Top 3 Reasons to Use a Manager Log

This is a quick tip with a big impact. I want to give you three reasons why a manager log is an essential tool for your restaurant. Click below to watch the video tip or continue scrolling to read it.

A manager log is a critical tool in your business and here are the top three reasons.

Number one, it holds your management team accountable because you get to set the criteria for the information you want to know. You set the list of questions managers must answer by shift and/or by day, and the data you want managers to monitor on a daily basis. You are going to make sure you get what you want done on a daily basis.

Number two, you get your key numbers. You don't have to call up the manager that was on the last shift ask what were covers at lunch? What were the covers at dinner? What were our sales? What was the temperature like? How many employees did we have, etc. Whatever those key metrics are for you – labor costs, food costs, purchases – you can craft the questions so that whether you’re using an online solution or paper solution, you know your numbers. And so does everybody on the team.

Number three, a manager log used each shift fosters improved communication. We now have people sharing with each other all the critical data. What's going on in the business, employee issues, repairs, maintenance, you name it. It's right there. While I love these things, you can also hold people accountable. You will know your key numbers and you foster good communication. 

Here is a tip: there is no common sense on how to fill out a manager log. You have to teach them:

• Not to be too brief, such as only yes and no answers.
• Not to be so long winded that it's a soliloquy and everybody's bored to tears because somebody is just vomiting out information.
• How detailed you want it, how much information you want, how succinct you want it to be. 

The biggest benefit to using a manager log and teaching your managers exactly what you want them to do is it allows you as an operator or a general manager to know that your business is operating the way you want it done.

Take this free restaurant evaluation. It takes about 10-15 minutes to fill out and when you're done, you’ll have a 20-25-page customized report based on your answers about your restaurant. It will show you where your gaps are in the 23 stages. There are no strings attached. Just look at it for where your gaps are and what you should be working on now.

I teach systems in my book, Restaurant Prosperity Formula: What Successful Restaurateurs Do, which you can order here.

You can get a paper manager log from my friends at CommLog: https://www.commlog.com/. (I am not an affiliate.)