The Benefit of Team Reporting

With the right approach, weekly team reports can be an efficient method for the Bar Manager to communicate with the team regularly. Team reports can be useful because it gives the Bar Manager the opportunity to follow up with the team on their performance from last week, remind them of the collective objectives and direct their focus for the coming week.

Whenever the team is performing well, it is important that the Bar Manager follows up with the team to show the actual effects of their good work! The team needs to know when they are doing a good job or else why would they continue to work hard, if they are not informed about the impact which their good work has on the performance of the store? Likewise, the team also needs to know when improvement is required to reach a certain goal.

The core purpose for sending weekly reports to the team should always be to inform them; “where are we at and what needs to be done going forward?” When it is done correctly, sending out an informative report to the team each week can be an effective leadership tool for continually optimizing store performance.

The ’12 football matches per year’

To better understand the purpose of weekly team reporting, is by understanding how JOE & THE JUICE evaluate our overall performance as a company. We use many different KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) weekly to track how well our stores are operating such as Index, Productivity, and Waste.

When determining the overall performance of any store, we always look at 2 key periods which are; the results of the entire month and the entire year. For financial purposes, we always evaluate the month because then all costs including rent, bills, and salary have been book-kept. Meaning once we close the month, we then have the full picture of how well the store has performed because all costs have been accounted for.

Although the Bar Manager’s performance is never measured on store costs related to the rent, bills, and salary, it is still important for the Bar Manager to understand that it is the monthly performance of the store which matters most. This is because their own performance as Bar Manager is measured directly on the store’s monthly performance with regards to Waste, Turnover, Index, and Productivity.

Therefore, we use weekly KPIs as indicators for which direction the store is heading. Meaning, we use these numbers to monitor whether we are on track to reach our goals and if not, we still have time to redirect our focus and recover from a poor start so we are not surprised at the end of the month. So, considering the differences between weekly, monthly, and yearly store performance, the fundamental purpose for weekly reporting can now be better understood.

An interesting way to approach weekly reporting can be to associate the performance of the store for 1 year, with an entire football season with 12 matches to play. Meaning each month is 1 football match and each week is 1 quarter of a game. The full month reflects the final result of the game played. So, when considering how Weekly Team Reporting can fit into the bigger picture. Each week provides the Bar Manager with the opportunity to change his/her tactics with the team, depending on the result after each quarter.

Using this analogy, the Bar Manager is therefore the football coach. Just like with most sports that have either halftime or quarter breaks, we can use each week as an indicator of which direction our performance is heading before the end of the month and the final result. Therefore, each week is an opportunity for the Bar Manager to improve the team performance and ensure a positive final result at the end of the month using weekly reports as a tool to follow up, direct, and motivate the team.

12 Football Matches in a season = 1 YEAR.
The final result of each match = 1 MONTH.
There are 4 Quarters to each game = 1 WEEK.

Whether you are 1-0 up or 0-1 down, you have the chance to change tactics
and give a team talk in the changing room = TEAM REPORT.

HOW TO REPORT TO THE TEAM
Depending on the country you work in, the country management team can decide differently upon which KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) the Bar Manager receives each week. Generally, most Bar Managers receive a weekly report informing them about their store performance regarding Turnover, Index, Optimal Hours, and Waste. Most of these typical KPIs are normally reported to the Bar Manager as percentages or general numbers which Juicers will not be able to relate to.

With that in mind, what is most critical for the Bar Manager to understand with team reporting, is that the entire effect of any report depends entirely on how the Bar Manager communicates the information about store performance to the team. So, depending on how the Bar Manager approaches making team reports, they can either be a very effective or completely ineffective tool. Meaning, when making a weekly report, the Bar Manager’s number 1 task is to communicate to the team in a simplified way so that everything which needs focus is clearly understood by every Juicer.

The number one rule is to always translate everything into eCampus related goals.

Example of a bad report

It is of no use reporting to the team that Index is not good enough so we need to raise it 5% this week. What does 5% even look like to a Juicer? Instead, when making a team report, the approach from the Bar Manager should be to look at the numbers, analyze what the situation is, compare the progression made from last week and then look for ways to translate the important information into clear operational goals for the Juicers.

EVERY KPI NEEDS TO BE TRANSLATED INTO E-CAMPUS TRAINING.

Example of a good report

* This example is quite an extensive version of a Bar Manager report but it is only to provide many different examples of how you can report to the team on different areas.

Team Report guidelines

The difference between an effective and ineffective team report should now hopefully be more obvious. Therefore, the following set of guidelines will help you to create your own good example of a team report.

1) Start positive before negative;

• Always start with positive feedback regarding any good performance and progress made. This will motivate the Juicers to keep going with their good work.

• The report should end with the more negative feedback for them to remember what is needed to be improved on during the week ahead.

2) Always Follow Up from last week;

• Explain in the report how the team has made progress from last week with the KPIs. Are we doing a good job, improving or declining?

3) Show the effects that the team’s work has on the store performance.

• By clearly showing to the team that; “the better queue handling all Saturday with 2onTill the whole day increased the turnover by 5.000DKK” this makes the consequence more real to the team and improves their understanding of the impact their work has.

4) What is our position overall?

• Inform the team where they currently are in the overall table of performance, “we are 1st, or moving up the table”…etc. This will create a more competitive edge for the team to then want to further improve and reach the Number 1 Spot!

5) Create motivation for the team;

• By promoting the overall goal “to be the best bar in JOE!” = this motivates the team to follow each goal week to week.

• Informing the team of any incentives such as; “increasing Productivity during slower hours will create more people working on shift” can also motivate them to work towards a goal because it will benefit the team.

6) Set Clear Goals;

• Always set operational goals for the week, not KPI goals. So instead “raise Index 5%” can translate into; “2onTill during the lunch rush, check the Customer Area after completing all orders and sell 20 Loyalty Cards each day”.

• Make the goals clear so there are no misunderstandings such as; “Sell 20 Loyalty Cards target each day” or “16:00 – 20:00 is the ideal time of day to try upselling coffee”.

7) Waste Reporting;

With waste, always be aware of how you report information to the Juicers because you want to avoid pushing down the product quality from the team.

• Rather than pushing Juicers on waste numbers such as the average sandwich cost, instead focus the communication towards training, IMS, and Product Manual.

• Missing Bread pieces, cups, and milkshake usage are good numbers to use in a report because they are clear references to what needs to be done better.

• Reporting on FIFO, structures, and stock-flow can also be effective because they are clear operational goals for the Juicers to understand.

• In general, always reference the Product Manual and specific ingredients in the report such as; “Do the team use enough ice in the shakes or the wrong amount of avocado?”

• Whenever setting goals to improve the waste, the Bar Manager will also need to include in the report a plan for re-training certain Juicers in product making such as; “demonstrating how much tuna mousse or using the correct IMS”.

8) Plan for the week;

• Finally, always inform the team of the plan for the week and your intentions with training, following up, and what you will be assessing while they work. This will help the team to better know what to expect and what to do.

Sum Up Weekly Team Reports

Following up each week can have a big impact on the overall monthly store performance. Use the Weekly Team Reports as a tool for keeping momentum across the team and reminding them to stay on track. Associate each month as 1 football match and have the mind-set of each week is a quarter of the game, which is the opportunity to improve the team performance and ensure a positive final result.

When making a team report, the approach should be to look at the numbers, analyze what the situation is, compare the progression made from last week, and then look for ways to translate the important information into clear operational goals for the Juicers. Every KPI needs to be translated into eCampus training.
So, the number one rule is to always translate everything into e-Campus related goals.

Below is a list of e-Campus module references and initiatives to use for making Weekly Team Reports;

WASTE

• Product Manual
• Product Manual Test
• Sandwich Making Module
• Juice Making Module
• Coffee Making Module
• FIFO
• Type in Culture
• Waste on the List INDEX

TURNOVER & PRODUCTIVITY

• 2onTill
• Loyalty Cards to sell each day
• Set Daily Turnover Goals – look at turnover from the same day last year on WorkPlanner.
• Customer Area Focus
• XonTill
• XonShift
• KTQ
• Team Positioning Systems
• Daily Workflow
• Shiftchange
• The Book of Brand Principles
• Flairing
• Brand Behaviour
• Nutrition
• JOE History
• Coffee Advanced
• Juicer Attitude
• How to Deflate a Situation

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