After successfully implementing our operations platform for many of the most admired restaurant operators in the world, we’ve learned a few things about how to improve the roll-out of your new technology investment. Along the way, we’ve also discovered common pitfalls and mistakes that can bog down your progress.
Most of the people you work with hate surprises. A technology solution often affects the entire enterprise in one way or another - a new operations platform definitely will.
While the end result will ultimately benefit the whole operation, be proactive and inform people early so there are no bombshells and hard feelings. Try to regularly include updates on the implementation's progress using your company’s existing communications such as the corporate email newsletter -- and yes, Zoom calls.
Rolling out an all-new POS system, starting a remodeling plan and tackling other broad corporate efforts all at the same time can be a recipe for disaster. Be practical and avoid biting off more than your teams can chew. Each new project deserves the time and attention to detail it was originally intended to receive.
If there's one positive impact the pandemic had on many restaurant businesses, it was that it afforded some extra time to reflect on improvement.
This is a great chance to fix bad corporate-wide habits and improve operational processes through technology tools. For example, evaluating food storage locations may make sense while you're creating new inventory counting processes.
Implementing enterprise software across all your restaurants is a big job, and it touches almost everyone.
Choose a smart and responsible team captain who can drive the implementation process. Your captain should have a dedicated crew, budget and a go-to executive sponsor that can be tapped for additional help if needed.
If you’re implementing a new restaurant back office solution, understand that it will integrate with many other important operations systems, like your POS, HR/payroll, accounting and product suppliers. These legacy systems contain much of the data regarding how your business runs today. Changing such things as your broad-liner, menu items and recipes at the start of a new technology implementation can slow down the project dramatically.
In summary, the major keys to running strong implementations are technology projects that feature laser-focused, dedicated teams who are supported from the top down by executives who are invested in seeing the project succeed. When that happens, technology investments tend to pay off in short order.
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Reach out to us, let's talk more about your BOH technology pain-points.
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