BRIGHT COLORS

People need to improve their creativity. The bar work at now encourages it and i love it. one of the new bartenders i just hired makes an awesome georgia peach(AKA MYRUS JAMES). im not gunna disclosure her secret recipe, but its made with southern comfort. And let me tell you, i do not like a sweet bourbon but i could drink this all day long. experiment a little bit. Your job is about making fun drinks differently than anyone else. you want people ordering your drinks, not because they are made super strong, but because they are unique and only you can make them, no matter how hard your coworkers or other bartenders may try.

I cannot stress how much your drinks must not only be unique but they need to look different...AKA make me that BLUE DRINK! that looks awesome. if its a bright color, everyone will order it. Midori and blue curacao are your friends. Even just a splash can at an awesome color to a classic drink without making it worse, but making it better! dont be scared. live a lil!

do you burn your bridges?

because life pulls you in many directions, you never know when it comes time for you to leave your current place of employment. if you respect whee you work, AT LEAST a two weeks notice in writing, is the only way to go out strong. man up, grow a pair and realize, that especially in the service industry, turnover is high---but finding dedicated employees is about as impossible as can be. you never know where life is going to take you, and you never want to burn any bridges. always give those two weeks notices; if your in management, at least a month. you always wanna leave with the same respect that you earned. you deserve it.

Training to be the best

Well all know that training employees is one of the most important steps in creating a hardworking and goo employee. If an employeeis not trained properly, how would you expect them to be your best? And how do you efffectively train peope, make them train with the right people. No matter how quickly you want to push people through training, do not let one of your adequate vs your best servers train your newbes. The newbes will then pick up bad habits and in turn create new ones of their own. if you are in a bar in a restaurant, make them train in all aspects of the restaurant, not just one. Barteners are supposed to be your 'elite' servers. So server training, FOH and BOH training is a must. you must learn to appreciate how all aspects of a restaurant works before you become attached.

Also, make sure that you have trainers that know what they are talking about. have a server trainer's class that covers all of which should be covered. This will get your elites involved in what the newbes need to learn. This should include tests, food education, win education, speciailty drink education, etc. when your server trainers unerstand what is expected of them to teach, they will be better teachers and in turn produce more effecient trainees.

Mixing Work with Pleasure

I cannot stress enough this trite statement. Do not get too personally involved with your coworkers.  Don''t get me wrong, i am not saying that it is impossible to date someone you work with, be friends with people you work with, go out with people you work with, etc. But be careful on what you say. when you drink with people you work with, unlashed feelings may come out. When you are dating someone you work with, personally life is almost definitely going to sneak into work on a daily basis. My boyfriend of 6 years, I worked with for the first 3 and my roommate is an old coworker of mine and i manage just fine. I am just saying to be careful. Like i said it is not impossible, but just expressing concern to those who may not realize the positive and negative consequences of these specific types of actions. Learn vicariously through others actions. :-)

Teamwork

Today I am going to talk about teamwork service. maybe i am biased because worked for a restaurant for a year where everything was all about teamwork service. but i want to stress it here to implement in all restaurants because of a few important things. the importance of full hands in, full hands out. this means that when you go into the kitchen, you have dirty dishes in your hand and when you come out of the kitchen you always have hot food (1st always) or a cold beverage in your hands. This enables ticket times to be shorter, especially during high times (when you have some tickets that are 20-30 minutes) enables drinks to be filled at tables, etc. Customer satisfaction is always the most important part of an establishment. it guests are upset, your night can be ruined in the blink of an eye. the fast service is, the quicker your tables are turned and the happier your guests will be. remember, 15-20 minutes can feel like an eternity to a guests so show them how busy your are and they will in turn be more understanding if their food takes longer  (or feels like longer) than they expected. As long as you remain productive and busy, you will be successful :-)

the concept of WHY

Now in my first blog, i discussed how important that it was to appreciate your employees. but not all employees deserve appreciation. sometimes they need to be told when they fuck up or when they are doing something wrong. it is dishonest to try and fire someone or let someone go without them really get a full concept of why/what they are doing wrong and how to correct it. But there are many ways to do this without being a complete and utter asshole. I had a manger once that just expected you to do somehting just because he said it. well guess what asshole, im not 3 years old and your not my mother. if you want me to do something or change my way of doing something i am much more willing to do it if you explain to me WHY. Now i understand that some bosses feel as if they are entitled and cannot go wrong, but your employee is not only more likely to listen to you, but they will respect you in the process. there is nothing worse than staff who doesnt respect you and does shit anyways just to piss you off. trust me, i ve been there and done that and the last thing you want is a disgruntled employee. tell em why you want it done a certain way, they will be much more likely to remember if you tell them why. :-)

inventory

why is inventory so important? in my last blog, i discussed the important concept of controlling theft. well this is one of the best ways to control the theft i was discusssing. conducting inventory on a weekly or biweekly basis helps people conceptualize how liable they are for what they pour. yes some things are going to be lost and some things are going to be given away on special occcasions. the key is that if you compare inventory on the consecutive basis to the liquor sales of the week or two weeks, you will have a good idea of what is being stolen, not stolen, etc. if inventory is done properly, you can track down more specificly what liquors need to be watched. necessary terminations could follow if people do not understand how inventory an be tracked down to individuals and their shifts. but generally once inventory is done and done properly at that, it becomes a huge asset to any bar. bartenders become more liable and watch their own drinking behind that bar as well as how often they over poour for guests, give out free drinks etc.

theft

The most important thing one must think about in restructuring your staff is theft. if theft starts occurring early on, it is only going to get worse. it will spread like wildfire- from the barbacks to the servers to the kitchen; it is a never-ending circular process. bartenders are supposed to be the most trusted and the best 'customer based' employees in an establishment. Even if someone has been there for a long time, the only way to control theft is to stop it as soon as it starts.

if you have trainees coming behind the bar and they see the bartender trainer not ringing in drinks, drinking himself without record, stealing bottles from the liquor room, etc., the new employee is going to think that it is 'socially acceptable' and it is going to duplicate itself a 100 times over. note to self: no matter how veteran or new the employee is, stand strong with your beliefs. if you begin to be iffy on a decision no one is going to take you seriously and the specific actions will continue without hesitation.

do what you think is right-whether you do it slowly with suspensions or quickly by just firing them, you have to do what you say you are going to do. once someone is fired, they are fired. if you do not have adequate staff to fire them and you do only to rehire them at a later time in the near future, you will be taken as a joke and the actions will come back quicker than you can snap your fingers. if you are going to suspend them, make it clear. come up with a system for write ups so you and other management can keep drank of how many offenses are truly committed. All i can say is stick with your grounds and people will respect you much more for it. If you do it behind their back, you will then be dealing with a disgruntled employee, and NOONE wants to deal with anyone of that.

why make it complicated?

you know when your making your 15 millionth mojito by the end of the night, that u are just about done with it. but always keep in the back of your mind, the way you make your drinks and your passion to make a drink better than anyone else is what brings people back. it is what makes people feel special and turn their day around. next time your at work, leave all the bullshit at the door and recognize how much what you do and how you do it, influences those people at you bar. turn it into their best experience of the month. do something a little different for everyone. itll pay off in the end :-)

appreciation is key

i have worked in the retail/service industry basically my entire life. i have been through good managers, bad managers, dishonest managers, relaxe mangers, etc...i have seen, love, and hated them all. but each different experience you have, you learn from. but one of the most crucial things about having employees work for you,  what have to understand is how important positive reinforcement is. when your employee does something unexpected and exceeds yours expectations, your must tell them how much you appreciate them and possibly reward them. in no way shape or form am i putting down constructive criticism either, for this is another important asset to gain. Do not chastise employees unlesss necessary. do not bring your own personal issues into the work place. appreciate employees when necessary. Your establishment is their place of employment, but dont treat them as if they are dispensible, especially if they are good at their job. hard working people are hard to come by these days, especially so in an industry that has such a hig turnover. You want your employees to feel as valuable to you as you are to them. a happy worker is a better worker and will be more willing to do as ask/told if they feel that mutual respect.