Restaurant managers can never win a popularity contest when they have to be the bearer of bad news about who has to work the holidays! But you can prepare his mind for the upcoming stresses.

Talk to your team a few days before the holidays to prepare the mindset. This exercise will ensure more success than failure during the heavy traffic of holiday dinners. The special day will not feel like a holiday for your staff, but more like a demanding and stressful day at work. The right attitude will make time go more smoothly for everyone who works, so look at expectations and help them understand these key factors of holiday dining. Remind them that the holiday dinner crowd is not like the average dinner crowd. Holiday diners come in two main categories; 1) Planned meals and 2) Unplanned dinners.

CATEGORY ONE: Planned Dining – These are the guests who planned to be at your restaurant because:

1. They are loyal fans of food and atmosphere, and can count on another great dining experience.
2. Its restaurant offers special holiday meals and seasonal delicacies at a bargain price
3. Have the dinner party agreed to meet there as part of their established tradition, or are they starting a new tradition.
4. Empty nesters who live too far from family and don’t want to cook a big meal will go out to dinner during the holidays.
5. Someone who has no one to spend the holidays with and plans to eat alone at a restaurant and expects some person-to-person contact to make the day special.
6. The holiday is not part of someone’s culture, so they eat out just because they want to.

CATEGORY TWO: Unplanned Dinner – Something went wrong at the last minute so they needed to go to your restaurant because:

1. His home-cooked dinner was a disaster.
3. It’s the first vacation without a loved one and they are trying to “get over it”
4. They are traveling unexpectedly and have a slight panic between destinations because many places are closed for holidays.
5. There was a family breakup and someone had to leave the house to eat somewhere else.

Knowing these two types of dining groups will help the team adapt accordingly and better meet the needs of each guest.

Also explain these ideas:

1. One thing is certain: Diners understand that working on vacation is taking you away from your personal vacation plans. They appreciate your efforts. The highest gifts are often the result of acknowledging these guests.
2. You are becoming part of their permanent vacation memory; perhaps you are part of a family tradition. That should feel like an honor to be involved. Do your best not to think about what you’re missing by working over the holidays, but rather soak up every moment you’re working on because it’s a big part of your guests’ holiday dinner.
3. If diners started off with a bad day, you can be someone who is there to brighten their day. And at the other end of that spectrum, make a conscious decision that you will never be the person to darken someone’s bright day; if they are having a good day, your goal is to help continue the pattern of the great day they are experiencing. Spread happiness.
4. When guests arrive in large family groups, tensions can run high due to the dynamics of that family. Bring a smile to the table every round. If orders get confused due to your complex personal preferences deviating from the set menu, take a deep breath and smile. That will help tense guests smile back at you, and your focus will be sharper since negativity isn’t blurring your concentration.
5. Parents of moody children will be very grateful if you can offer something to ease the mood. What you offer should be at no additional cost to parents. These free offerings could include another paper placemat for coloring, talking directly to the kids to make them feel “grown up,” maybe even giving them a small paper bag the size of a lunch, and quickly showing them how they can make a puppet out of it. . Children’s busy hands and minds invite imagination and structure. The wonderful byproduct of this is that adults can have fun on a higher level, and grateful parents will always remember their kindness and patience during hectic times. They can even name you their hero! Guests at neighboring tables will also appreciate your kindness which contributed to a more peaceful dining experience!
6. The best thing about working on vacation is that vacations have an end time! It’s not forever! Your body may ache more than usual, your brain may feel like it has been overworked for a day, and your energy level may be at an all-time low. But that’s okay! The work is physically challenging, mentally stimulating, and emotionally rewarding!

A final word to restaurant managers: remember that you are also a part of your workers’ vacation memories! Read these tips again with a focus on how you can translate them into ways you can interact with your employees throughout the day. You are all in this together; And together everyone can have a great working holiday!