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Treat everyone equally and with complete passion; understand that fairness says a lot to the person you are working with. When you tell one person to do something there always has to be an opposite side. What I mean by opposite side is, when you ask one person to do something, you ask  someone in that same position to do a task of somewhat equal challenge. People know when someone is being unfair. And you hear about it. I work with people that make money but not eighty thousand a year. These people don't care all that much either. They're extremely appreciative of what they have, but they want to be treated fairly with their work.  You also have to treat people in a higher level of employment fairly because it makes a huge difference in what could happen with your work. Be nice to these people, help them and they will help you when you need a favor. It's not about having to pay someone back, it's knowing that if they need something you will help them because they respect you and will give you that respect when you need help. I have a lot of friends in upper management because I respect them and tell them the honest truth and I do so because they deserve to know what the truth is. When I respect them they respect what I say and why I say it. Sometimes it's an answer they don't want to hear but it's because we have obligations to the guest and it can't always work out for everyone. Also, remember that how the tone in your voice can really make or break you. If you sound sarcastic, 99% of the time the other person knows and you won't be that close of friends. When you speak with clarity and sincerity they will listen and respect what you have to say and understand that you would try your hardest for them, but it can't always work that way. But when you say I will try or it will take me a minute, fill that expectation they have, that has a great deal of respect included in it. It gives that person you are telling that too that you mean your word, but they won't care if you just blow them off and do nothing when they needed help.

I give you a challenge this week, when you are speaking to someone you work with just listen to yourself a little and the tone you here. A lot of people don't realize how unruly or sarcastic they sound or needy. Personally, it drives me nuts when someone sounds really needy and doesn't even realize it until you say "why did you do that?" People are just not as aware as they use to be.

Posting tomorrow. I just need to edit it

Holy Cow!

So today is July 28th, I have been working at the Boston Harbor Hotel now for two months. Two! I have almost 20 days left here.
          So I should explain a little about the restaurant. The Rowes Wharf Sea Grille has been named one of the best spots for a great view in Boston. It is settled right on the ocean with indoor seating, patio and during our Summer in the City Entertainment Series, our lower terrace. Summer in the City is our summer entertainment event where we have different music groups and movies performing/playing Tuesday-Friday. The performances range from blues to timeless tunes, Jazz and our Movies by Moonlight.  This week we are actually showing a 1985 classic that everyone knows, "Back to the Future." When our summer event begins our restaurant turns from a 105 seat to almost a 200 seat business. We are booked every night, which says a lot about our atmosphere, food, service and quality.
         There's only been one thing I have found challenging this entire summer, which helps me with my professional work, especially when I get out of college. Continuity of staff performance. Sometimes you have to repeat certain tasks many times, or the correct way of doing things. It doesn't happen a lot and it happens everywhere, but I have found it more challenging over time because of all the different people I have worked with. But it keeps me busy, which I love; it always keeps me on my toes to make sure certain things are happening and that they're happening on time.

I'm still here...

         Don't worry I haven't forgotten about you all. This job really is 24/7, physically and mentally. There is a lot of responsibility when it comes to the dining services that are offered at the Boston Harbor Hotel and you have to make sure you are responsible.  Responsibility is understanding that one little gap can alter how the production of food or services can change everything just because you don't mention a certain item/object/task. People expect quality, that quality is portrayed in the food that is cooked, the drinks that are made, the service that is given and the atmosphere that is created. Without responsibility you would have complete chaos; food over or under cooked, drinks with not enough liquor or too much, service that is slow or to fast and a room that is not cleaned. Making sure that all these tasks are done correctly is a huge responsibility because after something happens you have to be able to back up the decision you made.
         Everyday I'm met with different challenges, one towards myself, one towards the staff and one to the guests. I take that back, the word one is wrong, I'm met with all challenges from all sides of the dining service. These challenges are a lot like goals though because I strive for five, I want to make the quality of this dining service superb and that is my ultimate goal. When I'm walking through the restaurant with full tables, I'm never looking straight ahead, I'm monitoring the dining room, the staff, the tables, the floors, the lights, the bartenders supplies, the servers supplies, and outside the hotel. My job to all our customers is to make sure we have everything, to give them 100% service. You really have to think about how much of a responsibility that is in order to understand. This dining room serves breakfast, the first meal of the day. This is the make or break time. Guests are getting up, they either want something to eat or just something to drink. If we don't have certain items we can alter the entire course of the day and that is our departments job, our job is to make sure that the guests routine is underway without any distraction from us. Not having a coffee cup, as small as it is, could ultimatly make for a really dissappointed guest, which could change how that persons performs during the day which if they are not awake could mean a business meeting that wasn't productive, or someone falling asleep during  work or any other possibility. Our job is to make sure this guests day is exactly what they want it to be because in the end each day is its own and everyone should make it theirs.

"One day your life will flash before your eyes, make sure it's worth watching."
-Annoymous-

My Role, (continued)

              You know how when you go into work and you just have one of those days where you are running around, trying to get five things done at once, ten more pile on, stress continues to build and things just keep moving faster and faster? That's where I come in.
              Envision yourself as a server for a minute, you have a whole section to yourself about seventeen tables, that's roughly 68-70 chairs. All of those chairs are filled with guests ranging from the 90 year old with a birthday today who also ordered a cake, the granddaughter just graduated college and needs a celebratory item, both of her parents are their who just had a new born and her little brother who likes to throw tantrums. Then you have 16 other tables with different things happening; CEO's of a company are meeting, birthday celebration, retirement, guest dinner, bridal shower, the works. You're an employee who makes so much money plus tips and your job is to make sure those guests are happy so at the end of the day your pocket is full and your happy. Now pretend your a chef, sous chef or pastry chef; your choice. Right now you have 125 guests sitting down all within 10 minutes of each other. That means that every other 30 seconds you are getting new orders from each server for certain tables. You're cooking almost 8-10 different items from the menu at once. You are trying to communicate with your prep line, your food expediter, your main kitchen and the servers. You are making sure that that order is picture perfect because if not the server is going to come back irritated because not only did the guest not enjoy it but now that will affect the servers tips and they have to come back there, and they aren't in a good mood now. Now your a host/hostess. You have to make sure that reservations are being put into the computer correctly, checking for allergies, celebrations, certain aspects the guest is looking for. You are also seating about 4-8 people every 30 seconds. On top of that you are answering phone calls to put through to different areas in the restaurant, taking more reservations besides the online ones, switching menus from breakfast to lunch to dinner and trying to be charming and make guests feel right at home and that they are number 1 which is how all people should be treated especially when they are paying for a certain service. Now take that all, subtract cooking, and you get the job of a supervisor. Now that doesn't include the jobs on top of what supervisors are in charge of, (overseeing staff, checking tables, checking side work done by employees, checking outside conditions, checking weather conditions, checking food as it is sent out, speaking with guests, etc...)
             Now, what your thinking is, "wait a minute you said, that's where I come in; what does that mean?" Well I'll explain. All of these people are going through these different little scenarios, their job description. They're doing exactly what they applied for and then after pending approval signed up for. My job is when that server comes in the back upset, that chef is trying to send food out, that host/hostess is trying to make people happy but has all different phone calls coming in, plus many other jobs from different people; I'm the one who speaks to them directly, poignantly, with a smile on and tells them exactly what is happening what they are going to do next and why certain things are happening; calmly.  They might be all flustered and tired, yourself included from doing the same thing but on a larger scale, but you, the supervisor, are the one they're  looking to for direction. They need you to tell them this is happening, they need direction because without information they can't plan what to do next. They have 90 other things they can be prepping while they wait for something. My job is to make sure they understand everything that is happening in the most simple ways, "your food has two more minutes, this food is missing garnish, that party has permission to sit outside, this silverware needs polishing," and the list goes on.
              The supervisor, I like to think is the peacekeeper between everyone in the restaurant and outside. They're the ones making sure everyone is happy, be it employees or guests. They are almost like a music director; a music director takes in all of these different sounds and noises, quiets it down to a null, gives it direction and some guidelines (music sheets) and creates a symphony with all these different instruments that sound nothing a like, but together make the sweetest song, the joie de vivre, (joy of living). That's what I do.

My Role

          So I've been talking a lot about the job and what is happening, but what do I exactly do? I supervise the Rowes Wharf Sea Grille at the Boston Harbor Hotel. What does supervise mean? Well, we have our manager and assistant manager who oversee everything, the supervisors, servers, bartenders, etc... Then you have the supervisors. We do similar work as the managers but it's broken up between us with different projects. Why do we each have our own projects? This helps break everything up so the managers don't have to do everything, makes things a little more stress free. Stress free means things go a lot smoother. It's a busy place to work, we have many people expecting certain things when they enter our business and we don't have time for incidentals because a certain thing was not given enough time. The supervisors make sure people are doing what they should be doing and that decisions are being made rationally.
           In order for things to run smoothly, leaders, such as the supervisors or managers need to know how to make rational decisions that are economic, safe, and for the best outcome of the business. For example, this year we are having one of the wettest summers on record; many of our events occur outside and unfortunately we don't have umbrellas for every table. It's an occasion that is sunshine or sunshine, or else we really can't have an event. And as a supervisor, we need to keep track of what is happening with the weather, the employees that are/were suppose to come in, unless it's raining, how much we need to order for Food and Bev., what supplies we need and then to know how quickly turnover will be for dining. It's complicated because you're trying to figure these things out and you have employees who are trying to find out if they should come in or not. It's stressful, because the decision to say, "no you don't have to come in," could comeback and present a problem, because if that weather clears you have to open outside. There is no possible way you can keep an area closed that everyone wants open.
I will post more tomorrow....

New update coming later today. Stay tuned...