Pre-shift meetings are really a helpful tool to ensure that your staff stays well informed of how you expect them to perform their job. Even if they are a long-time employee, it never hurts to have periodic reminders and to encourage them to get in the proper mindset to give your customers top-notch service.

Keep the meetings simple and choose one category to highlight at a time. The following are some suggestions to get you started.

• Sales – Choose an item to focus on selling for each shift. Discuss creative ways to describe it. Ask employees to set a personal sales goal for the feature item.
• Specials – Are there any special offers or new items on the menu? Do you have chef or bartender specials? Prepare your servers to fully inform your guests.
• Safety – Choose a safety topic to quickly review with your staff each week: knife safety, sanitation, fire extinguisher location, evacuation procedures, etc.
• Alcohol – Choose a wine and liquor category and quickly review with the team so they can make knowledgeable beverage suggestions to enhance their guest's meal.
• Service – Select a key service behavior to focus on for the shift. Role-play and remind everyone to wear a smile as part of the uniform, because no one wants to deal with a crabby or preoccupied server.

Highlight some of these key items each shift to ensure the peak performance you expect from your servers. As a bonus, additional sales will accrue along with it!