4. Order tasks by the amount of effort
5. Be flexible
3. Assessing the value
2. Understand what is urgent and important
1. Know the tasks that are to be completed
If certain tasks on the checklist are going to take time to complete then these should be prioritised first to allow sufficient time to complete them, this could be in addition to doing other parts of your role like serving drinks, cooking food or taking telephone/online reservations. By following instructions for tasks, this will ensure tasks are completed efficiently and correctly, potentially helping to become more efficient and then saving time the next time the task needs to be done. Efficiency doesn’t mean cutting corners, the task may involve using chemicals, wearing protective equipment or getting assistance from another team member. If the correct methods to complete tasks aren’t follow, the end result could be wrong and need to be completed again, which is wasting time and could be an additional cost which isn’t good. Also, accidents are potentially caused when tasks aren’t completed safely and this could lead to serious consequences for the individual or the business. Ensure any questions about tasks or prioritising of tasks are shared with your line manager to minimise risk to individuals and to the business.
This means that if something comes along which takes priority over the task you are doing, e.g. the phone rings, a customer arrives to be served, or supplier arrives with a delivery, then don’t just carry on with the task and ignore whatever is happening as this could have a negative impact on the business, stop what you are doing and take the time to serve the customer or sort out the delivery as this will make sure customers or visitors know they are being prioritised over other things that you are doing.
This will be associated with urgency as urgent tasks for the business could be measured in terms of how much it costs the business or a potential loss of expected income. So, if tasks aren’t completed on time, like placing a order with a supplier by a certain time this could mean the business has to spend money on additional costs in order to put mistakes right or loss of sales due to not being able to sell a product or offer a service.
This may be from a daily to do list like the opening and closing checklist mentioned earlier. This might be a list that is composed at the end of the previous shift, but whatever it is make sure you know what tasks need to be completed.
This means understanding what tasks need to be completed which could lead to serious consequences. This could be documenting fridge/freezer, reheat and cooking temperatures or cleaning food preparation areas correctly at the end of the day. if the business was visited by Environmental Heath and this information wasn’t up to date and tasks incomplete, then this could be very damaging to the business.
