My Management Style is Not the Same as Yours.

Assuming makes an ass of you, yeah just you. I'm not going to go into naming anyone throughout this post because that would simply be rude. HOWEVER, there has been places where I have worked where the Manager on Duty (MOD) is not really on duty. This might mean that they leave the establishment without informing anyone, they might lock themselves in the office making them unavailable, or they are not interested in interacting with the guests or his team either. This can be difficult for the employees and other staff on shift. Given a scenario where they need a manager number to void something and the manager has not been available, it cuts into creating the guests experience and could go as far as a negative review on Yelp. Yikes. Am I going to feel bad about it towards the establishment? Not one bit. Why? Simply because I, at that point have done everything in my power to solve the problem.

Now don't get me wrong, where I work now is not where these issues tend to rise. Of the four managers I worked for at this first establishment I easily respect all four but three of them really stand out. These three are the ones to go out of their way to help their employees and stand as a great support system as well as role models as far as management goes. The other manager, I cannot say the same. In my personal opinion when a manager walks away from learning something new especially if it is a program that the restaurant, I mean establishment, utilizes then they should be willing to learn whereas some just walk away.

I use to manage a restaurant back in the summer of 2018 when I lived in Michigan, and as much as I wish I would have stepped in just a bit more than I did, I still took the time to create my own management style. I decided to take advantage of the training I was provided. I studied the menus on and off the clock for both lunch and dinner as well as our bar menu and even went as far as editing what needed to change or for what would make more sense from the guest's point of view. I also took the time to learn each strength and weakness of my employees, I earned their respect as a new face, as a new figure of authority; their manager. They were comfortable enough to come to me if there were any concerns or if they needed help. I made myself available, learned the POS system, volunteered to serve as the marketer for the restaurant, and I could tell you by taking one look at the schedule how our day was going to go because of who was scheduled to work with who.

I was 20 years old and a sophomore in college.

They asked for me to come back. Why? Because I listened, I put in noticeable effort to do my best, and I earned their respect from both the big boss, and the employees there. Some may disagree with my style of managing and yes I have met those people and I can tell our styles will clash because I either worked for those managers or I have observed the way those managers work. As for other experiences, I may have been thrown into a supervisor position. For example; Arby's. I will gladly talk about that. I happened to be 17 years old. In Michigan, as well as the rest of the United States I am considered a minor at that age. I was not even allowed to use the fryers as it was a hazard and frowned upon to use as a minor. I walked in for my morning shift as usual with Biggby coffee in one hand and what could more than likely have been six shots of espresso in the other, early shifts ya know? Any who, my supervisor... let's call her Emma, she would always joke around with me and tell me I'm running shift. I laughed it off this particular and went about my prep and cleaning duties getting ready to open the lobby. Now the other two co-workers there were at least 20 years old and in training to move up to management. I was just an innocent high schooler trying to make money.

The time is nearing 10A which is when we opened for business and with it being a Sunday morning we were due for our typical post-church rush. Two of the four of them there very much loathed each other and bumped heads any chance they got. Fun right? Wrong. Emma was not kidding when she told me I was running shift and started asking questions about why stuff that the MOD does on a day to day basis was not in fact completed. I don't know about you but my best guess would be because I was one, a minor, two, not trained, and three was simply because it was not my job, I was a cashier. Being who I am though I stepped up, sent one of my co-workers on break and regretted not sending the other on break because Emma and her went at each other. Yelling, crying, and locking each other out because the door in the back was not to be "unlocked" unless there was a delivery. While they were going at it, I had our first few guests coming in. I was taking orders and could hear them yelling in the back. I walked back there to ask Emma if she can start making these sandwiches since the next employee was due for her morning break. I got no response since they were too busy yelling at one another so I raised my voice. I asked them politely to stop simply because the guests did not want to hear them arguing and honestly neither did I. I told Emma to come to the backline so we can get the sandwiches made and I told the other to go to her car while on break.

As a personal effort to be positive and not use a demeaning tone with anyone, I felt guilty. I have never once raised my voice to anyone higher than I am in a position or to anyone I have worked with. These co-workers did not even expect me to do so. I tried to stay positive until the guests were gone. Once they were gone I took the high road and I went back there to apologize. That did not get me out of leading the shift but it did clear the air about why Emma threw me on shift lead without warning or training. Long story short Emma and my GM got into an argument and the phrase that came out of my GM's mouth was, "Maddy can do a better job leading the shift than you could" and it became a challenge between the two of them. You bet I took that literally and showed them that I can problem solve, adapt, and lead. The shift was a success however I did not feel like I was prepared enough and that was not fair to me.

I started out this post by stating: Assuming makes an ass of you, yeah just you. Because of my past situations and the most current situation. I veered off the topic to explain my thought process about it all but to bring it around, the MOD I had while working at Devil's Thumb Ranch and Resort, the fourth manager we have here assumed I was not doing my job today and that really got to me. All I do is give 110% and I was not respected. I have been one of the only employees there that has stayed for the entirety of my shift unless I was cut early. I do not ask to go home before the end of my shift, I look for things to do while we are slow, and I am the first to step up if a task needs to be completed or if another co-worker needs help with anything at all. We were on a take-out only basis due to restrictions COVID restrictions during that time, and the second day of this the same manager looked at me, told me I could handle it and sent everyone else home. I basically ran FOH just as a host and by myself, this individual was nowhere to be found. On a separate occasion, that same individual also decided to take an order then call my name from across the dining room and asked me to take the order and send it to the kitchen. The best part about it is that once I got to the host stand, this MOD walked away instead of staying to learn how to use the program and input an order. If you are the director, you should know how to use the programs your restaurants use, right? Yeah.

So to sum it all up; sometimes you have to go with the flow and other times you have to understand where the MOD is coming from. But it is okay to have your own way of doing things, be ready for some honest comments but take it and shape your style to accommodate said problems so they don't arise in the future.