What’s worse… a “shitshow” shift or covering it up?
Guest complaints were searing… understaffed and overwhelmed team members, long waits for food and drinks, dirty tables everywhere, 86ed menu items, “I’m never coming back”.
The response from middle management was defensive and aggressive towards anyone giving space for an explanation other than “the guests are wrong” and “they’re just trying to get something free” …. Really?
Wonder what this response teaches local management and staff about how to deal with having had a bad shift? Does this response from middle management keep local management from asking for help? Could it perpetuate problems?
No one plans to have a bad shift but when it happens, what will prevent a reoccurrence? Is it acceptable for middle management to keep the broader organization from finding out or maybe minimize the events?
This is a common issue rarely addressed. When it is addressed, there will most certainly be major fallout.
Here’s the start of addressing cover-ups along with a plan to move forward. This message was sent to top management after the discovery of hidden recurring operational problems. The fallout is another story…
Open Communication for Continuous Improvement
Crashed shifts are the result of executing a poor plan or, poorly executing a good plan. There are anomalies but those are rare if the planning process is sound. Surviving a shift crash and then pretending it never happened (if it’s not discovered) or painting it in the best light (if it is found out) has to be a bigger deal than the crash itself.
The “misdemeanor” is a bad shift or a poor plan… The “felony” is covering up and thereby limiting (or preventing) the organization’s ability to apply resources, make corrections to its preparation practices, or hold responsible individuals accountable.
If we try to control the content of information flows or channel them through filters, we are setting ourselves up for more and more limited and watered-down info and we will make uninformed or manipulated decisions (I’m talking about Management to Multi-Unit Supervision or Senior Leadership). Anyone in this group blocking or massaging Info has to be called out. We can be trusted with the facts and can’t be relegated to only getting accurate information if we ask exactly the right questions and put the picture together. Let’s tell the Group next week that we expect people to be straight up with candor. “Here’s the problem, here’s what I think I/we should do about it, here’s what we need to get it done” …. ask questions, get suggestions, and be open. As you both know, information flow is a huge priority and I’ve been given the mandate from our CEO on seeing it through.
We are good at survival and see that value as a strength, but we are more dependent on that than we should be. Instead of it being a value add, it’s become or becoming a dependency that we can’t maintain when the volume is high.
Net: Become better at planning, handling the brutal truth, and problem-solving while keeping our ability to rise in the moment.
1 Place responsibility for studying the business patterns and for sound shift planning on the right levels of management for each time frame (Daily, Weekly, Monthly Quarterly). We need full emphasis placed on the preparation for each level of business volume to whatever granularity is needed based on the experience and demonstrated skill of each store’s team.
2 Make open and honest post-shift assessments that will allow for continuous improvement of our preparation processes and identification of weak spots for correction. Additionally, celebrate victories where a failure was used to put steps in motion to set us up for success and eliminate that same failure from occurring in the future. As we see them (and on the spot) we need to encourage the behaviors that drive success or reinforce our need for open information flows about performance shortfalls and victories.
Leaders are responsible for disclosing roadblocks and facilitating contingencies for known weaknesses in their team’s ability to execute the shift plan. It’s our best chance of solving problems on the front end.
The Leadership Loop for Multi-Unit Supervision and GMs…what we do…
Empower and enable
Teach then release
Solve problems
These are some thinking patterns to get traction…
In advance of business….
Be Master Planners
PPPPP (Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance)
Poor planning becomes a broader team emergency problem to solve
To be personally effective…
Know (be actual Brand Standards Experts with specific brand knowledge)
See (look at the right things)
Correct or applaud (to teach for permanency and encourage to get more of the good)
Magnify the learnings (to make a lasting impact)
Share (to broaden our other teams’ perspective and find systemic issues to correct).
Post business…
Authentic analysis of shortfalls and victories
Solve problems before the next shift
Be Transparent- Never hide or minimize problems
About the Author: Rob LeBoeuf is the Founder and Principal of Gravel Executive Resource Consulting, LLC. For his bio and more information visit gravelerc.com or email him at rob@gravelerc.com