This playlist has been curated and endorsed by Learning and Development thought leaders Michelle Ockers, Laura Overton, and Shannon Tipton. It is one of four playlists in this series. Community is a key pillar to help L&D Emerge stronger.

Community in L&D: Emerging Stronger

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Personal development doesn't need to take a lot of time. This collection of book summaries from Blinkist allows you to work on personal development anywhere.

Personal Development - Blinkist Collection

A lot of use Excel as part of our jobs, but many of us don't know all the great things it can do. This short playlist will help you increase your Excel skills, no matter how familiar to you are with the program.

Increase Your Excel Skills

In the current climate, change can be hard, but it's guaranteed. In this playlist, you will learn how to manage stress, build resiliency, and cope with change.

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How do you ensure your time will be spent productively throughout the working week? How do you prioritize the work that will deliver the most impact, and achieve the best results?

In this playlist, we cover the key principles of productivity, and provide practical steps for better time management, task prioritization, and goal-setting to assist you in remaining productive, long term.

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You're busy, and we want to help. That’s why we line you up with your very own Customer Success Manager to enable you to get the most out of the Content Hub. Enable and support you to curate content your learners will love Empower you to create learning initiative to get your people excited about relevant topics Advise and support you to deliver your L&D strategy

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Jamie Mustful

This series covers the customer-facing aspects of the restaurant.

In the restaurant industry, your customers will have high expectations for service and low tolerance for error. They may not notice how hard restaurant employees work to keep things running smoothly, but they are quick to notice any error or delay. The truth is, working in the restaurant industry can tough, but it can also be a rewarding career. This series of courses is designed to prepare you for the opportunity before you. In this program, we'll focus on a few basic questions: What are the different types of restaurants? What are some common restaurant jobs? What is the usual service process? The answers to these questions will introduce you to the inner workings of a restaurant. The rest of the series will build upon this foundation.

Hospitality industry knowledge

Menu Usage

Service orientation

Customer Service

Table Clearing

Menu Planning

Meal preparation

Front of the House: 01. Introduction to Restaurants

There's no denying the power of the first impression. It's the perception that forms within seconds. First impressions are quick to form and tough to change. This is why the role of the host in a restaurant is so important. As the first person the guest encounters during their visit, the host is tasked with making sure their first impression is a good one. In this course, we'll look at the process for welcoming guests to a restaurant. Then, we'll share some tips for exceeding expectations.

Creating a Positive First Impression

Setting up Greetings

Gracious hospitality

Visitor greeting

Communicating with Guests

Hosting skills

Front of the House: 02. Greeting and Seating Guests

If you're a server, you probably don't need to be told of the importance of customer service. It's right there in your job title. You serve customers. To do so successfully, you'll need to understand the basic principles of customer service. That's what we'll cover in this course. We'll discuss what it means to have good people skills, professionalism, the necessary know-how, attentiveness, and flexibility.

Maintaining service mentality

Frontline communication

Improving customer service skills

Telephone skills

Building Customer Connection

Front of the House: 03. Interacting with Guests: Fundamentals

All guests deserve high quality service and, as you know, consistent service is key to turning occasional visitors into regular customers. However, there are some special circumstances that require extra effort. Preparing for these situations in advance will help you react appropriately when they occur. In this course, we'll look at several special circumstances you're bound to encounter. These are: families with children, large groups, and persons with disabilities or health issues.

Handling upset customers

Managing attendees

Front of the House: 04. Interacting with Guests: Special Circumstances

Everyone makes mistakes. It's an unavoidable fact of life. As much as you want to deliver perfect service to each and every customer, there will be times when your efforts fall short. In addition, there will be customers who are just...difficult. Difficult to please, difficult to communicate with, difficult to serve. What's a server to do? In this course, we'll look at tips and tricks for what to do when things go wrong. We're going to do this by examining three common scenarios.

Difficult Conversation Management

Handling difficult questions

Managing difficult people

Handling customer objections

Front of the House: 05. Interacting with Guests: Difficult People

Guests expect you to be an expert on your restaurant. Whether it's your first day, or your 200th day, whether the menu has been overhauled or has been the same for years, you need to know it inside and out. You need to anticipate any possible question they might ask. Having to go ask the kitchen will slow down the service process, and the guests impression of you or the restaurant may go down. In this course, we'll discuss the best ways to get to know the menu: from ingredients to pronunciations, and more.

Understanding Culinary Terms

Table etiquette

Front of the House: 06. Understanding the Menu: What's for Dinner?

The menu is defined as the "list of foods available at a restaurant," but a well-written menu is more than a simple list. Your menu can and should be a persuasive selling tool that sets your restaurant apart. A few extra words and a little more description makes a difference, doesn't it? In this course, we'll look at some best practices for writing menu descriptions. This knowledge can come in handy. Menus are updated frequently and chalkboards that many restaurants use to advertise specials are updated even more often. You could easily be tasked with writing a few descriptions yourself.

Upselling

Crafting effective elevator pitches

Crafting Memorable Openings

Writing Techniques

Front of the House: 07. Understanding the Menu: Writing Menu Descriptions

Most restaurants offer an array of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Water, juices, milk, and soft drinks are relatively easy to understand. Most of us are already familiar with these items. It gets a little more complicated with the alcoholic beverages: wine, beer, and cocktails. Not only are there many, many more of these beverages available, but their higher price point makes ordering the right alcoholic drink a higher priority for guests. The ability to describe and recommend alcoholic beverages is an important component of customer service. In this course, we'll look at the basic characteristics of wine and beer. We'll also introduce some common cocktails.

Identifying glassware types

Wine serving

Beverage service structure

Responsible Service of Alcohol

Glassware handling

Front of the House: 08. Understanding the Menu: What's on Tap?

Depending on the restaurant, servers may have the opportunity to take each guests' order up to three times over the course of a meal. Once for the drink, once for the meal, and sometimes a third time for dessert. Multiply this process by the number of guests a server sees during a shift and...well, that's a lot of orders! In this course, you will learn how to efficiently and effectively transfer the customer's words to the kitchen team.

Order Processing

Front of the House: 09. Serving Guests: Taking Orders

It's a great moment for restaurant guests when they are served their meals. However, this much-anticipated moment can be prone to disaster for a server. Servers need to carry and balance a serving tray. They have to deliver the correct food to the correct person. The food must be plated perfectly. In this course, we'll share some tips and tricks for serving food courteously, efficiently, and professionally.

Plating Techniques

Tray carrying

Front of the House: 10. Serving Guests: Table Service

The timeline for serving a table of guests is tight. In this course, we'll go over the timeline of an entire meal-starting from the moment the guests are seated to when they leave the restaurant. We'll also discuss ways to manage your time wisely when serving in a restaurant, including multitasking and prioritizing tasks.

Efficient Time Management

Timeboxing

Front of the House: 11. Serving Guests: Time Management

All good things must come to an end, even a meal at a restaurant. Although your time with your guests is coming to a close, it's imperative to continue to treat them with respect and courtesy...even as you lay the groundwork for preparing their table for the next round of guests. In this course, we'll look at tips and tricks for clearing the table and closing the sale.

Closing Presentations

Attend Formal Functions

Closing Techniques

Front of the House: 12. Clearing the Table and Closing the Sale

At restaurants in the United States, it's typical to tip. That is, customers usually leave a little extra money for the server when they pay their bill. Sometimes called a gratuity, the "extra" left behind varies widely depending on the customer and how they feel about the service. However, it's usually between 10-20% of the bill, so a customer who owes $20 for their food and drink may leave an extra four dollars for the server as a tip. While four dollars may seem like small change, in truth tips are a big deal for servers. In this course, we'll learn why this is and what your responsibilities are.

Front of the House: 13. Tips for Tipped Employees

Hospitality Industry: Front of the House

Hospitality Industry: Front of the House

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We help you curate your learning.

Title	Duration	Provider
Front of the House: 01. Introduction to Restaurants	9 mins	ej4
Front of the House: 02. Greeting and Seating Guests	7 mins	ej4
Front of the House: 03. Interacting with Guests: Fundamentals	6 mins	ej4
Front of the House: 04. Interacting with Guests: Special Circumstances	9 mins	ej4
Front of the House: 05. Interacting with Guests: Difficult People	7 mins	ej4
Front of the House: 06. Understanding the Menu: What's for Dinner?	8 mins	ej4
Front of the House: 07. Understanding the Menu: Writing Menu Descriptions	7 mins	ej4
Front of the House: 08. Understanding the Menu: What's on Tap?	8 mins	ej4
Front of the House: 09. Serving Guests: Taking Orders	6 mins	ej4
Front of the House: 10. Serving Guests: Table Service	6 mins	ej4