How can I performance tasks more quickly?
January 23, 2012 9:41 AM Subscribe
I work in the fast food industry. How do I become faster at my job? Are there things I can do off the job to increase my speed on the job?
I'm not so slow that I can't hold a job or anything like that. But I'm just "average," and I want to be the best of the best. I'm looking for ways to increase my speed with helping customers and cleaning. Dishes, sweeping/mopping, cleaning the grill and things of that sort. When I say "helping customers," think lunch lady duties. I have been in fast food long enough that I think I need some outside help. I don't know how to be faster because in my mind I'm already doing things rather quickly. But my coworkers disagree.
I'm not so slow that I can't hold a job or anything like that. But I'm just "average," and I want to be the best of the best. I'm looking for ways to increase my speed with helping customers and cleaning. Dishes, sweeping/mopping, cleaning the grill and things of that sort. When I say "helping customers," think lunch lady duties. I have been in fast food long enough that I think I need some outside help. I don't know how to be faster because in my mind I'm already doing things rather quickly. But my coworkers disagree.
Walk as little as possible.
I don't mean never move. I mean make it your goal to get through the shift / perform all of your tasks by making as few trips as possible. This means always checking out of the corner of your eyes to see if there's another table you can clear or whether you need to get another tub of ketchup as long as you are going to the stock room for napkins (or whatever).
Maybe you're like me and you like walking and you don't think the extra trips are that much of a hassle. They are: that's time you're not on the floor. Also, it's a mark of a restaurant pro to use your feet efficiently so by doing this you will be acting more like their pre-existing notions of a pro. You will be being more of a pro.
posted by gauche at 10:04 AM on January 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
I don't mean never move. I mean make it your goal to get through the shift / perform all of your tasks by making as few trips as possible. This means always checking out of the corner of your eyes to see if there's another table you can clear or whether you need to get another tub of ketchup as long as you are going to the stock room for napkins (or whatever).
Maybe you're like me and you like walking and you don't think the extra trips are that much of a hassle. They are: that's time you're not on the floor. Also, it's a mark of a restaurant pro to use your feet efficiently so by doing this you will be acting more like their pre-existing notions of a pro. You will be being more of a pro.
posted by gauche at 10:04 AM on January 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
For tasks that you perform while stationary, develop an understanding of the expression mise en place. The term refers to having all of your utensils and sauces in the right arrangement for you to work efficiently, and that's a fine starting place. Think about what sequences you use things in and in what quantities so you're not constantly refilling your smallest squeeze bottle with the most popular dressing or having to walk (there we go again) between two stations just to make a single dish.
Arrange your physical mise en place by use, not by category. To use an example that might not apply to your specific tasks, it doesn't make sense to keep all of your spices in the "spice rack" in a commercial kitchen: you might use cloves once a week in prepping something but oregano every fifteen minutes during service. You'd keep oregano on your station even if it's the only spice there and it upsets your sense of symmetry or whatever.
When you start to get this, the next level is that mise en place is as much a frame of mind as it is a physical arrangement of your accountrements: it's a readiness for what might happen in your shift, and a triage of what is most likely to happen and what is least likely to happen, and adjusting your preparation accordingly.
posted by gauche at 10:18 AM on January 23, 2012 [2 favorites]
Arrange your physical mise en place by use, not by category. To use an example that might not apply to your specific tasks, it doesn't make sense to keep all of your spices in the "spice rack" in a commercial kitchen: you might use cloves once a week in prepping something but oregano every fifteen minutes during service. You'd keep oregano on your station even if it's the only spice there and it upsets your sense of symmetry or whatever.
When you start to get this, the next level is that mise en place is as much a frame of mind as it is a physical arrangement of your accountrements: it's a readiness for what might happen in your shift, and a triage of what is most likely to happen and what is least likely to happen, and adjusting your preparation accordingly.
posted by gauche at 10:18 AM on January 23, 2012 [2 favorites]
One thing I was told when I started waitressing a hundred jillion years ago was to always have your hands full. Always. There is always something that needs to be brought back or brought up or something that needs to be wiped off or organized. The other thing that I learned through the years was to be kind to my feet - don't make them walk more than they have to. If table A needed ketchup, I need to make sure that I use that same trip to get them napkins and refills and such. I know you're in fast food, but the concept still applies.
And yeah, study your fastest co-worker (after or before your shift, not on the clock).
posted by PorcineWithMe at 10:22 AM on January 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
And yeah, study your fastest co-worker (after or before your shift, not on the clock).
posted by PorcineWithMe at 10:22 AM on January 23, 2012 [1 favorite]
Mise en place.
1. Organize your workstation.
2. Batch build (10 hamburger orders means layout 10 buns)
3. Portion size stuff ahead of time. Those places seem to like bags and/or papers to separate iirc, use them so you don't have to think whether you are grabbing the right amount.
4. If times aren't programmed on a microwave, 9-0-start is faster than 1-3-0-start.
5. clean your workstation every 15 minutes.
6. Par count your work. If you normally go through 5 third pans of burgers in an hour, have 5 ready or ready to be ready.
7. Work clean. If you can't, start learning to. Regardless, clean your station periodically to remove stuff that didn't make it to service.
8. Think about things in terms of time. If a ticket needs to be up in three minutes, work the ticket backwards. How long to does wrapping take? How long does final assembly take? How long does saucing and condiments take? How long does creating the set take? How long does the cooking process take. Tackle each topic separately and organize your station by step - not by ingredient grouping.
9. Don't run - there is a lot of wasted movement in trying to move fast. Instead minimize your movements and work to be self sufficient at your station for as long as possible. Call for backup early if it is provided for you.
10. On mopping: Dunk, Squeeze, plant, twist, then push and pull in a figure 8 (while moving) for a 30 second count before repeating the process. Back and Forth breaks up the momentum and slows you down - a figure 8 is a figure of constant motion.
11. On cleaning flat tops: There is no rushing. Just make sure the surface is hot enough and the brick is appropriately oiled.
12. On cleaning open grills: When you finish, clean the grill brush so that it is ready for use and not caked with junk so that you have to clean the brush before you start.
These are tips from a non-fast food professional cooking point of view that should translate to fast food.
posted by Nanukthedog at 10:42 AM on January 23, 2012 [4 favorites]
1. Organize your workstation.
2. Batch build (10 hamburger orders means layout 10 buns)
3. Portion size stuff ahead of time. Those places seem to like bags and/or papers to separate iirc, use them so you don't have to think whether you are grabbing the right amount.
4. If times aren't programmed on a microwave, 9-0-start is faster than 1-3-0-start.
5. clean your workstation every 15 minutes.
6. Par count your work. If you normally go through 5 third pans of burgers in an hour, have 5 ready or ready to be ready.
7. Work clean. If you can't, start learning to. Regardless, clean your station periodically to remove stuff that didn't make it to service.
8. Think about things in terms of time. If a ticket needs to be up in three minutes, work the ticket backwards. How long to does wrapping take? How long does final assembly take? How long does saucing and condiments take? How long does creating the set take? How long does the cooking process take. Tackle each topic separately and organize your station by step - not by ingredient grouping.
9. Don't run - there is a lot of wasted movement in trying to move fast. Instead minimize your movements and work to be self sufficient at your station for as long as possible. Call for backup early if it is provided for you.
10. On mopping: Dunk, Squeeze, plant, twist, then push and pull in a figure 8 (while moving) for a 30 second count before repeating the process. Back and Forth breaks up the momentum and slows you down - a figure 8 is a figure of constant motion.
11. On cleaning flat tops: There is no rushing. Just make sure the surface is hot enough and the brick is appropriately oiled.
12. On cleaning open grills: When you finish, clean the grill brush so that it is ready for use and not caked with junk so that you have to clean the brush before you start.
These are tips from a non-fast food professional cooking point of view that should translate to fast food.
posted by Nanukthedog at 10:42 AM on January 23, 2012 [4 favorites]
Go slow to go fast. Especially for tasks that require manual dexterity, slow down and pay really really close attention to what you're doing. Refine your process until you're doing things by the most efficient, effective possible method. (Watch you co-workers for ideas on how to improve.) Practice doing it slowly and carefully. Only when you're able to perform the motions flawlessly should you begin to gradually increase your speed.
posted by BrashTech at 10:48 AM on January 23, 2012
posted by BrashTech at 10:48 AM on January 23, 2012
A lot of it is situational awareness and being able to prioritize on the fly.
There is no such thing as downtime. Like you've probably heard a million times, "if you have time to lean, you have time to clean". Get to know the rhythm of the restaurant -- maybe you always have a lull between 3-5 PM. Maybe 6-8 PM is peak service. So plan accordingly.
Always know what you're going to do next, and try to set things up to ease your transitions between tasks. As stated above, "full hands in, full hands out" -- if you find yourself walking to your workstation empty-handed, you are either not planning well enough or not prioritizing efficiently.
The corollary of that is this: never ever ever set something down where it doesn't belong and walk away from it. Ever. Ever ever ever. I don't care if a guest's hair is on fire. I don't care if dinosaurs are stampeding through the dining area. Put. It. Where. It. Belongs. FIRST. Then go douse the flaming guest and herd those dinosaurs.
This is a simple extension of the rule "don't create work". There is plenty work for everyone there to do. Don't make more of it. For yourself or for your coworkers. If it's dirty, it goes to dish, not on that cutting board. If it's clean, it gets put away, not on that cutting board. If you're about to use it, it's in your hand. If you'll need it in three minutes, it's at your station. Nowhere else.
Is your head full of timers? It should be. You should have six different timers running in your head constantly, moving you from task to task efficiently, resetting continually.
Also: enjoy it! When you're feeling it, and you're zipping along, and you're working as a team and making people happy with tasty hot food, it's fun!
posted by BitterOldPunk at 12:22 PM on January 23, 2012
There is no such thing as downtime. Like you've probably heard a million times, "if you have time to lean, you have time to clean". Get to know the rhythm of the restaurant -- maybe you always have a lull between 3-5 PM. Maybe 6-8 PM is peak service. So plan accordingly.
Always know what you're going to do next, and try to set things up to ease your transitions between tasks. As stated above, "full hands in, full hands out" -- if you find yourself walking to your workstation empty-handed, you are either not planning well enough or not prioritizing efficiently.
The corollary of that is this: never ever ever set something down where it doesn't belong and walk away from it. Ever. Ever ever ever. I don't care if a guest's hair is on fire. I don't care if dinosaurs are stampeding through the dining area. Put. It. Where. It. Belongs. FIRST. Then go douse the flaming guest and herd those dinosaurs.
This is a simple extension of the rule "don't create work". There is plenty work for everyone there to do. Don't make more of it. For yourself or for your coworkers. If it's dirty, it goes to dish, not on that cutting board. If it's clean, it gets put away, not on that cutting board. If you're about to use it, it's in your hand. If you'll need it in three minutes, it's at your station. Nowhere else.
Is your head full of timers? It should be. You should have six different timers running in your head constantly, moving you from task to task efficiently, resetting continually.
Also: enjoy it! When you're feeling it, and you're zipping along, and you're working as a team and making people happy with tasty hot food, it's fun!
posted by BitterOldPunk at 12:22 PM on January 23, 2012
It's about efficiency. The "fast" people aren't actually doing any particular task faster, they're just being more efficient about moving between tasks. Try and think a few tasks ahead. Can you do two things at once? Cleaning tables / restocking condiments for instance. Collect dishes before doing the washing up so when you're done, you're done (for the next half hour, anyway!)
Working in a bar, I learnt to put glasses in the dishwasher while a pint was pouring; wiping tables while collecting glasses; when delivering food to tables, noticing those that needed cleaning and plan the route back to the kitchen via those tables (with cleaning products in hand); taking the next order while getting change for the previous customer; keeping note of what might need restocking soon so that when there was a break, I could nip to the storeroom and know what I needed without having to waste time checking. Look for those 30 seconds where you're waiting on someone else to do something and fill that time with cleaning / getting the tray or takeaway bag ready with cutlery and napkins / restocking stuff you need.
Over time, you'll develop a flow - no downtime, every moment you're doing something - without thinking about it consciously. You'll know when you've got it going, you'll feel like you're just "in the zone". I found that peculiarly satisfying.
posted by finding.perdita at 2:16 PM on January 23, 2012
Working in a bar, I learnt to put glasses in the dishwasher while a pint was pouring; wiping tables while collecting glasses; when delivering food to tables, noticing those that needed cleaning and plan the route back to the kitchen via those tables (with cleaning products in hand); taking the next order while getting change for the previous customer; keeping note of what might need restocking soon so that when there was a break, I could nip to the storeroom and know what I needed without having to waste time checking. Look for those 30 seconds where you're waiting on someone else to do something and fill that time with cleaning / getting the tray or takeaway bag ready with cutlery and napkins / restocking stuff you need.
Over time, you'll develop a flow - no downtime, every moment you're doing something - without thinking about it consciously. You'll know when you've got it going, you'll feel like you're just "in the zone". I found that peculiarly satisfying.
posted by finding.perdita at 2:16 PM on January 23, 2012
Learn the concept of spot cleaning. There is no need to wipe down the entire drive-thru wall every day if the only visible dirt is a few blotches of cola. Just scrub off the cola blobs with your damp rag. Ditto not shining the entire glass door top-to-bottom if there are only a few kid-level fingerprints, or swabbing the entire booth bench with a wet rag just for a few crumbs. Save the deep cleaning for slow times.
The exceptions to spot cleaning are tabletops where people eat and food prep surfaces which need to be clean clean. Oh, and high chair trays. Those get nasty.
Use both hands when you clean whenever possible. Keep a scrubby pad in one hand to scrub up the blob of ketchup and as soon as it is loose, swoop down with the paper towel in your other hand to wipe it up.
When you need to restock cups, check to see what else you need. Ketchup? Bags? Napkins? Even if levels are only a little bit down on something, grab whatever you can use on that trip to the stock room, to save a trip later.
If there is something in your process that slows you down, see if you can find a way to get a head start on it during slow times. In one place I worked, the sandwich wrappers tended to cling together and were difficult to separate on the fly. So during slow times we'd pull wrappers apart and restack them on the diagonal so it would be easier to grab each one when needed. We did the same thing with cheese slices.
If you're on register, you have to multi-task to keep up. If the customer is digging out his money, don't just stand there, go start his drink, or grab his salad from the cooler, or the condiments and fork/spoon packet that go on the tray. If he has to stand there for a minute with his money out, it's ok, he's got to stand there until his food is up anyway and you're not wasting seconds waiting for him.
However, while you are multi-tasking always keep one eye on the sandwich chute so you can grab any food you are waiting for as soon as it comes up. As a customer nothing is more aggravating than when you can see your Big Mac and fries sitting there congealing under the heatlamps for several minutes, but your server doesn't notice because he/she busy is dicking around making a milkshake for the jerkwad behind you.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 4:56 PM on January 23, 2012
The exceptions to spot cleaning are tabletops where people eat and food prep surfaces which need to be clean clean. Oh, and high chair trays. Those get nasty.
Use both hands when you clean whenever possible. Keep a scrubby pad in one hand to scrub up the blob of ketchup and as soon as it is loose, swoop down with the paper towel in your other hand to wipe it up.
When you need to restock cups, check to see what else you need. Ketchup? Bags? Napkins? Even if levels are only a little bit down on something, grab whatever you can use on that trip to the stock room, to save a trip later.
If there is something in your process that slows you down, see if you can find a way to get a head start on it during slow times. In one place I worked, the sandwich wrappers tended to cling together and were difficult to separate on the fly. So during slow times we'd pull wrappers apart and restack them on the diagonal so it would be easier to grab each one when needed. We did the same thing with cheese slices.
If you're on register, you have to multi-task to keep up. If the customer is digging out his money, don't just stand there, go start his drink, or grab his salad from the cooler, or the condiments and fork/spoon packet that go on the tray. If he has to stand there for a minute with his money out, it's ok, he's got to stand there until his food is up anyway and you're not wasting seconds waiting for him.
However, while you are multi-tasking always keep one eye on the sandwich chute so you can grab any food you are waiting for as soon as it comes up. As a customer nothing is more aggravating than when you can see your Big Mac and fries sitting there congealing under the heatlamps for several minutes, but your server doesn't notice because he/she busy is dicking around making a milkshake for the jerkwad behind you.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 4:56 PM on January 23, 2012
Dishes, sweeping/mopping, cleaning the grill
To sweep/mop efficiently, make sure to really pay attention when you are cleaning. People who don't pay close attention to what they are doing tend to expend unnecessary effort on areas that are not particularly dirty. Give the cleanish places no more strokes than necessary.
Always use the cleanest mop head you can find. Mops in restaurants get greasy fast, and a greasy mop makes a smelly, streaky mess out of the floor.
Depending on the surface you are cleaning, a small putty knife can be your best friend. They are excellent for removing stuck-on blobs from floors, tables & other surfaces and will save much scrubbing. Be sure to hold it "flat" while scraping so as not to scratch the surface. (Read the book Speed Cleaning for more tips on how to clean fast & efficiently.)
Scrape the grill really well before you start scrubbing. Pour a coffee pot full of hot water on the hot grill and let it bubble a lot of the grime off before you scrape. Wait for the steam to dissipate before you get in there to scrape or you will scald the shit out of yourself. Always use the newest grill-cleaning screen you can find. When they get caked with grease they don't clean efficiently any more but I've seen people continue to use them to little effect. Layer the older pads behind the newer pads.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 5:36 PM on January 23, 2012
To sweep/mop efficiently, make sure to really pay attention when you are cleaning. People who don't pay close attention to what they are doing tend to expend unnecessary effort on areas that are not particularly dirty. Give the cleanish places no more strokes than necessary.
Always use the cleanest mop head you can find. Mops in restaurants get greasy fast, and a greasy mop makes a smelly, streaky mess out of the floor.
Depending on the surface you are cleaning, a small putty knife can be your best friend. They are excellent for removing stuck-on blobs from floors, tables & other surfaces and will save much scrubbing. Be sure to hold it "flat" while scraping so as not to scratch the surface. (Read the book Speed Cleaning for more tips on how to clean fast & efficiently.)
Scrape the grill really well before you start scrubbing. Pour a coffee pot full of hot water on the hot grill and let it bubble a lot of the grime off before you scrape. Wait for the steam to dissipate before you get in there to scrape or you will scald the shit out of yourself. Always use the newest grill-cleaning screen you can find. When they get caked with grease they don't clean efficiently any more but I've seen people continue to use them to little effect. Layer the older pads behind the newer pads.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 5:36 PM on January 23, 2012
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Study your fastest coworker.
posted by flabdablet at 9:52 AM on January 23, 2012