Three Ways Technology Can Help Operators Save Time

A good restaurant not only offers up great-tasting food, it also runs as smoothly as possible. This means restaurant owners should work just as hard to improve their efficiency as they do to pump up their menu items. Efficiency is not only key to providing a great customer experience, it is also crucial to becoming and remaining profitable.

It’s no secret that running a restaurant is nowhere near as easy as some might think. From payroll and scheduling, to keeping up with labor laws, managers simply do not have enough hours in the day. Often, this means they don’t get to spend as much time as they’d like on other aspects of running a hospitality business, such as motivating their team and providing excellent customer service.

Luckily, technology is here to help. By automating time-consuming but necessary tasks, like running payroll and managing labor law compliance, you can spend more time on growing your business and developing your team members.

STOP: Running Payroll Manually

START: Using an Online Timesheet

A major headache for restaurant managers is most often the time-consuming, stressful process of running payroll. However, switching to an online timesheet app like Homebase can shave around five hours a week off of the time it takes to get it done. With that time saved, you can focus more on actually being in your restaurant – and not hunched over in a back office, crunching numbers.

Online timesheets are a great way to improve both financial and operational efficiency, because they do the work for you. For example, Homebase’s free online timesheet app automatically identifies errors like missed breaks, tracks paid and unpaid breaks to help keep you compliant, and exports directly to popular payroll providers without any data entry.

STOP: Scrambling with Schedule Changes

START: Letting Your Team Schedule Themselves

Hate building schedules? There’s an app for that, too. Homebase’s schedule maker does all the heavy lifting when it comes to managing your schedule and helps you get the job done in minutes, putting precious hours back on the clock.

The scheduling app comes equipped with a drag-and-drop team-scheduling feature that lets you view the team schedule by role, time period or employee – and watch hours calculate automatically. You can even copy over last week’s shift schedule, or use automatic scheduling, which takes into account your team’s availabilities and roles. Plus, your managers will be able to access everything they need in one place: time off – requests, labor costs, sales estimates – even the weather – and manage schedule changes anytime, anywhere on the mobile app. Plus, if someone on your team needs to trade shifts, they can do that in the app as well, with manager approval.

The scheduling app can even help you retain employees and keep customer satisfaction high by allowing you to publish schedules in advance – a benefit that your employees will love. A study by The Shift Project at UC Berkeley, which conducts an ongoing survey of service sector workers, revealed the impact of an irregular work schedule:

“Notably, we find that workers who experience unstable and unpredictable scheduling are more distressed, on average,” says The Shift Project. “Workers who are exposed to multiple forms of unstable and unpredictable scheduling are the most distressed.”

Scheduling in advance is a great way to ensure the happiness of your employees, and motivate them to focus on providing an unbeatable customer experience.

STOP: Repeating Yourself

START: Keeping Everyone Connected

Things always run the smoothest when everyone involved is up-to-date and on the same page. Using a team communication app is the simplest way to get everyone in a virtual room to discuss any changes in scheduling, or remind team members about shifts – or even congratulate people who go above and beyond

Homebase’s team communication also allows managers and team members to communicate with each other without having to share contact information or search for phone numbers. You can send messages and alerts without having to text or email, as well send your location and pictures. Smart groups make it easy to message employees currently on the clock, those scheduled in the future, managers only, and more.

Managers even have their own log book to communicate with other managers, track information and put events and notes right on the schedule, so your team can stay organized over time and across shifts. Everything from maintenance requests to notes about large parties now have a central and searchable space.

By letting technology take the wheel and utilizing online apps for your restaurant management routine, you’ll save time, money, and patience on payroll, scheduling and more. Not only will your team benefit from a more streamlined, efficient business, but your customers will see the difference reflected in the improved experience – and your bottom line will reap the rewards.

About Homebase: Homebase powers team management and staffing as part of CHECK^® Business Tools. Homebase helps you save time, reduce costs and make hiring easier. Recruit quality candidates, track labor costs, simplify payroll and streamline team communications with just one tool. Learn more about Homebase by visiting team management and staffing in CHECK Business Tools.