Communication in a restaurant is hard. No one starts at the same time, everyone has a different day off.

I remember how frustrating it was to never hear about the changes that were made on my days off or to find out about updates to a catering event AFTER it had already started.

The problem is that communication gets scattered everywhere.

No one ever sees the sticky note on their station. Paper logbooks have their own set of problems. Text messages are not the right place for work communications.

What you need is a single place where all your work messages live. And you need to communicate only with the people who actually need that information.

That’s where the stand up meeting comes in. They’re quick and effective because they only cover 3 things. What’s the plan for today, what challenges do we see and what’s an area we need to focus on. It’s also the time to inspect your team. Their uniforms, their focus, their engagement.

At most, these meetings should only take 10 minutes.

The challenge with communication is making sure everyone has the right information at the right time. That’s why I love 7shifts so much. Not only was it built specifically for restaurants like yours, they’ve created a complete communication system right in their app.

A Manager Log Book that serves as a single source of truth for shift handovers, maintenance alerts and operational updates. Their chat and announcements feature keeps work related communication in one place and you can target specific team members so people aren’t overwhelmed with information that doesn’t apply to them. And my personal favorite, the end of shift vibe check. Your team gives a thumbs up or a thumbs down on how their shift went. Over time you can spot patterns and identify if there are certain team members, managers, days or times where things aren’t running smoothly. With 7shifts you’re virtually eliminating the “he-said, she-said” breakdowns between front of house, back of house and ownership. Learn more and get a free trial.