Hit 100 covers on a Tuesday night and it finally clicked

I've been doing saute for about 3 years now and last Tuesday we hit exactly 100 covers by 8pm. It wasn't even a holiday or anything special, just a random night in March. But something about that number made me realize I've been moving wrong this whole time. I was zigzagging across the station instead of setting up my pans in a line from left to right. That one change saved me about 15 steps per ticket. Has anyone else had a random shift where a small habit change made that big of a difference?

3 comments

3 Comments

max_brown1mo ago

Did you rearrange mid-shift or wait until the next day to try it?

sagecooper1mo ago

Yeah I remember reading about this somewhere. Some manager said they always did it overnight because customers get so weird about seeing stuff moved around. They had a whole system where they'd take photos first then move everything after close. Said it took some getting used to but employees liked it better than trying to reorganize while people are grabbing stuff off the shelves. Plus you avoid those awkward moments where someone asks where something is and you have to explain its in a completely different aisle now.

ryanm601mo ago

The "wait until the next day" part. My buddy Jake did that once. He finished his shift, went home, couldn't sleep. Kept staring at the ceiling thinking about the layout. Came back at 6am before anyone else showed up. Moved a whole gondola and three endcaps by himself. Took him like two hours. Said his back hurt for a week but the flow was way better.