In the restaurant industry, teams are divided into two main groups: front-of-house (FOH) staff, which includes waiters and servers, and back-of-house (BOH) staff, which includes the kitchen and preparation staff.
Although their daily tasks differ, a restaurant’s success depends on the integration and continuous coordination of both teams’ efforts. A restaurant cannot operate efficiently without harmony between servers and chefs, as each team plays a vital role in creating an exceptional guest experience.
But reality is a different story. Research suggests that 70% of communication failures among employees occur during shift changes. These failures result in misunderstandings regarding inventory needs, reservation details, and special requests.
Even more concerning, a single employee spends about 20 minutes each day correcting these errors, which amounts to over 120 wasted hours annually in every restaurant!
These statistics not only highlight time wasted, but also indicate missed opportunities that, with better coordination, could lead to substantial improvements in efficiency and revenue.
Is your restaurant prepared to close this gap and achieve seamless integration across all its operations? Particularly a smooth flow between its FOH and BOH staff?
In this article, we’ll explore the strategies for managing restaurant staff. We’ll cover the different roles and the responsibilities for different members. We’ll also highlight methods to enhance FOH and BOH communication and coordination.
FOH & BOH: Understanding staff roles in your restaurant
First: Front-of-house restaurant staff
The reception and FOH team in a restaurant are those who interact directly with customers. They greet patrons, take their orders, deliver dishes, and provide direct service.
Additionally, they communicate customer requests and feedback to the kitchen and management.
FOH roles and duties include:
- Hosts: They greet customers, direct them to their tables, and manage reservations and waitlists.
- Servers: Their role is to present menus, explain dishes, accurately take orders, and deliver them to the kitchen. They also serve food and beverages to customers.
- Cashiers: Their main responsibility is to process customer payments and accurately calculate bills to ensure there are no errors.
Second: Back-of-house restaurant staff
This team is the backbone of a restaurant’s operations. They are responsible for accurately and efficiently preparing meals, managing inventory, and overseeing other internal processes.
BOH roles and duties include:
- Chefs: They are responsible for preparing dishes quickly while maintaining the high standards guests expect.
- Assistant chefs/Kitchen staff: Their role involves chopping and preparing ingredients for the chefs, meticulously following the chefs’ instructions, and cleaning kitchen equipment.
- Inventory managers: They monitor inventory and ingredient levels so the restaurant does not run out of popular and profitable dishes.
FOH & BOH: Common challenges in team coordination
Poor communication between teams can lead to misunderstandings, errors, and delays in customer orders, which ultimately frustrates customers. This issue often arises from a lack of effective communication channels between the dining room and the kitchen. Additionally, the reliance on outdated systems, such as manual order recording or memory-based processes instead of modern tablets, can further increase errors and miscommunication.
There are also differing priorities between the two teams, which can create even more challenges. The front-of-house team, including reception, prioritize speed of service, while the kitchen and back-of-house team focus on the quality of the dishes.
Fostering teamwork: Strategies for restaurant staff collaboration
To ensure the success of a restaurant and effective staff management, you’ll need to foster a culture of collaboration among employees.
This type of culture creates a strong work environment that enhances individual and team performance, improves customer experiences, increases satisfaction, and ultimately encourages repeat visits.
Here are a few strategies can achieve this across your front-of-house and back-of-house operations:
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Promote mutual respect and understanding
Offer communication workshops and cultivate a culture of appreciation. Emphasizing the importance of each team member’s role in the restaurant’s success helps create a positive work environment.
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Encourage cross-training between FOH & BOH
Develop coordinated training programs that allow restaurant staff to learn about the responsibilities of their colleagues in other teams. Understanding the challenges each team faces and how to address them fosters effective collaboration between the kitchen and front-of-house staff.
These training sessions aim to create a flexible team that can work cohesively during peak times, supporting one another without disrupting customer service.
Further reading: How to Improve Kitchen Communication Between Staff: FOH & BOH
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Hold pre-shift meetings and create feedback loops
Organize short, effective 10-minute meetings before each shift to clarify goals and expectations for the day. These gatherings should emphasize the importance of collaboration and may include discussions about special events, promotions, or new menu items. Consider reviewing customer feedback and addressing past complaints to help team members avoid similar issues in the future.
Celebrating success and collective achievements
Recognizing staff achievements is vital for motivation, productivity, and collaboration.
Consider awarding cash prizes or certificates, alongside an “Employee of the Month” program, to promote teamwork and boost morale.
Bridging the gap: Using tech to connect FOH and BOH
Modern POS and KDS systems
Modern POS systems provide an efficient and quick communication channel between the FOH and kitchen.
Customer orders are recorded either by the cashier or through the waiter app, both of which automatically send the information to the kitchen display system (KDS).
This process reduces errors and waiting times. Once the kitchen receives customer orders, BOH staff can begin preparing the dishes for delivery.
We recommend choosing a POS system that is compatible with your restaurant’s KDS, like Foodics, which integrates both POS functionality and restaurant management systems.
Use integrated tools for restaurant management
To streamline operations, consider using tools like the pay-at-table solution. This app allows customers to place orders via QR codes, alleviating pressure on dining room staff, particularly during busy hours. The pay-at-table solution sends orders directly to the kitchen for prepping.
If you manage a fast-food restaurant, adding a self-service kiosk can be beneficial. This kiosk connects your POS system with the kitchen, allowing customers to place orders and make payments effortlessly.
Using a restaurant management dashboard
The dashboard provides real-time monitoring of staff performance and overall restaurant operations. It also consolidates data on sales, preparation times, and customer reviews in one accessible location.
This comprehensive overview allows for comparisons with previous periods, supporting data-driven decision-making to enhance productivity and improve customer service.
Final words
Managing restaurant staff can be challenging, but it can be easier and continuously improved by using restaurant technology and automating various restaurant tasks and operations.
Bringing together all restaurant staff reception, FOH and BOH, to work in harmony and maintain consistency will lead to significant improvements in your restaurant’s performance. It can boost productivity, speed up the workflow, and enhance customer experiences. To ensure the long-term success of your restaurant, we recommend regularly measuring your staff’s performance for ongoing improvement. Using modern restaurant tech tools, such as integrated point-of-sale systems, kitchen display system, waiter apps, and inventory management software, can streamline workflow and enhance communication, significantly reducing errors.
Finally, we encourage you to explore Foodics’ smart solutions and tools designed to promote consistency and integration across your restaurant’s teams, enabling you to make data-driven decisions.
Visit the Foodics website today to discover the features and packages available. You can also book a customized demo to learn more about how our solutions can transform your restaurant.
