Train your team to make every dining experience special.
Sometimes it’s the secret sauce that makes meals special. Your special ingredient is a well-trained team ready to drive home excellence and make the dining experience special.
You have established an inviting dining room with well-set tables. The next step is service excellence through guest interactions that create a relaxed, caring environment. It takes training and awareness built around several areas.
Know the five basics
Great food won’t overcome a bad guest experience. Make every setting desirable, whether serving residents of a senior living community, patients in a care setting, or those who are visiting or working in these spaces. These five basics make it a positive experience:
- Look at me.
- Smile at me.
- Greet me.
- Listen to me.
- Thank me.
Understand the Menu
People will have questions, so menu familiarity is important. To ensure a good experience:
- Taste the food with your team before meal service.
- Be able to explain daily features as well as the everyday offerings.
- Know how the food was prepared.
- Know the portion sizes served.
- Know where you can find nutrition and allergy information.
Practice teamwork
Working together is key to an optimal experience. Make sure team members are aware how their actions impact others:
- Be on time and complete your share of work.
- Watch for team members who are overwhelmed or running behind.
- Always communicate and assist other team members if you are not busy.
- Call on nursing or support staff, where available.
- Leave opinions aside during your shift.
Keep communication professional
Talking with teammates is part of service excellence. There are clear rules about communicating on the dining room floor:
- Avoid personal conversations with other team members while helping guests.
- Excuse yourself from the guest if a need arises to converse with another team member.
- Never interrupt another team member when they are helping a guest.
- Never discuss guests in front of other guests.
- Never shout/talk across the dining room to each other.
English 
French 
