What is Restaurant Operations Management?

The term "restaurant operations management" describes the process by which a business keeps its eating establishment operational. Everything in between falls under this category, as does managing inventory, personnel, and finances.

Owners of eating establishments juggle a lot of responsibilities and have a lot of moving parts.

To keep your restaurant running smoothly, it's important to have a plan for managing the operations of the company. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to integrate the front and back of the house departments in order to provide excellent service to the customers.

When you master them, you'll be well on your way to increasing both your total covers and sales at the restaurant.

What is the Goal of Operations Management in a Restaurant?

Improving efficiency and eliminating challenging areas in a restaurant's day-to-day functioning are the goals of operations management in a restaurant.

A more productive and lucrative business is the end outcome of well-managed operations.

Various parts of a restaurant can benefit from the effective operational strategies put in place by the restaurant operations manager who work there. Among them are:

• Keeping stock levels and inventory utilization at their optimum levels
• Promoting industry standards for food safety
• Maintaining a rigorous quality control system for food
• Customer satisfaction is our top priority
• Making sure the business stays afloat financially
• Improving efficiency in preparation
• Enhancing the onboarding process for new staff members at the restaurant
• Supervising employees at a food service establishment
• The restaurant's profit margin can be improved by controlling inventory costs and applying cost-reduction measures

Components of Restaurant Operations

According to the NRA, effective restaurant operations management can boost profit margins by up to 15%. Restaurants can increase profitability by streamlining numerous operational procedures, such as inventory management and staff training.

There is a great deal of work that goes into managing a restaurant smoothly, so let's examine the main aspects of this industry:

Food Preparation, Safety & Handling

Having an experienced team of chefs is essential for every restaurant. Any restaurant, from the most exclusive eatery to a casual local joint, needs a head chef to oversee the kitchen crew. 

Food handling and safety, as well as preparation, cooking, and plating, will all fall under the purview of kitchen supervisors. Their other responsibility will be to maintain uniformity in the food's appearance, flavor, and quality.

The rising expense of food and the growing interest in sustainability have prompted a surge in the number of restaurants that assess their influence on the environment. Michelin also reports that initiatives to reduce food waste are quite popular this year. 

Staff Training

One of the most important parts of running a restaurant is training the staff. A well-organized training program is crucial for making sure that all team members understand their roles and responsibilities and how to perform them effectively. They are able to make better selections because of it as well.

Digital training and on-the-job instruction should work together to teach staff what they need to know, from the menu items and service methods to the ins and outs of the point-of-sale system.

Make sure everyone is on the same page by writing out a comprehensive employee handbook that lays out the company's principles, regulations, and procedures.

Nevertheless, it is essential to have specialized training programs and resources for every role. After all, a chef's skill set and that of a waitress will vary greatly. 

Cleaning, Sanitation, and Safety

Cleaning, sanitation, and following safety protocols are essential parts of running a restaurant on a daily basis. In addition to pleasing customers and being in accordance with health department regulations, keeping the kitchen and dining room clean on a regular basis is essential for restaurants. 

Moreover, ServSafe or city-issued certificates can be required of certain personnel by your local government. 

Incorporate cleaning into staff sidework and closing routines to ensure it gets done. Staff members in the kitchen and the front desk can benefit from using an app to make basic, personalized checklists that outline the specific items and methods that need to be cleaned up after each shift. 

Make your own digital checklists and forms with Xenia and add them to every shift. Employees can subsequently utilize their phones to mark off tasks when they are finished.

Scheduling and Compliance

Many individuals, depending on the size of your business, can be responsible for making weekly schedules. For instance, the head chef or sous chef can be in charge of making the timetable for the kitchen crew, while the assistant restaurant operations manager would be in charge of scheduling the front-of-house workers. 

Operating efficiently is critical, regardless of how you do it. There are several reasons why proper scheduling is crucial, such as:

• You can make the most of your employees' skills with its help.
• Preventing overtime is one way to control labor expenditures.
• When you know exactly how many employees are at your disposal, you can better prepare for unforeseen circumstances. 
• Consider the following scenario: you need to hire more people at the last minute because of an unexpected spike in reservations, or someone cancels at the last minute.
• Employees are happier, and more productive, and provide better service when their schedules are clear and not filled with unnecessary complications.
• Staff members are held responsible for doing their given responsibilities by using schedules, which establish clear expectations.

Daily Service

Naturally, service is the lifeblood of your restaurant. Your service must be flawless regardless of whether you are open for breakfast, lunch, or supper.

The duties of a dining room manager include welcoming and seating customers, taking orders, delivering food and drink, responding to questions or concerns, and making sure everyone has a good time while they're eating.

Holding pre-shift meetings is a great approach to assist make sure service goes properly. 

You can motivate your employees and check in with them before a hectic shift by holding preshift meetings, which are similar to team huddles before a football game. 

During this time, be sure to inform staff of any new menu items or promotions, count the amount of bookings, answer any questions they may have, and share any significant news or changes.

Payroll and Financial Management

Keeping track of labor and food expenditures is often the responsibility of managers, but if you're worried about the financial side of things, a bookkeeper or accountant may be a good choice. They will assist with the restaurant's payroll and budget management, as well as keep tabs on spending, sales, and profitability. 

Keep meticulous records of all transactions and track employee hours using an employee time clock. Staff members can be held accountable for their shift timings by using their mobile devices to punch in and out; timesheets will be immediately updated accordingly.

After making the necessary changes, you can easily export the files to Excel or your payroll system.

Purchasing and Inventory Management

Make sure you have a procedure in place to do inventory regularly. There will probably be several staff in charge of this work since inventory purchases and maintenance fall within the purview of both the front and back of the house. 

Since all of the ingredients are purchased by the kitchen, it stands to reason that they will also spend the most on food inventory.

Beverages and cocktail garnishes, takeaway containers, plastic silverware, paper napkins, office supplies, coffee, and tea are all things that need to be purchased for the front of the house as well.

How To Improve Restaurant Operations

Becoming Data Driven

Yep, you guessed it right.  The best restaurant directors and managers do indeed rely heavily on data analysis to inform their intuition and allow little space for guessing. However, being data-driven is not a simple process. 

It entails educating the staff the value of entering correct data, having restaurant inventory management software that makes data entry straightforward, and keeping the show running with accurate, dependable, and up-to-date data. 

For example, a lot of organizations still manually input restaurant data, which is tedious and susceptible to human error. Aside from this unsatisfactory beginning, preparing reports takes time and is often incorrect.

This is why it is critical to use digital solutions that support the requirement to input and transmit information. 

Increase Team Efficiency

As a restaurant operations manager, you play an important role in the restaurant's operation.

Aside from you, everyone on your staff has an important role to play in simplifying restaurant operations. It is your responsibility to guarantee that there are sufficient workers in the appropriate jobs to sustain operational efficiency without overpaying for labor.

To do this well, you must first analyze sales and demand patterns. This allows you to staff your restaurant with the appropriate amount of employees for each service. The last thing you want to do is pay individuals who aren't working. 

At the same time, you don't want to be short on workers, which would distract from the dining experience.

Improve Reporting and Insights

Your restaurant operations management could be greatly enhanced with the use of data. However, a lot of businesses still use spreadsheets that need human data input.

The margin for mistake is significant, making this a poor tactic. Not only are manual procedures sluggish and wasteful, but they also hinder the ability to generate reports that may be used for decision-making promptly.  

With the correct point-of-sale (POS) or restaurant management software, you can collect all the important data from your restaurant and turn it into useful insights. 

These reports will address several aspects of your restaurant's operations, such as accounting, inventory, personnel management, and financing. Read our advice on free restaurant management systems if you're not sure where to begin.

If you want to know how your restaurant is doing at different times, you may get detailed data on these topics. As a result, you could enhance your restaurant management process as a whole by making better judgments and pinpointing problem areas with more ease.

Recruiting The Right Team

In the restaurant industry, your success or failure will depend on the quality of your staff. It is critical to hire carefully since doing so will save you both time and money. 

For executive positions, you may work with headhunters, or you can utilize a contemporary recruiting platform that focuses on the hotel industry to quickly locate qualified candidates. 

Make sure to inquire about recommendations from your staff. They have experience working with your culture and may suggest candidates who might be a good match. Their friends probably heard about your business via an employee, so they're prepared for anything—and won't be surprised when they start working with you. 

Conclusion

It takes a lot of effort to keep a restaurant operating efficiently. This is made considerably easier by utilizing the appropriate tools and following the necessary procedures.

Get down to the nitty-gritty of your day-to-day operations and make sure everything runs well. It will determine how well your restaurant does in the end.

Xenia is a state-of-the-art digital system that has powerful end to end restaurant operations management platform that centralizes everything on the go. Other than that, always be on the lookout to improve new practices to stay ahead of the competition.