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Most Winning Restaurants Have a Weekly Huddle. Do You?

A common characteristic of many successful independent restaurants is the owner's practice of pausing each week to meet with their management team. They regularly get together to review how the restaurant is performing and decide on a plan of what to focus on in the coming seven days.

Having a weekly review and planning discipline helps managers clearly understand what their priorities are and what they need to do to accomplish specific, short-term goals and objectives.

The cornerstone of this approach is having a brief, well-organized weekly management meeting in which the owner and all managers participate.

Effective weekly meetings generally include a review and discussion of the following items:

  • A reminder of the restaurant's mission, vision, and values
  • Prior week's commitments
  • Key numbers including sales, guest counts, and prime cost
  • Daily tasks such as ordering and scheduling
  • Weekly team review - a discussion on staff performance, who's not meeting standards, and who may need coaching or reassignment
  • Weekly goals such as anticipated sales and cost goals, repair and maintenance projects, upcoming marketing promotions, scheduled banquets or catering events, and special events that are going on in the community
  • Commitments for next week - a review of all action steps and commitments made during the meeting

Weekly meetings improve the odds that your managers are organized, goal-oriented, and clearly understand your priorities. They are also more likely to feel like they are an integral and important part of your restaurant too.

If your management team is lacking direction and cohesiveness, start meeting at the same time each week to discuss how the restaurant is doing and specific goals for making it better.

With everyone's input and your guidance, you'll see a more effective management team and a better-performing restaurant.

Source: RestaurantOwner.com