Article

Delegate to Succeed: How to Help Your Crew Help You

Experienced chefs know that they are only as good as the next meal and the crew that puts out those meals. Even though many diners think the chef personally prepares every morsel, the reality couldn't be further from the truth.

Since the chef cannot possibly cook every meal that comes off the line, proper delegation is crucial. It helps the bottom line and stretches the day so that the chef or kitchen manager can effectively manage. But most importantly, delegation gets the kitchen crew involved. Simply put, to delegate is to trust your staff.

For many chefs, this is easier said than done. Heck, some chefs don't trust that staff will even show up on time for a shift, let alone show up at all. But without question, proper delegation is a chef's most useful management tool.

The chef or kitchen manager who micromanages, or tries to handle every last detail, is cheating himself and everyone else in the operation. Mentoring, teaching staff skills and ultimately delegating, seems more difficult or time-consuming.

In fact, the notion of spending time to save time may seem contradictory. But the time commitment upfront will repay the operation immeasurably later. Management guru Wolf J. Rinke defines delegation as "...the art of letting someone do their thing your way."

Delegation is Not Dumping

Proper delegation can lead to getting off the path of doing all the work, and on the road to being ultimately responsible. Certainly, the staff must be responsible for its daily duties. But it's the chef's job to follow up and make sure that the delegated work is completed correctly and adeptly.

Expectations need to be articulated and precise directions must be given, especially when a new, unfamiliar task is delegated. These tasks include working with expensive ingredients, ordering product, setting up the plate presentation, dealing with cohorts, writing new recipes, and any tasks beyond the scope of an employee's day-to-day duties.

This may lead to added anxiety, but relax. Think what's best for the kitchen over the long haul. The goal is to change the shop from doers, to a group of thinkers that do. A guided crew wants to do things right, and does so because time was devoted to teach them.

Delegation, however, doesn't mean walking away from responsibility or handing over all the control. Delegation still means keeping some control over the projects by following up, checking work, and offering praise. Because effective delegation demands a time commitment to teach and train, dumping is the antithesis of delegation.

Baby Steps

The first steps toward good delegation start with listing sensible responsibilities that can be confidently given to someone else. A complex task with severe consequences if botched -- such as a foie gras terrine -- probably isn't the smartest one to first launch. A smarter choice might be preparing the soup of the day.

In the beginning, it may be helpful to think of the tasks in terms of money. Assign jobs that won't ruin your next profit-and-loss statement should they become inedible.

Make sure the tasks you are ready to share won't get you fired if the results go awry. People learn from trial and error, not trial and success. Remember to expect mistakes. In turn, it's important that staff learn from those mistakes. The delegation "to do" list should also avoid assignments that could bring down the kitchen, or for that matter, your mental health.

Once a list of tasks is compiled, identify the people who will be assigned the work. Start by matching the task to the abilities of each employee. Matching employees to tasks leads to a willingness to accept added responsibilities. The goal is to nurture the talent in each employee by giving them an additional task that leads to success.

Choose a task that is not too difficult, but allows the employee the opportunity to do something new. With each task mastered, raise the difficulty of additional tasks, each time varying the level of difficulty for each employee. Some staff members will adapt to the added challenges faster and with more success than others.

Tracking the speed and success of added tasks also helps to identify future leaders in the kitchen. As staff members get a taste of success, their confidence will build, and confidence helps staff grow as culinary professionals.

Once tasks and staff are matched, sit down for a face-to-face meeting. The chef and crew need to determine what will be accomplished and how. Expectations should be as clear as possible. Agree on what tools may be needed to perform the task, and determine a deadline. Make sure that you are both on the same page, so when the job is turned in, it's done right the first time. Set standards high; it will help determine success.

Motivate, Don't Drive

Don't spend time looking over your crew members' shoulders. This is not the same as dumping, because you have already communicated your expectations and the parameters of the task. Make motivation a regular part of your management style. As a leader in a kitchen, motivating staff is paramount.

Some employees will accept the added responsibility with no sign of stopping, while others will need coaxing. Some staff members are anxious about accepting new responsibilities for fear of failure or uncertainty about their skills. Expressing confidence in their proficiency during similar tasks will prove helpful. Use examples by saying, "Remember when Roberto was out with the flu, and you ran the saute station during the busiest week last month? Well, I know you can handle this as well." A good motivator demonstrates his or her conviction in the crew's abilities.

Follow Up

Monitor the amount of follow-up needed for each employee. Some team members will need more attention than others. The key is to determine how much follow-up is enough. By setting the limits of their authority first, you should have the space necessary to back off. This can be difficult because it is natural to jump in and correct a mistake in the making.

But it is best to let your crew make mistakes, then follow up on the action and discuss how it could have been done better. Employees who just do tasks, but don't understand why they do them, are no help in the growth of the business. Practice a risk-reward analysis with each employee and their delegated task. Weigh the rewards of letting them handle the task, and at what extent involvement is needed. Is it worth the risk? Ask yourself how much rope is enough and know when to pull back.

Reward Performance

Added responsibility means added rewards. The reward has to be on par with the employee's performance. Not all rewards should be created equally. Rewards must be on a case-by-case basis. Some staff members work harder than others. Some tasks are more difficult, so a blanket reward for the entire crew is inappropriate and will create resentment.

Rewards aren't always cash or raises. Get creative by offering other items to reward your crew. Consider trade dinners with other restaurants. A cook loves nothing more than the opportunity to eat out on a night off.

Lunch and dinners in the restaurant's dining room are also a reward. Getting cooks into the dining room to experience firsthand how their hard work looks and tastes is a great morale builder. It also gives kitchen staff a detailed look at how hard the front of the house works and aids in keeping down the wall between houses.

Ask purveyors for help, such as donating ballgame tickets. Many of the larger ones have season tickets to baseball, basketball, and hockey games. Since the chef pays the bills, purveyors are happy to share them with you. Consider giving cookbooks or food magazine subscriptions as rewards.

Get on the Right Path

Proper delegation can lead to getting off the path of doing all the work and on the road to managing more of the business. By building a team of proud, thinking kitchen workers, food costs will decrease, the quality of product will go up, morale will skyrocket, and in the end, so will profitability.