Pizza Today - November 2022 - 16

BUILDING BLOCKS N I C K B OG A C Z
bers in those types of situations unless
it is absolutely necessary. When there
is time, work with them to strengthen
their skills and help them become a
well-rounded asset for your team.
Look for team-players
With your people in key positions,
especially at the start, you'll want to
monitor their progress and performance.
Importantly, see how they
work with others. Th ere are few areas
in your pizzeria where it is a one-man
show - that's why I love this job so
much, because it does take a team -
so observe which team members best
gel together.
We talk a lot about " putting our
The First Steps in Building
Your Pizzeria's Team
n a column named " Building
Blocks, " it's no coincidence that
we're going to spend some time
talking about building a team. After
all, employees are among the most
important " blocks " in your business.
Follow along for the steps to follow
when hiring and assessing your new
staff .
I
Make a 'lineup'
Th e fi rst key to building a successful
team is knowing what positions
you need. Just like a football team
isn't built with 11 quarterbacks on the
starting off ense, the same goes with
making your own pizzeria lineup.
Consider how many positions you'll
need to fi ll and what those positions
are. You can get literal and make an
actual list. For example:
* 3 full-time pizza makers
* 3 full-time sandwich makers
* 2 full-time greeters
* 5 part-time counter workers
* 4 full-time managers
* 2 part-time utility/do-all team
members
With that list, the next step is
hiring.
Assess strengths and weaknesses
Once
you have your roster of team
members, you need to identify their
strengths and weaknesses - indeed,
someone can be great at one job and
just not meet expectations somewhere
else in the restaurant. Th is whole
process may take a few weeks of
working with your staff , possibly by
taking notes or making a mental list
of where employees do and do not
excel.
Once the weaknesses are discovered,
try to avoid putting team memaces
in places, " and this is where that
all starts. Once you have some great
dynamic duos forming and you can
see the strengths of your team, the
next aspect you need to judge is one
that is hard to see - or is it?
Judge the buy-in
Who is all-in with what you're
doing at your new pizzeria and wants
to help make it a success? Th is is so
important, because when things get
crazy - and they will - these are
the team members who will hold it
all together and infl uence other team
members to do the same.
But how do you judge buy-in? Ask
yourself: Who is always on time?
Who stays past the end of their shift?
Who covers shifts when no one else
can? Who's always in uniform? Who
has a positive attitude?
Once you've started building a team
and identifi ed your key people, the
next step is Team-Building - which,
believe it or not, is quite diff erent than
building your team. We'll explain the
diff erence in the next Building Blocks.
NICK BOGACZ is the founder and president of Caliente Pizza & Draft House in Pittsburgh. Instagram: @caliente_pizza
16 / PIZZATODAY.COM / NOVEMBER 2022

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Pizza Today - November 2022

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