Mission: Possible

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If you don’t know where you’re going, you probably won’t wind up there. Before you can build a team environment in your restaurant, you must first decide on the team mission – where do you want it to go? What do you want it to do? By defining a clear team mission, you show employees their place in the big picture. And by outlining goals to help them achieve the team mission, you give them something to shoot for together.

Mission Statements for Restaurants

Mission statements for restaurants are unique. To determine yours, start by answering the question, “What are you in business for?” Well, let’s be honest … it’s to make money. While everyone wants to believe they’re in business to provide a product or service that guests need and want, there isn’t a restaurant on the planet that isn’t in it for financial gain. So your restaurant’s mission is to be profitable. How do you do that? Easy – maintain a top performing team that provides guests with quality products and exceptional service.

Once you have your broad company mission, use that to define a mission — or purpose — for each team. A team without a common purpose will wander from task to task despite the best team-building efforts. A team mission should have a “pie-in-the-sky” quality — something they’ll continue to strive for every day.

Turning Challenges into Goals

Missions fail when restaurants can’t overcome challenges. You may already know what some of those challenges will be, but your employees can likely identify even more. Ask for their help in defining the problems that keep your restaurant from achieving its mission. What specific hurdles keep profitability low and prevent customers from coming back? Inefficient procedures, staffing issues, inconsistent quality, or poor vendor relations are just a few examples.

With your obstacles identified, you can create specific goals that pave the way toward mission success. Remember, mission statements for restaurants should focus on both serving your customers and getting team buy-in. After all, without those two groups of people, your mission is meaningless.