What do a restaurant, a relay race, knitting and a tech dev team have in common, and how can this help your team?
I recently worked with a team running three notable restaurants in the hospitality sector. The focus of the interactive session was leadership and teaming with the team to improve the quality of The Pass.
While The Pass is a restaurant term, it is a great analogy you can use for any industry when you want to discuss teaming with your team more effectively.
- The Pass is the nerve center of a restaurant’s kitchen, the bridge between the hard work of the kitchen and the waiters who will present their creations to eager patrons. The head chef often manages the pass, calling out instructions to which the team respond, in unison,”Yes, Chef!”. If you have ever watched Masterchef you will be familiar with this.
- The quality of the task each person hands on to the next in the chain impacts on the overall efficiency of The Pass and the quality of the end product.
- It’s a bit like a baton change in a relay race. The pick up is usually dependent on the quality of the pass from the other person.
- Every person on the team from the dishwasher to the chef, the waiters and restaurant manager, are all responsible for what happens on The Pass, not just the person managing The Pass.
- If someone sees an ingredient is missing from a dish along the way, the plating is not right, a bowl is dirty or chipped, it’s better to speak up or take responsibility for fixing it early on, than have a dish get to The Pass and be rejected either by the head chef or, worse still, the customer.
Lessons from The Pass
These apply to a team in any industry:
- If you were self-employed, someone would only keep buying from you if the quality of your work was up to scratch and you delivered what you promised.
- Treat the next person in the workflow as if they were your customer, not your colleague!
- Pass on your best quality work so that they can do theirs properly.
Catch a dropped stitch quickly
When things go wrong in any industry it’s a bit like dropping a stitch in your knitting. You don’t want to only notice it 50 rows on because then it becomes a mission to fix and you may even need to undo 50 rows in the process. A waste of time, energy and effort.
In the restaurant analogy, reputation and delays are on the line if mistakes are only picked up once the dish has been served to the customer.
I have other clients in the fintech industry and coding and programming are no different. Bad coding can cost a fortune to fix. Interestingly, when I run processes around what weakens a team, writing bad code on purpose sabotaging the entire team or project, is a thing!
A team exercise
Watch the video below. It’s an hilarious take on teaming together, or not.
Who’s job is it? Who’s fault is it? Who’s responsible? Name, blame and shame. Now let’s be a team and pull it all together!
Does this sound familiar?
So, while it’s very funny, there is also much truth in many aspects of it.
- Use it as a conversation starter with your team to discuss what strengthens and weakens the team.
- Next, discuss what you can all do to turn things around.
I love this advice for those managing The Pass, and it’s applicable to anyone in a leadership capacity in any industry, not just in a restaurant:
“Keep a steady and clear voice. Don’t use ten words when five or less will do. Panic is contagious. Drink water.”
Human Potential Expert
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