Teamwork in the Dining Room

My friend, who comes from a restaurant family, told me how everyone in their restaurant worked as a team. When the dinner hour became truly busy, the wait staff took a moment to clean a table to help the busboy, the sommelier and the host-both in tuxedos-carried a plate to a waiting diner to help a wait person, for the benefit of the customer and the company. When the rush hour was over, everyone returned to the position they were hired for.

It’s called teamwork and it’s important for the success of any organization for the benefit of all. It also creates a satisfied feeling of perfection to all who participates.

In today’s community, enlightenment of new regulations brings caregivers and ancillary staff together with the serving staff in the changing roles of the dining room. It’s time for all employees to work as a team especially during mealtimes. Kind Dining® can teach your staff how to apply these new government regulations to enhance your community starting with their positive attitude in embracing the changes. Each employee is important to the community’s reputation.

The changes affect the caregivers and nursing staff even more than the ancillary staff. When they learn the value of extended personal service to the resident, combining it with working as a team they, too will see the benefits of the new regulations. Courtesy between serving staff adds to the homey feeling so critical to a dining room, keeping in mind that it is the residents’ home.  Meals served in the best, positive way, matters!

Camaraderie between servers is just as meaningful as it is with camaraderie with the diners receiving their meals. Servers can also help each other by restocking where necessary before their shift ends. It’s about respect for fellow workers, like doing a good deed that always somehow comes back to you.

B♥ Kind® Tip: Imagine your community mealtimes working like a smooth choreographed production.

About Cindy Heilman

Cindy is the founder and owner of Kind Dining®, which she began in 2006. She’s traveled across the country and Canada working with and training senior living communities that want to create an exceptional dining experience for their residents and staff. In addition, she certifies select professionals in her Kind Dining® philosophy and provides tools, now in an eLearning format, that make learning stick and help people put insights into action. As a result of her work, clients often share their staff has a new sense of purpose, get along better and keep their focus and energy on what matters most. In fact, she wrote a book, Hospitality for Boomers on how to attract residents and keep good team members. In her free time, she enjoys walking Oregon trails and cheering on her favorite soccer teams, the Portland Thorns and Timbers.

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