Is There Drama In Your Restaurant?

We work in an industry where you work closely with people on a daily basis and are forced to depend on each other to get through your shift with your sanity intact. It's inevitable that tensions will flare and people will get bent out of shape. If situations aren't handled properly resentment can fester and you end up with a culture of drama.

As owners and operators, we wear many hats. There are constantly things that need to get done. A culture of drama can derail your schedule and put you in a constant state of "putting out fires". You have to nip these situations in the bud, but if it isn't done correctly your staff will forever be hijacking your time.

Here are 7 tactics to help quash the culture of drama

1. Just the facts, please. As you're listening to your staff members account of what transpired, we all know that the story in their head might be a bit skewed from reality. We need to make sure that we let them know that we just want to hear about the facts. Not hearsay, not assumptions and not intuition. Just what actually happened.
2. Mountain out of a molehill? Anxiety and worry about what could possibly happen is the source for many of the dramatic exchanges. The person might just need reassurance that the story they are painting just isn't true, or that everything is going to be ok. And if things aren't true or if they won't matter a month from now, then who gives a shit.
3. Make sure they understand that personal preferences don't drive business decisions. If there's ever any chance that there will be a change that affects someone's schedule or pocket there's going to be pushback. If it comes in the form of complaining it needs to be addressed before every employee and guest hears about how stupid management is. Changes in policy should come with a why. Not everyone will agree but those that do will not fuel the fire.
4. No venting. The venters like to deflect the fact that they might actually be the problem by claiming to be the victim. Your best policy is not to even entertain it. If a member of your team wants to come to you with problems make sure they know you want to hear solutions as well. Anyone can point out problems and expect someone else to fix it. That's not how teams work though.
5. Chain of command. "Did you talk to the person you had the problem with first?" Having a connection with your people is important but it also leaves the door open for you to have to hear about every little thing that goes on. Making sure they have gone through the appropriate channels before requiring your time is important and also gives your members the opportunity and the skill set to fix things on their own.
6. Hold accountable. If someone is making claims about another team member it's important that they don't get to make accusations in a vacuum. Bring everyone involved together and get to the bottom of things based on reality. They need to be held accountable for their claims. If we act only on the side of one team member we aid in their entitlement.
7. Don't be a culprit. You need to set the tone. Don't give the drama fuel. Condoning or even contributing will just exacerbate the problem.

Letting drama fester will spread throughout your business like cancer. It permeates all aspects of your operation. It'll make it so you don't even want to go there to deal with it. And if you don't want to be there dealing with it you can bet your customers don't.