Bartending Inside-Out: Quick Tips on Teamwork that Makes the Bar Work
Bartenders and wait staff must work as a team to provide professional and timely customer service. Bartenders or cocktail servers cannot be effective at their jobs without the full support and positive attitudes to those they work with.
Here are some quick tips on making the bar work effectively:
1. Think ahead when you set up your bar.
Good setup is the sign of a good bartender. Slow down and/or shut off any borderline customers before your shift is over, no matter how well they have been tipping you! Nothing is worse than beginning a shift with a bar full of over served customers.
✔Have enough fruit cut for the day/night shift.
✔Fill all the straw and napkin caddies.
✔Check and stock backup juices, liquor, and beer.
✔Count, and verify, your cash drawer.
✔Always carry your own pens and wine opener.
2. Always do your share of work.
Teamwork is a number one necessity—always do your share of work.
There is more to the job than making drinks and collecting tips. Common sense should (but doesn’t always) dictate the following—
Never leave a juice container empty or without enough left in it to make another drink. Refill it now.
Never put back an empty bottle or one with just a few drops remaining. Pour it off into the drink and replace the bottle immediately.
Whenever you take the last one or notice something is running low, do something about it! Replenish and replace as you go.
When working a busy bar with multiple wells, be a team player. When you refill your juices, fruit, or ice, check the other wells and refill them at the same time.
3. Know when to step up and when to step back.
When you work behind a bar with other bartenders, you are sure to find an interesting mix of personalities. Whenever possible, use these different personalities to directly match bartenders with customers.
For example, when a group of regular customers or friends of one bartender come in, let that bartender wait on them. They will make you and the house more money. When a group of rowdy customers comes in, find the bartender who is best suited to diplomatically control this type of customer. When a group of young-looking customers arrives, have the bartender best at checking I.D. 's take charge.
Teamwork means knowing when to step up and when to step back — don’t let your ego get in the way of your pocketbook.
4. Communicate with your relief bartender.
Needless to say, communication is always an essential ingredient in making things work. Make sure to communicate with your relief bartender and relate all important information about any customers or situations that may need to be monitored.
✔Collect on or transfer any open tabs.
✔Introduce your relief to your customers. This will notify your customers that your shift is through and will help you collect any intended tips. It will also allow your relief to continue any rapport that you’ve established with your customers.
✔Keep a log book behind the bar. This is a great way to communicate between shifts.
5. Be the Bartender that you’d like to follow.
Each bartender must do his part in keeping a clean, well-stocked bar. Do your best to make the shift change smooth and complete. Don’t leave your mess for the next bartender unless you plan on leaving behind the tips you made while creating it.
There is no better way to begin a shift than by finding it properly stocked: ice bins filled, clean, hot water in the sinks and fresh coffee on the burners.
Always keep your bar happy and healthy because your bar is a direct reflection of your bartending abilities.
