A good business will not only have a business plan, but an operations checklist as well. The same goes for a restaurant. You need to be sure that you have a restaurant operations checklist, and that it includes all the different aspects of your restaurant, and the various situations that you might encounter.

There are several different types of restaurant operations checklist that you might want to use. First of all, you might want to have a general checklist that lists the things that you need to do on a daily basis. This can be an important part of the opening, daily operations, and closing of your restaurant. You also might want to think about having a general operations checklist that details all the things that should be constantly done in your restaurant. Lastly, you will want to think about having several different operations checklists that you can use during different or unusual situations.

Daily Run Checklist

One of the things that your restaurant should have is a daily run checklist. This should be a list of things that are required in your restaurant and that should be done each day. You should break this list into three sections. The first section should be the opening section. These should be the things that you want done in your restaurant by whichever employees are responsible for opening your restaurant during the opening times. This should include any cleaning; stocking and anything that you need done as far as preparing the restaurant for service. All in all, this should be a checklist that tells an employee exactly how you want your restaurant to be when the first customers come in.

The second part of the daily run checklist should be a shift checklist for each of the shifts, or each of the service periods you serve. You need a list of things that should be done during the day of operations. This means all of the activities that should be done and what time they should be done; this includes preparation, cooking and cleaning etc. during the day.
The third part of this checklist should be for the people who are responsible for closing your restaurant. You want to make sure that these are all of the activities and other things that you need done to shut your restaurant down for the night, as well as to prepare it for the following day.

Always Checklist

There are some things that you want to tell your employees that they should always do. This can include permanent settings for lights and temperature, permanent rules regarding operations of the restaurant, and various policies that each employee should know. You can think of this as your list of rules for your employees. What do you want them to always remember and to always do, whether they are opening or closing, or working during the day?

Special Checklists

Something that you have to remember is that not every day is like the other. There are going to be situations in your restaurant that are not day-to-day occurrences. You should have a checklist for special events that might happen in your restaurant. You should have one checklist of each of them. This can include a checklist for what happens when a large party is in your restaurant, or when someone has rented a portion of it for a special event.

Also, you have to think about events that you do not plan. You should have a checklist for each emergency that your restaurant might encounter, and what to do if those happen.

All of your checklists should be written in such a way that a new employee, on their first day at work, could figure them out. This is especially important for the ones that deal with everyday activities, as well as with emergencies. If you have the right kind of checklists set up for your employees, you will find that your restaurant runs much more smoothly, and much more by your own standards, even when you aren't there.

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About the Author

Robert Bylett helps managers who are open to new and innovative ways of looking at solutions to food service problems focus energy, optimise performance, and achieve their objectives faster and easier. More info: Just Consultancy