Pizza Today - July 2018 - 74

Mike's Monthly Tip
MIKE BAUSCH

doing, such as going off memory for finding houses or printing a map every time?
Maybe they stare at their phone's map
while driving a little more than you would
like. Only way to know is a ride-along.
* CHANGE THE DAY YOU'RE NOT IN
STORE. If you take Tuesdays as your day

YOUR ROUTINE IS YOUR ENEMY

Don't let 'em sleep on you - shake things up from time to time

I

f you enter your restaurant through
the front door every now and again,
instead of the back door, you'll
probably see a litany of things you want
to change: how the front door is cleaned,
how the lights hit you when you walk in,
what the host stand looks like, etc. This
is a simple change of routine that creates
several ways to improve. This isn't a new
tip - it's been around for years and it's
good advice.
I'm big on routine. It's how I maximize
my day and set things up for success;
however, I've noticed over the years that
the more I break up my routine and do
the things I rarely do (the things I
assume are on autopilot), the more I have
big revelations. Sometimes I see new
developments that are better than my old
way. Other times I see that it's not being
done the way I'd prefer and it's time to
re-address and/or re-train.
Here are some roles and tasks I have
used to break up my routine. If this is
already a part of your routine, then good
for you! However, if you know exactly
how something should be done, but it was
over 18 months ago since you personally
did it, then I suggest that you do it again
7 4 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / J U LY 2 0 1 8

and see if your method is still the law of
the land.
* DISH STATION. Maybe you notice
your best dish people flying through the
dirty dishes on a busy night. There's no
downside to you doing dishes with them
unless you have an ego about it (which
isn't smart). It lets your crew know that
no one is above any task. Take this time to
check to see if staff is taking unnecessary
steps in their process.
* HOST. Seems simple enough, but
understand their set up, how they decide
who gets what table. It might surprise
you.
* START THE DAY. Be the first one to
unlock the store. You can see what night
crew is really leaving behind and how fast
or slow your crew hits the ground to start
the day.
* CLOSE THE DAY. While doing a close
you might have safety procedures not
being observed, or you might see people
getting careless or nonchalant after the
dinner rush.
* GO ON A DELIVERY. Do your drivers pull in the driveway, do they have
set change and extra cutlery in case the
customer wants that? What else are they

off, or if you work all the time but one
day a week you're not really working from
inside the store, then switch it up and see
what that crew, that day's dynamic and
routine all have that you are missing out
on. Your day off at home might be your
staff 's day off in store if you catch my
drift.
* ANSWER THE PHONES. Watch the
phones get answered and also do it
yourself. Are they upselling, how are they
capturing customer data, and how are
they greeting and ending the conversation
with the customer?
* POST AND TAKE THE SOCIAL MEDIA
YOURSELF. Do you do your own social

media? All of it? If not just take a back
seat to see how it's posted, when and why.
If you can do it yourself, or at least know
how to, then you can do a Facebook live
whenever you want instead of waiting for
someone else to help you.
* RUN PAYROLL YOURSELF. This is a big
one. So many small, dumb things can go
wrong during a payroll run. If you have
auto connected import you might be
missing when people forget to clock off
for breaks. If you let your managers proof
it, are they really analyzing the data? If
you are entering numbers manually, what
fail safes are there to ensure that a false
time clock doesn't get paid? This one I
highly suggest doing every few months if
you are not the payroll liaison.
Granted, some of these things will
only show their true flaws when you,
the owner, are not around. Regardless, I
guarantee trying to change things up will
make you and your pizzeria better. ■
MIKE BAUSCH is the owner of Andolini's
Pizzeria in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is a
frequent speaker at the International Pizza
Expo family of tradeshows.

JOSH KEOWN
http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM
Pizza Today - July 2018

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