According to a study on the importance of teamwork in the restaurant business, 34% of small and medium enterprise (SME) workers feel stressed due to poor communication in the work environment, both communication with managers and coworkers.
In the food and beverage (F&B) industry itself, good communication is essential. This means talking and listening to each other effectively. This helps everyone work together smoothly, from the kitchen staff who cooks the food to the waiter who serves it to customers.
But how can we foster a good culture of communication in this fast-paced, stressful and demanding industry while many staff don’t want to talk actively?
Before getting into that, it’s important to understand what creates poor communication in the workplace. You see, even if a company hires the right people, they might still have issues, and it might not be because of the employees themselves. It could be because of how the bosses manage things or how the company works.
To make things better, it’s a good idea to create a place where employees feel like they can share their ideas and help make company rules and ways of doing things. This can help the team work together better.
Figure Out What Causes Poor Communication at Work
The reasons for bad communication at work can differ from one place to another, as each workplace is unique and can face its own set of problems that make communication not work well between its employees. According to Indeed, here are some common things that can result in poor communication at work.
Lack of Clear Goals
Setting clear goals and objectives is vital because they guide the team in achieving important things like making the restaurant successful. Success doesn’t happen by itself; it requires employees to know what their managers want them to do, and these clear goals help with that.
However, if a restaurant doesn’t have clear goals or if managers don’t explain what their teams should do, it can make employees confused and frustrated. This might lead to them not doing well at their jobs, even if they’re trying their best.
Lack of Feedback
Feedback is like information that tells someone how well they did something. It helps the team learn and do better next time. If you work in a restaurant, feedback can be about the good things you did, like making tasty dishes, or things you need to fix, like serving the food faster.
Good restaurants know that feedback is super important for getting better. But to make feedback work well, we need clear steps for each thing we do. For example, is our new menu better than the old one? Is the new recipe easier to follow? If we don’t have good feedback, it’s like cooking without knowing how the food tastes.
Lack of Enthusiasm
When employees lose enthusiasm in their work, they can become disengaged, causing communication issues for the company. They may feel undervalued, unappreciated, and disrespected, which can make them unproductive and irritable, leading to communication breakdowns.
For example, if a chef who used to love cooking starts feeling uninterested because their ideas are ignored, they might become disengaged. They could feel like their skills and suggestions are not valued by the kitchen team. This may lead to the chef becoming less productive and frustrated, causing difficulties in communicating effectively with their colleagues and managers.
Lack of Trust
Employees might keep important information from their employers because they’re afraid that being truthful could lead to bad things happening. For example, if they always get their ideas rejected or made fun of, they might stop sharing them. They might also not report problems or wrongdoing at work because they’re scared of what might happen if they speak up.
How to Prevent Poor Communication in the F&B Workplace?
Good communication at work begins with having good skills to communicate well with all employees in the team. Here are some helpful ways to get better at it and make talking with the employees smoother and more effective.
Become an Active Listener
Poor communication often starts when the need to share information becomes more important than the willingness to listen. Successful teams, on the other hand, prioritize effective two-way communication, ensuring that messages flow smoothly in both directions.
When a manager shares information, employees might have questions or concerns about the tasks they’re given. In such situations, managers should actively listen to these concerns. They should acknowledge and repeat the concerns to ensure they understand them correctly and then address them directly.
Provide Constructive Feedback
Providing constructive feedback means delivering feedback that is both helpful and positive. For instance, a restaurant manager might say something like this to a server: “I appreciate your dedication to customer service during our busy dinner rush. To enhance the dining experience, let’s make sure to check in with each table within five minutes of them being seated. Keep up the great work.”
In this example, the initial comment recognizes and appreciates the server’s efforts, fostering a positive atmosphere. The subsequent statement offers clear, actionable advice that can improve the service quality while also serving as a valuable learning opportunity for the server. Finally, the manager reaffirms their appreciation for the server’s commitment to providing excellent customer service in the restaurant.
Good Language Gesture
Good communication also means understanding how your body language and tone of voice affects others. It’s not about being forceful; staying calm and empathetic is better.
For example, a restaurant manager who listens attentively and shows empathy when addressing concerns is more likely to promote teamwork among the staff and achieve operational success.
Right Communication Tools for F&B Workplace
Effective communication also requires the right communication tools. Here at StaffAny, our mission is to make employee communication simple and effective, enabling better connections with your staff, especially in a F&B workplace that often struggles to engage with employees.
With our advanced employee engagement automation called EngageAny, every manager or business owner can establish fresh channels of communication with their employees. This allows managers or business owners to connect with all staff when they encounter issues or when they wish to share their thoughts on their daily tasks.
For instance, you can use EngageAny to gather feedback from employees about their shift obstacles or challenges when working with other team members, ensuring their voices are heard and improvements can be made. They can do so anonymously as well, allowing them to feel comfortable providing such feedback.
Are You Ready for New Ways to Foster a Good Communication Culture?
Prepare yourself to unlock the potential of EngageAny, a unique offering exclusively brought to you by StaffAny! Are you ready to seamlessly integrate the power of EngageAny into your business? Don’t hesitate any further!
Learn more about EngageAny here.
