We hear the term “game-changing” a lot these days—the trend of game-changing pre-shift meetings being the latest example in the restaurant industry. More restaurants are incorporating pre-shift meetings before their shift starts. But the purpose of these meetings is not only to discuss food safety guidelines or upcoming specials; it’s also a chance for the employees to gather and share personal or professional updates. Employers can build stronger relationships with their employees outside of regular business operations, which is an important way to create a positive work culture. Combine this with elements like tip sharing software, and you have the foundation for a modern business plan.

How to Properly Run a Pre-Shift Meeting

The idea of implementing pre-shift meetings in the workplace might seem like a waste of time at first consideration. No one likes to be told what to do, and the prospect of having your employees sit around and talk before the shift starts can be downright dull. Fortunately, these meetings are not nearly as onerous as they might appear, and are typically short and casual.

The purpose of a pre-shift meeting is to take care of everything that needs to be done before the shift starts. The meeting does not need to last longer than 15 minutes to have any real impact. A drawn-out pre-shift meeting will wind up wasting time and decrease the value of the pre-shift meeting to employees. Since the pre-shift meeting is such an essential part of the workday, you need to be sure that it’s being done properly by not overloading employees with too much information. If you make the meetings fun and engaging, they can be a great way to ease employees into their shift before it starts.

A pre-shift meeting can be for more than handling business-related endeavors. Employees can take this time to build relationships with their colleagues and employer. In most cases, they have the additional benefit of creating a sense of camaraderie and mutual respect between employees, a factor that is essential in any workplace.

Business Benefits of Pre-Shift Meetings

Now that you know how pre-shift meetings go, what are the benefits of these types of meetings from a business perspective? Since pre-shift meetings involve becoming more acquainted with your team, it will increase your business’s productivity. It’s been proven that positive teamwork leads to a more productive business. Pre-shift meetings give employees a moment of pause before their shift starts, allowing them to channel into their focus mode.

Further, if your team is more productive, your restaurant’s profitability ultimately increases. The more productive and efficient a team is, the more money they make for the business. If restaurant employees are more efficient, they will serve more tables, ultimately leading to more sales for the restaurant and more tips for them. This means a pre-shift meeting is in the employee and the employer’s best interest.

Pre-Shift Meetings Are An Opportunity to Go Over Best Business Practices

Running a pre-shift meeting to go over business practices may seem like a huge pain because of the time and effort required to get people to the meeting for it to happen. Now that adopting software to increase business efficiency has become the new norm, like automated tip pooling software for example, pre-shift meetings don’t have to be associated with boring information on business operations such as automatic tip sharing.

Still, employers can open up the floor during a pre-shift meeting to let employees come forward with questions to clear up any details regarding the business’s operations. An employer can take this time to go over any ambiguities regarding pay and tip management. It’s an employer’s duty to understand how to fairly distribute tips and how to calculate tips and to share this knowledge with their employees.

An employer can simplify the tip pooling process by making a restaurant tip automatic with tip distribution software. Using the correct software will take away the stress of tracking and manually handling tip distribution. Rather than having to cover tedious details regarding tip allocation during the pre-shift meaning, more time can be dedicated to more critical business dealings and team building.

Additionally, a pre-shift meeting is an excellent opportunity to introduce new employees to business practices, such as tip management software. The manager can go over how the tip pool functions and make sure that they understand the restaurant’s tip sharing practices.

So, instead of considering pre-shift meetings as routine, consider it as a valuable opportunity for employees to discuss amongst themselves and build relationships. The game-changing part is that these interactions help keep the employer, staff, and customers happy. Plus, a boost in morale means higher productivity and profitability, which doesn’t hurt from a business perspective.