TTAABBLLEESS && TTHHEE SSEEAATTIINNGG AARREEAA::

TTHHEE EESSSSEENNTTIIAALLSS

The following points form ‘The Essentials Checklist’ and will be discussed with you by your

Manager before your first shift working in The Seating Area.

You will be expected to consistently demonstrate these points from your very first shift

onwards - please ask your Manager if you have any questions.

THE ESSENTIALS WHENEVER WORKING IN THE SEATING AREA

1. YOU MUST LOOK APPROACHABLE

Customers may need to ask you for help…

You must look approachable - walk around looking happy

Smile at customers when you make eye contact with them

2. SENSE OF URGENCY

Walk quickly around the seating area and around the café

Walk with a purpose, like you are “late for a bus”!

3. FOUR TABLE RULE

There should never be a total of more than four dirty tables…

Ask for help if you think you need it

4. SANITISER & CLOTH

Take the correct equipment out with you to clear a table

Clean, damp yellow cloth (not too wet)

Bottle of sanitiser spray

5. FRONT OF HOUSE FIRST

Always clean the tables at the front of the café first (the area most visible to passing customers) and gradually work your way back inside

6. CLEARING A TABLE

Take a tray with you from the kitchen

Separate cutlery from crockery & stack like size plates together (max. 4 high)

Organise rubbish, so that it is together on the tray

Put unused sachets together, away from rubbish

7. ORGANISING YOUR SEATING AREA

Your seating area must look organised…

Neatly and quietly tuck cleaned chairs under tables

Check that the floor around the table is clean – come back immediately with a

brush if not

8. SPILLAGES

Our café must be safe for both Team & customers

If you see a spillage, DO NOT leave it unattended

Ask a Team Mate to bring a mop or some blue roll & wet floor sign(s) and dry it

completely

9. CUTLERY COUNTER

Whenever you walk past the cutlery counter, check it… Never let it run out

10. TRAYS

Check the customer trays regularly - you must not let them run out

11. FEEDBACK

If you receive a customer complaint or query, tell your Manager immediately – do

not wait until later

TH

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TIA

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FFUUNNDDAAMMEENNTTAALL SSTTAANNDDAARRDDSS

It is crucial that the seating area looks immaculate at all times…

There should never be more than a total of four dirty tables

The chairs around the tables should be organised and each table should

have the correct number of chairs around it

The floor should be perfectly clean - no crumbs, rubbish or spillages

The surroundings, such as plant pots, should be clean

The music should be playing, at a sensible volume

The seating area is our shop window; a messy seating area will make

passers by less likely to visit

A well organised seating area will add quality and value to our

customers’ visits and will provide them with an excellent environment in

which to eat and drink

Keep your eyes and ears open!

Look out for things which you would/would not like to see as a customer

and address them

Never leave a table until it is perfectly arranged for the next customer

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YYOOUU WWIILLLL NNEEEEDD……

You will need…

A clean yellow cloth

A dustpan and brush

A clean tray

A bottle of sanitiser

Sense of urgency

Big smile!

Remember that we aim to deliver a fantastic customer experience – be

bright and enthusiastic whilst clearing tables and engage in conversation

with the customers where possible

Strike up some small talk, for example “Isn’t the weather lovely today!?”

Be helpful and friendly and help your teammates to provide the best café

experience in town!

Use a clean yellow cloth for table clearing – if the cloth is dirty, the table

will be too!

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FFRROONNTT OOFF HHOOUUSSEE FFIIRRSSTT

When clearing tables, head straight to the area most visible to passing

members of the public – this is known as the ‘front of house’

Begin clearing the tables here and work your way back inside

The front of house is the area most visible to passing members of the

public

It is the first impression of Boswells and so this area promotes our café

to potential customers – if it is messy and disorganised, they are unlikely

to visit us

Maintain a smile and a cheerful demeanour – it will make passing

customers more likely to visit!

As you’re clearing, make sure the customers are happy…

“Is everything okay with your meals today, ladies!?”

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CCLLEEAANN && CCLLEEAARR

Neatly stack the dirty crockery onto the tray, separating cutlery and

unused sachets of sauce, sugar etc. from rubbish

Spray your yellow cloth with two squirts of sanitiser and use it to wipe

the table clean… don’t forget the edges of the tables

Wipe any crumbs and rubbish into your hand, not onto the floor or

chairs

If your branch has an outside seating area, replace any dirty ashtrays

with clean ones – put the dirty ashtray on the tray ready to take to the

kitchen

Look out for large amounts of food left on people’s plates – there may have

been a problem with it without us realising. If you notice this, please show

your Duty Manager immediately.

Being organised and separating unused sachets of sauce, sugar etc. from

rubbish properly will minimise the amount of unnecessary wastage from

unused sachets and make it easier for the person washing up

Ensure your yellow cloth is not too wet before you wipe the table – it will

take too long to dry and may mean a customer sits at a wet table

Separate any unused

sachets / napkins /

condiments from

rubbish.

Don’t stack cups – they

will not fit into the tray

racks

Stack plates of the same

size but don’t stack

anything too high – they

will end up getting

broken!

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KKEEEEPP TTAABBLLEESS && CCHHAAIIRRSS OORRGGAANNIISSEEDD

Tuck all chairs back into the table

Ensure the table has the correct number of chairs around it and the

right type of chair

Check that all of the chairs are clean and that sofas and tub chairs do

not have crumbs in the creases or between cushions

If a highchair has been used by the customer, clean it thoroughly using

sanitiser and a clean cloth, then return it to the place where it is usually

kept in your branch (check this with your Manager)

When you clear a table, check that it is not wobbly. The table may need to be

moved slightly or may need the feet tightening – please check with your

Manager. Never ‘wedge’ the feet of the table with paper/card etc. to stop it

wobbling… it looks awful!

Organised furniture helps our café to look inviting to passing members

of the public

When organising chairs, pick the chairs up if you need to move them –

the noise from dragging them can spoil the relaxed atmosphere

If there are any double tables in your branch (two tables pushed together

to make one larger table) then ensure the edges where the tables meet

are clean… this is often missed!

Pay particular attention to the sides of highchairs – there is often food

that is hard to remove in this area. You need to make sure you clean this

thoroughly

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TTAAKKEE TTHHEE TTRRAAYY

Once everything is neatly on the tray and the chairs are organised & clean, take

the tray to the tray clearing station or the nearest tray rack (whichever your

branch uses)…

For crockery trolleys:

Tip any leftover drink into the designated bucket and scrape any

rubbish into the bin

Load the dirty crockery into the relevant compartment of the trolley

– ask your Manager to demonstrate this

For tray racks:

Carefully slide the tray into a free space

Mugs and glasses go on the top compartment of the tray rack

Ensure the tray is not stacked too full… is there room to safely slide

the next tray in?

Don’t let the tray racks or crockery trolley get too full – take them to the

kitchen on a regular basis. This prevents breakages and stops us running

out of clean crockery/cutlery

When scraping rubbish into the bin, be careful not to discard

cutlery by accident…

Pay special attention to kids lunch boxes. These often contain a

teaspoon, so check before you bin!

Nothing is stacked

too high – there is

enough room to

safely slide the next

tray in.

Dirty mugs and

glasses are kept

separate as they

are too big to

slide into the

tray rack.

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CCHHEECCKK TTHHEE FFLLOOOORR

If there are crumbs / rubbish under or around the table you’re clearing,

take the tray first and then hurry back to the table with a dustpan and

brush

Sweep the crumbs and clear any rubbish – the floor of the seating area

should look immaculate

In addition to this, check the entire floor area constantly and sweep any

crumbs / rubbish you find

Check the table base whilst you are checking the floor – this may need a

quick wipe (with a separate cloth!)

SPILLAGES

Spillages are DANGEROUS

Clean & dry ALL spillages as soon as they happen

Never leaver a spillage unattended – call a team mate if you find one

and ask them to bring a mop/blue paper and wet floor signs, then dry it

Always put a wet floor sign up, even once you think the spillage is dry

(there may still be a slippery patch that you cannot see)

Be vigilant for spillages and constantly check for them

Report any leaks to your Manager immediately once any slippery

patches are cleaned up and wet floor signs are in place

It is not just the table clearing that is important, the surrounding area is

too… imagine sitting at a table with rubbish and crumbs underneath it.

What kind of impression does this send out to our customers?

Be careful not to make too much noise when sweeping – the handle of

the brush can sometimes hit the dustpan and make unnecessary noise,

spoiling the relaxed atmosphere

It can often be quicker to pick up debris or large crumbs from the floor

rather than making the journey to collect a dustpan

Once you’ve finished sweeping, empty the contents of the dustpan into

the bin – this helps to keep our cleaning equipment clean!

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FFOOUURR TTAABBLLEE RRUULLEE

Repeat this process, starting from the front of house first and working

your way back inside

There should never be a total of more than four dirty tables in the

seating area at any one time

ONLY A FOOL BREAKS THE FOUR TABLE RULE!

Ask for help immediately if this is not the case

The seating area is our shop window; a messy seating area will make

passers by less likely to visit

If there are a few dirty tables and you are worried you may break the four

table rule, consolidate the dirty tables onto one, wiping the tables and

organising the chairs as you go. Then, take the trays to the tray rack /

crockery trolley

Look out for people who have finished eating and offer to take

any empty plates and dirty crockery away – use a tray and ensure they

are comfortable with you doing so. They can stay for as long as they’d

like to once they have finished their food, but it is a nice touch to take

any dirty/used crockery away!

o This can help keep your tables clear – when you do not have many

dirty tables, spend some time doing this… it will also save you

time later

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AANNTTIICCIIPPAATTEE && BBEE AAWWAARREE

Being in the seating area the most, you have the best opportunity to

acknowledge a customer query, request, complaint or compliment.

Look out for customers that need help…

Disabled customers that cannot join the usual queue

Customers who seem unhappy with their order – maybe you have

overheard them talking or notice that they do not look happy

Customers that you see have been waiting for a food order for longer

than usual – a key indicator is their table number and how long it’s

there for

Regular customers sometimes have preferred places to sit; sometimes

they will clear a dirty table to be able to sit in their preferred spot. If

you see someone doing this, offer to wipe their table and help them to

clear it

All of these customers should be served in line with the customer service

module – a friendly, “no problem” attitude is required to make their

experience unbeatable.

Keep your eyes open and think –

WHAT DOES THE CUSTOMER NEED?...

DON’T WAIT FOR THEM TO ASK!

Many issues can be solved by yourself, with a friendly and “no problem”

attitude – customers appreciate this!

New Team Members with limited experience are not likely to be able to

resolve customer complaints and queries themselves and should not be

afraid to refer them to a Manager or Supervisor – just make sure you

tell the customer what you’re doing.

For advise on dealing with complaints, please refer to ‘The Customer Service

Standards’ training module – all Team Members should be familiar with this.

Always feed back any problems and customer comments (good or bad!)

to the Duty Manager… it’s nice to know we have impressed our

customers and we also need to know how we can improve

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TTOOIILLEETT CCHHEECCKKSS

When the seating area is organised and tidy

It is your responsibility to carry out the toilet checks, along with the

person washing up

These must be completed formally every hour, and the toilet cleaning

log signed

You should

Check that the toilets have enough toilet paper and soap, and restock if

necessary

Replace the bin bags if necessary

Ensure the toilet bowl, seat, sink and general area is clean and

organised

Remove any rubbish from the floor

Bleach the toilet and spray air freshener if appropriate

Clean and shine the mirror, hand dryer and any metallic surfaces if

necessary

Sign the toilet cleaning log once this has been completed

The toilets are part of the café experience; to ensure that this is the best

in town and achieve our vision, we must ensure a high standard is

maintained, 100% of the time

The wall under the hand dryer can get particularly dirty – check this

regularly

Just because the toilet checks must be checked officially every hour, it

doesn’t mean you can’t check them more often. If you have a spare 30

seconds, have a look to see if they are okay – this will improve the

customer experience

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CCUUTTLLEERRYY CCOOUUNNTTEERR

The cutlery counter is where cutlery, sugar and salt & pepper are kept. Most

customers will need something from the cutlery counter and as you can

imagine, it runs low quickly.

Team members clearing tables will walk past the cutlery counter the

most

We must keep it well stocked and make sure the cutlery in it is clean

and polished

If cutlery is running low, go straight into the washing up area and tell

your teammate washing up

o Ensure some is on its way - bring some more out if it is already

polished, or polish some ready if your teammate is busy

We don’t want our customers to have to tell us about a shortage in the

cutlery counter – this is embarrassing and stops the café running

smoothly

We work hard to provide a fantastic customer experience – small things

like running out of teaspoons will tarnish it

Checking as you go and anticipating what you need before it runs out will

relieve pressure on the team, adding to our ‘top teamwork’ value… You

will be walking past the cutlery counter anyway – checking it requires no

extra work

Keep your eyes open and don’t be a ‘robot’! Make sure you are alert and

are checking as you walk past

Don’t fill the sugars too full – as people grab them they will begin looking

messy and the cutlery counter will require extra attention

If you are topping the cutlery up, always check the sugars – tidy and

restock them if necessary whilst you are there

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OOTTHHEERR DDUUTTIIEESS

In quiet periods and when you and your Managers are happy that the seating

area is in excellent condition, help your teammates…

If food is ready to be taken to a customer, offer to take it

o Read the food order first and ensure you have the right food for

the right table – ask if you are unsure

o Be polite and friendly when running food and remember to

anticipate the customer’s needs, for example…

“Good morning! Here’s your toasted teacake, Madam! Do you need a

knife for your butter?”

o Remember to bring the table number back with you if the

customer has all of the food they ordered

If a teammate is washing up, ask if there’s anything you can do to help

Carry out weekly cleaning duties; you can ask your manager what needs

doing if you are unsure

Helping deliver food helps your teammates and also improves the

waiting time on food orders, adding value to the customer experience

Helping wash up is again good teamwork and means we are less likely to

run out of crockery / cutlery, hence improving the customer experience

Don’t wait to be asked, but offer to do these extra duties… it shows that

you are willing to go the extra mile for your teammates and the

customers

Communicate these extra duties with your Manager and let them know

where you shall be if they need to find you