How to Create Restaurant Checklists That Turn Your Operations into Clockwork
Good systems are the most crucial part of your restaurant’s success. If you have good systems in place, and a well trained staff to run these systems, then you have successfully created a cash printing restaurant operation.
Checklists are the system manuals that make your operations run like clockwork. Without them, employees are bound to forget a few of their tasks, and this is when you, the owner/operator, start finding yourself using your valuable time solving issues that shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
Start by brainstorming with your team and identifying processes that are relevant to your restaurant. Afterwards, choose a template and customize it to your business. Check out our Free Docs to download advanced checklist templates for all kitchen employee positions!
What You Need to Know About Checklists
A restaurant checklist can help you streamline and improve your business’s day-to-day operations. These lists can guide you through the opening and closing procedures, ensure that all staff members follow standard operating procedures, and help you prevent problems from arising. They also provide an effective tool for training new employees and ensuring that all processes are understood. In addition, these lists can help you identify and resolve issues quickly to save time and money in the long run.
The first step in creating a restaurant checklist is to decide what type of list you need. This could be anything from a hygiene checklist, equipment inspection checklist, people management checklist, or even a financial audit checklist. Each one should focus on a different area of your restaurant’s operations. Once you’ve determined what type of checklist you need, the next step is to brainstorm tasks that should be included on your list. Then, create a document that includes the necessary tasks and assign them to specific staff members. Finally, make sure that the document is easy to read and accessible to all staff members.
To get the most benefit from your checklists, it’s important to keep them up-to-date and relevant to your restaurant’s daily operations. This means adjusting the list to reflect any changes in your restaurant’s processes or to account for seasonal fluctuations
Pro Tip: use an operations management software like Modeeri to streamline checklist management. This way you can update checklists across all of your branches with the click of a button, capture key employee performance data from each checklist, and hold your entire staff accountable, even when you’re not there.
Opening Checklist
An opening restaurant checklist is a systematic tool used by staff to ensure that all necessary tasks are completed before your establishment opens for business each day. This checklist can be written out on paper and displayed in your establishment, or it can be made available digitally for all employees to access. Using this checklist helps to reduce the number of mistakes and mishaps that may occur during the start of your operation, and it also promotes consistency among all of your restaurant’s operations.
In order to create a thorough restaurant opening checklist, you should take the time to observe your restaurant’s operations and identify all of the essential tasks that need to be completed prior to opening. The best way to gather your checklist items is by having each one of your veteran staff members for each position write out a list of their daily and weekly tasks. By taking the time to do this, you can be sure that your checklist will cover all of your restaurant’s critical operations.
Some of the key items that should be included in a restaurant’s opening checklist include safety and security checks, cleaning stations, and equipment startup. You should also include a section for checking inventory to make sure that all essential products are stocked before the restaurant begins operating. Finally, a restaurant opening checklist should also include a list of all of your establishment’s policies and procedures.
Once your restaurant’s opening and closing checklists has been created, you should test it out to see how well it works. This is the best way to ensure that your restaurant is fully prepared for each shift. This can help to reduce mistakes and hold staff accountable for their actions, resulting in improved performance and higher standards across all locations.
Closing Checklist
In a high-stress work environment like a restaurant, there is little more frustrating than finding that a table hasn’t been cleaned or that silverware wasn’t returned to the kitchen. This is why it’s important to have a closing checklist that can be used by your BOH and FOH teams. A checklist will give staff clear instructions about how to prepare the restaurant for the following day and ensure that all important tasks have been completed.
Often, closing restaurant checklists will include tasks such as turning off ovens and heaters, cleaning and sanitizing bar surfaces and sinks, counting cash and restocking refrigerators and dessert cases. This will help to reduce the risk of food safety violations, which can incur costly fines for restaurants and bars. It also helps to ensure that the next day’s team is ready to go and can start work on time.
Another great benefit of a restaurant closing checklist is that it can serve as a training tool for new staff members or those who are having problems with certain procedures. By including a list of tasks that must be done, managers can clearly identify which staff members are accountable for each task and can quickly address issues.
Using a restaurant closing checklist can help your restaurant prevent lost revenue and keep customers happy. The main task that needs to be completed before your restaurant closes for the night is ensuring that all servers are completely prepared for the next shift. This includes setting up tables, restocking supplies, and cleaning stations. In addition to this, the closing server should also make sure that all outstanding orders are completed.
Closing a restaurant is a lot of work, but with a well-designed checklist, your BOH and FOH teams can keep the flow going throughout their shifts without worrying about the little things. With Modeeri, it’s easy to create and customize restaurant checklists that can be accessed on mobile devices for improved productivity and simplified management.
Weekly Cleaning Checklist
The key to creating an effective checklist for your restaurant is ensuring that it covers every aspect of your cleaning and sanitation procedures. This means utilizing a template that has room for daily, weekly, and monthly tasks (or all of them) to be written down and checked off as they are completed.
This ensures that you don’t miss any important duties that must be completed and allows your staff to make a clear and concise list of all of the things they must do to keep the establishment running seamlessly each week. It also helps your staff to optimize their time by allowing them to move directly from one task to the next without having to go back and do something that was already done.
When you create your restaurant’s weekly checklist, be sure to share it with the team and explain how you would like them to use it. This can be in an all-staff meeting or through your team’s communication platform and can help establish the expectations around the use of the checklist and what it will be used for. It is important to implement a checklist review into your onboarding procedure to ensure that your staff knows what tasks they need to follow, and how to perform them from day one.
There Must Be a Simpler Way to Manage All of These Checklists…
The good news is, with Modeeri, it’s easy to create and customize restaurant checklists that can be accessed on mobile devices for improved productivity and simplified management. Your employees will get updates across all of your branches from the simple push of a button. Systems no longer need to be printed and updated manually, they can just be assigned to employees from your phone!
Modeeri also has a variety of other features that are designed to make managing your restaurant a piece of cake. Get started with a free trial today to see how Modeeri can improve your business!