Restaurant Training – Server and Server Training Role Playing Tips for Hospitality Education and Learning
Lights Camera action!
Incorporate role play for a winning training program
Take one… take two… take three… ready on set?
Are your teams performing their best with every guest that walks through your doors? Incorporating role plays into your training programs will help your guests get a special performance every time.
Role playing is one of the most effective tools in the trainer’s toolbox where participants can experience real life situations and ‘learn by doing’. Role playing can be used to train any level of company personnel, including staff, managers, and even company executives.
Role playing allows teams to experience real life situations in a simulated and controlled environment. With participants playing the roles of guests, employees, and managers, they may be better equipped to handle situations.
Due to the controlled environment, role playing allows the trainer to assess an individual’s strengths and weaknesses and design an action plan for growth and development. When used to master a skill, role playing builds confidence as the skill is practiced and the training is administered by a trainer. Since the coach is next to the student, he can easily determine whether the student has mastered the newly discovered technique and is ready to work only in her position. When role-playing is used to emphasize another person’s feelings, it allows teams to recognize those feelings and understand the effect of their behaviors or those of others. For example, acting out a guest situation will allow teams to better understand how a guest is feeling. As a result, they will learn the level of service that must be provided to provide a quality experience. Another benefit of role-playing is helping team members understand the consequences of breaking policies, such as being late for work, and the stressful impact it can have on the entire team. As a result, they will learn the importance of being on time.
How to start
Prior to the scheduled training date, company assessments should be conducted to determine the specific areas of performance/improvement that will be addressed. The company facilitator must then determine the overall results that will be achieved and how the problems will best be addressed. For example, the trainer must determine if the problems are more related to emphasizing feelings or strengthening a skill.
Next, the business facilitator must determine the specific characters associated with the problem and the particular roles they will play. There are many roles that can be played, such as guest and service representative, manager and team member, service representative and kitchen team member, or similar combinations.
Finally, the company facilitator, armed with the necessary scripts and scenarios, can develop training aids and other training tools to address the overall objectives of the program.
As a starting point, we’ve listed some suggested scenarios to help you role-play with your teams. Before starting the role play, always ask for volunteers so that the shy or less experienced teams can observe the others first to help build their confidence.
suggested scenarios
1. Cashier talking on the phone and not acknowledging a walk-in
2. The server is brusque and rushes a guest while taking an order (asks questions curtly and quickly and displays hasty body language)
3. The server is too friendly and talks too much to a group of business guests having a meeting.
4. Waiter scolding kitchen worker for incorrectly placed order
5. The host or hostess is sarcastic and grumpy when a guest asks for information about the menu.
6. The host/hostess tells a defensive guest, “I told you the wait was 20-25 minutes and you only waited 10 minutes.”
7. The bartender is cold and unfriendly while the sole diner seeks attention and conversation.
8. The bartender chats up some regulars and ignores a guest who obviously needs something (drink refill, napkin, condiments, etc.)
9. Two people on the bus talking about personal matters while ignoring a guest’s service signal.
10. A member of the kitchen team loudly demands that a server pick up an order.
11. They disrespect the dishwasher when servers throw away dirty dishes without scraping them first.
12. A troublesome team member who makes coworkers do extra work; create disagreements among staff; under administration; constantly being late; and similar situations.
13. The manager tells the guest “no” or “we can’t do that” without apologizing, adding an explanation, and offering options
14. Manager pointing fingers and arguing with a guest when handling a complaint
15. Manager threatening a team member’s job
Alkis Crassas, president of EVOS USA, Inc., a Tampa, Florida-based healthier fast food chain, routinely uses role-playing, saying, “Although role-playing goes further by placing participants in The spotlight, after the butterflies are gone, will soften and your team will begin to see the overall goals of your restaurant.”
If role play is designed correctly and executed effectively, it can be invaluable to the success of any undertaking. Most importantly, when role-playing is interactive and fun, your training goals will be sustained and result in a high return on your investment. Role-playing adds to the life experience of each participant and when people experience something, they take it with them more than any book, video or lecture could ever replicate.
