Wednesday, June 2, 2010 at 7:54PMYou Have the Right to Remain Spineless
Restaurant Manager "Arrested" for Coddling His Staff
I talk with restaurant operations leaders all day long. When I ask them about their management style, one of the phrases I hear too often is "I'm a hands-on manager" and it causes my lip to curl sometimes. Yes, there's a time and place for getting in the trenches with your staff to dig out of the weeds. But when I pry further into what these restaurant managers mean by "hands-on", I discover that many times they're describing a style that treats their staff like babies, incapable of knowing what to do much less executing in a difficult situation.
My wife pointed out something in an email newsletter recently from Pastor Rick Warren dealing with this common issue in leadership. He said, "People respond to responsibility. But if you treat them like babies you'll have to diaper them the rest of your ministry." Now, translate "ministry" into "job", and you get the jist of what I'm talking about. Where your restaurant staff is capable of performing while you conduct the performance...let them! Putting on your cape and jumping in too soon to save the day communicates to them that you don't trust their abilities to perform, assess, and come out the other side in victory. Sometimes, "hands-off" is a better course of action. Do your "hands-on" thing in your training and coaching time. If you need to, have someone handcuff you (see video) and trust your staff to do what they're trained to do!
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Reader Comments (4)
Love the handcuffs. I've done something similar with some of my managers. Basically, I put a chair in their work area and told them that they could not get up from this chair for the whole shift they were working. In short, it forced them to vocally state what they needed from their staff. I firmly believe it helped these managers become better managers and not just another hourly employee...
Thanks CB,
I guess that's another way to keep your managers from being too "hands-on".
Will definately try this next time one of my managers is doing all the work while being watched by the associates. Very awesome Brian!!
Hi James - Get that on video if you can! I'd like to see that, and maybe post it here!