If you’re managing a restaurant chain, you might know how stressful it can be. Managing the staff members is a significant challenge in your routine. Using pen and paper for scheduling is now a thing of the past. The traditional scheduling methods fail to improve the efficiency of your restaurant operations. So, the best scheduling software for restaurants can be a great way to save time, avoid scheduling errors, and identify employee availability.
So, let’s look at the five ways to optimize your restaurant scheduling:
- Avoid Using Spreadsheets
You might hesitate to change, but automating your scheduling process can save time and money. Spreadsheets can work well for other tasks, but they could be better for scheduling.
These sheets must be mobile-friendly and require specific training and human efforts, leading to more errors. Scheduling software is an excellent alternative to traditional methods like spreadsheets. You can choose innovative software with built-in automation and ease of use.
- Use Communication Tools
Creating an employee schedule can be tiring and stressful. You might need to revise your schedule due to employees taking leave for vacations or sickness. Picking the right hospitality reporting and scheduling software can make your life easier.
These scheduling tools come with features such as sending texts or notifications when you prepare the schedule. So, you don’t need to worry about contacting your employees to communicate about the shifts. The scheduling software can take everything into its hands!
- Go for Templates
You don’t need to create shift schedules from scratch every single time. Your weekly schedule remains almost the same. So, you can copy the basic structure of the schedule and make minor changes wherever necessary. The best scheduling software for restaurants allows you to create a scheduling template for use in weeks or months.
So, these templates can give you and your team a clear picture of what to expect in advance. Also, this software allows you to make changes at your fingertips by highlighting shifts on the calendar. You can use the software to evaluate the effects on labor cost, overtime, and shift coverage.
- Easy Access to the Schedule
Creating a schedule is not single-handed work. Many people must do the scheduling work, especially where large rotations or multiple restaurants are concerned. Managers have a lot to do while creating schedules, whether sending a response to time-off requests or making shift changes. Hospitality software provides the right people access to the schedule and allows them to track changes.
- Boosts Productivity
Providing your staff with the right tools allows them to stick to the schedule and makes things easier when any changes happen. Initially, you can enable your team to use a mobile app to check the schedule, communicate with each other, and ask for shift changes. Another good strategy is sharing the employee schedule well in advance. Sending an advance notice allows your staff to free up their time to make plans and request adjustments. Thus, the right scheduling tools can boost employees’ productivity and efficiency.
Wrap Up-
Restaurant employee scheduling requires you to make complex decisions. You can avoid scheduling issues by following the right processes and investing in the right hospitality reporting tool and scheduling software. Thus, selecting a good scheduling software can help save time, money and keep your staff satisfied and happy.