinds aren’t. That’s why we are going to wrap up this informal mini-series with a post all about what not to do as a restaurant manager. So if you are interested in learning what kind of habits to avoid forming, this post is for you! We hope you find it useful, interesting, and entertaining!

Be Dramatic And Short-Tempered

Everybody loves a hot head, especially when that hot head is your decision-making boss in a stressful environment where customers can see you. Having a short fuse is a sure-fire way to raise the level of collective stress and frustration throughout your establishment. Employees have the habit of adopting the attitudes and behaviors of their superiors — a trend that makes sense given the fact that it’s the superiors who set the standards and change expectations if need be.

We aren’t asking you to never get upset or frustrated. You are only human. Just remember that your FOH and BOH staff are too. There will be dropped plates. There will be missed orders. There will be inaccurate orders. There will be forgotten specialty ingredients. And even if you have a night where the stars align and none of those unfortunate events take place, you still might have an unreasonable, dissatisfied customer you’ll need to deal with.

That’s why it’s key to pick your battles. You can’t very well scold your staff each time a mistake happens, but you can’t always let it go either. Do your best to be mindful of patterns that you see developing. It’s vital to be proactive about nipping any bad habits or consistent mistakes in the bud, but you want to give your staff the benefit of the doubt where possible. It’s a difficult balance to strike, but being level headed and reasonable when you do provide constructive feedback will ultimately lead to fewer mistakes — and happier, more confident employees.

Never Praise Your Staff

Perhaps you are the restaurant owner, perhaps you are not. Perhaps you don’t receive praise from your superiors, perhaps you do. Perhaps you have no higher-ups, aside from investors. Maybe you aren’t as intimately familiar with the value of positive feedback and affirmation as you should be. Whatever the reason, withholding praise from your staff is a fantastic way to deflate and even antagonize them. If you only open your mouth to make note of mistakes and areas that need to be improved, eventually that’s going to wear down your staff in a detrimental fashion.

But instead of focusing on the negative, as we ironically seem to be doing in this blog post, you must learn to celebrate the wins in order to cultivate more of them. We bet the majority of your staff works hard. They work hard for hours, and, seeing as how they are human beings, they need more than mere monetary compensation to really feel good about their job. The positive reinforcement you provide will inspire your staff to do more of the thing you are praising them about. That’s pretty neat, especially from a managerial perspective! Moreover, don’t be afraid to recognize that person in front of the rest of your staff for their great work.

Never Re-evaluate Your Operations & Processes

If you are profitable, you might feel the urge to adhere to the old trope of, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it!” But simply because you are doing enough things right to stay in business doesn’t mean there aren’t aspects of your restaurant that can be improved. Making changes like this can tangibly impact your bottom line while making the lives of your staff (along with yourself) much easier!

What would be a great example of something like this in action?

We’ve got it! Online Orders Now provides sophisticated online ordering software that fully integrates with most every POS system that restaurants use. We’ll build you a custom website, custom mobile app, and make sure that you have everything you need for customers to start using your mobile food ordering system.

You’ll find that our online ordering software is intuitive and easy to use. If you need to make a change to your menu, that’s no sweat. If you want to access customer information for marketing purposes, that information is readily available. If you have trouble with anything at all, we’ve got you covered with a world-class customer support team who genuinely care about improving your business. That’s why we can say that everything we do concerns improving your restaurant’s inefficiencies while increasing your bottom line. That’s the kind of change restaurant owners and managers shouldn’t be wary of — it’s the kind of solution you should be running toward!

Have Absolutely No Knowledge Of The State Of The Industry

A few weeks ago, we took the opportunity to discuss the restaurant industry from a more general perspective than we usually might. More specifically, we highlighted the fact that more and more delivery orders are taking place every year along with how the industry is adapting to this trend. Obviously, you’ve got your big brand pizza chains and their specialty ordering apps. And then you have smaller restaurants who let third-party apps handle all of the mobile ordering and delivery functions for them.

What restaurant owners need to know is that there is a third option — an option where you could get your own custom-made website and online ordering system without having to pay 30 cents of every dollar to a third-party delivery provider.

Yes, we are talking about ourselves, but let’s think about it for a minute! Here’s what Online Orders Now offers that other online ordering systems don’t:

• Lower cost (our competitors often charge up to 20 percent on each order)
• Easy-to-use, integrative system (no retyping orders)
• Direct integration with your preferred point of sale software
• Exclusive features such as “My Way” (our individualized “favorites” menu that works even when menus are updated)
• Non-integrated ordering options
• Non-exclusivity (allows you to use a variety of food delivery platforms without issue)

A Time Of Opportunity

Our point is this: There is no Facebook or Amazon of third-party delivery providers just yet, and that spells opportunity for restaurants looking to make a dent in the delivery market. Online Orders Now gives you the chance to carve out that niche in the market for your own brand without having to pay a third party based on order volume. We don’t believe in that. We believe in being a part of your business’ success. That’s why we offer a variety of packages with different options to meet your unique needs. Follow our pricing resource to learn more about your expected ROI and our Exclusive $20,000 Revenue Guarantee!

Learn More About Online Orders Now

We hope you’ve enjoyed this post which will help you remember which behaviors you should be turning into habits. We also hope you remember that we have the utmost respect for restaurant managers and owners who wear so many hats it makes our heads spin over here at Online Orders Now.

Unlike restaurant managers, we only have to do one thing well. Luckily, we do it very well. If you are interested in our online ordering solution for your restaurant, we’d love to speak with you.

Contact us today to get started.