Simple Hacks to Improve Your Restaurant's Scheduling

 For restaurant owners, scheduling can be an overwhelming task. You often have to manage multiple shifts and employees and somehow keep everything running smoothly. That’s why it’s so important to have a scheduling strategy that works for you and your business.

Whether you’re looking for tips on how to assign staff effectively or the best way to plan time off, there are a few simple hacks you can use to make scheduling easier. From automating processes to identifying and tracking trends, these five hacks are sure to help improve your restaurant's scheduling.

So if you're ready to take charge of your restaurant's schedule, let's dive in and learn everything there is to know about improving your restaurant's scheduling process!

Automation: How to Move Away From Manual Scheduling

Manual scheduling is one of the biggest challenges restaurant owners face. Trying to fit weekly staff shifts around customer demands can make life much harder than it needs to be. And guess what? You don’t have to do it alone.

Automation is one of the smartest solutions for streamlining complex scheduling tasks. With an automated system, you can enter data about your staff and customers, and let the software do the rest. It can easily create rotas that suit your business’s needs at the click of a button - giving you more time to focus on other areas of your restaurant.

The best part? No more fighting over annual leave! Automated systems allow staff to request leave electronically - no more back-and-forth emails - with managers instantly approving or denying requests in a few clicks. Plus, any changes made will be automatically reflected throughout the entire calendar, creating a system that ensures everyone is on top of their shifts with no extra stress involved.

Embrace Online Ordering and Table Bookings

In today’s world, the demands of diners have changed; they expect to be able to book tables and order food online with ease. Embracing these technologies can make your restaurant’s scheduling processes much more efficient and effective.

• Automating Table Bookings: Online table booking systems allow customers to book tables at their convenience, without having to call the restaurant or wait in line. This can save you a lot of time and energy when it comes to creating and managing your rotas.

• Exploring Electronic Menu Options: If you don’t already have an online ordering system in place, now is the perfect time to consider investing in one. This will give customers the option to place orders for pick-up or delivery in advance - so that all they need to do is prepare the order on time.

Making use of online ordering and table booking systems has a range of benefits for businesses, including increased customer satisfaction, increased customer loyalty, improved customer experience, and more streamlined operations.

Schedule Flexibility Equals Happy Employees and Customers

We all know best-laid plans can quickly go astray, especially in the restaurant business. That's why schedule flexibility is so important for your dining business—it gives you the ability to make changes in real time and keep both your employees and customers happy.

Here are four considerations to keep in mind when it comes to scheduling flexibility:

1. Automation

By using a scheduling tool that automates the process, you can create schedules faster and respond quickly when things change. That means fewer surprises down the road, providing more stability for your operations and giving you more confidence when making changes or adjustments.

2. Real-time communication

Having a team messaging app like Slack or Microsoft Teams can help coordinate schedules and ensure everyone is on the same page in real-time—no emailing back-and-forths required. This ensures that any last-minute changes get communicated quickly and efficiently.

3. Remote access

Being able to access your schedule from anywhere at any time can be a real game changer for both employees and managers alike, allowing them to submit requests, check their hours, and look up coverage gaps from afar — it’s like having an employee manager with crystal ball vision!

4 Adherence tracking

If you have staff working from multiple locations or need to monitor hours worked from home or during special events, consider having an attendance tracking system in place so you can guarantee accurate records for payroll at the end of every month.

Given today's ever-changing landscape, having a flexible scheduling system gives you peace of mind knowing that your entire team is prepared for any situation that comes their way—

Incorporate Smart Forecasting for Peak Hours

As a restaurant owner, it makes sense to make forecasting part of your scheduling strategy. After all, you know that there are certain times when business is going to peak, and you can predict those times with a little bit of data. You can also identify when certain staff members need to be scheduled to accommodate increased demand.

Smart forecasting helps you be proactive rather than reactive. You don't have to wait until demand rises before straining your staff—you can look ahead and plan accordingly.

Here are a few tips for incorporating smart forecasting into your scheduling:

1. Collect data on the busiest times at your restaurant over the past year and use it as a guide for future shifts

2. Create a shift template for peak hours that include the necessary staff for those times

3. Encourage customers to make reservations if possible

4. Utilize technology like scheduling software which can help you manage and forecast your staffing needs in real-time

Smart forecasting won't just help streamline your schedule, but it will also ensure that you have the right people in the right place at the right time—which will ultimately lead to greater customer satisfaction and higher profits!

Make Scheduling Data-Driven With Advanced Analytics

Have you ever wished you could get smarter about your restaurant's scheduling? With advanced analytics, you can bring data-driven decision-making into the mix.

By leveraging data-driven insights, you can gain a better understanding of customer preferences, trends, and staff availability. Advanced analytics allow you to identify ways to optimize your scheduling and ensure that it runs efficiently.

For example, many restaurants find that advanced analytics allow them to create more accurate projections for shifts and help them spot potential staffing issues before they arise. This helps them schedule more effectively and eliminate overstaffing or understaffing issues.

Advanced analytics also help restaurants better manage their costs by predicting which days are likely to be busiest and ensuring staff levels are optimized for those days. Plus, with data-driven insights, restaurant owners can create schedules that accurately reflect customer demand and ensure the most efficient use of staff time.

Advanced analytics give restaurant owners the tools they need to make smarter decisions when it comes to scheduling staff and creating an efficient workflow. With detailed data-driven insights, you can make sure your dining business’s staffing is always optimized for ultimate efficiency.

Security and Accuracy: Boost Employee Attendance Tracking

Taking your restaurant's scheduling to the next level starts with providing employees with a secure way to clock in and out. Doing this manually can be time-consuming and expensive, as you have to have someone in place to record every employee's time. Plus, it can also be inaccurate and open you up to payroll or compliance frustrations.

By using automated scheduling software, restaurant owners can not only make sure employee attendance is tracked securely but also quickly—employees simply clock in with their phones or computers for accurate data that gets added directly into the system. Plus, you'll always know who's working and when, so you can avoid overcrowding or overstaffing situations.

On top of that, automated scheduling systems allow you to easily manage labor costs and track trends over time, so you can stay informed on what’s working (or not) in your restaurant.

So if you’re looking for a secure, accurate way of tracking employee attendance at your restaurant, automated scheduling software is the way to go!

Conclusion

Managing staff scheduling for your restaurant doesn’t need to be a headache. Armed with the right tools and an understanding of these five simple hacks, you can make short work of even the most complicated scheduling needs. Investing the time in scheduling now can save you frustration, cost, and time later. With the right tools and a bit of preparation, you can improve your restaurant’s scheduling and get back to focusing on what truly matters—providing customers with a delicious and memorable dining experience.