Granite City

Role Differentiation

At Granite City we monitored a few different roles being taken.

First was the hostess stand, we identified 3 different hostesses who supported each other in various fashions. One was answering the phone and working the seating chart. The other two were taking turns seating customers. Both of these two people would talk to the customers as they walked to their seats trying to make them feel comfortable. Once they seated them they would go back to the host table and seat some more guests. If there was no one they would walk around and help where needed. We did see one that was washing windows and cleaning tables.

The Wait staff was approximately 12 strong. They were very polite and friendly. They help each other out. One waitress came to our table and informed us she was helping our waitress out and would take our drink orders. Then our waitress came and introduced herself. During the time our waitress was not busy she also assisted other wait staff and help in the prepping area in the kitchen. The wait staff was always active - we had many of them come by to ask if we needed anything. The wait staff seemed to support one another and balance out when certain staff was too busy. We saw many tables get assistance from different wait staff. Their actions indicated they had a great team atmosphere.

In the Kitchen there were 6 cooks. The cooks worked feverously to get things made and prepared for the wait staff. They had one head cook that seemed to give the directions and pull tickets from the printer. He would work back and forth gathering the necessary items needed for each plate. He would inspect the plates before the wait staff would take them. He was assisted by certain wait staff and the managers when things got too busy. The majority of the time he spent visiting with the wait staff and crew.

The Management – We observed two managers on duty. They assisted everyone from the host table to the kitchen. The two managers were hardly ever caught talking to each other. They seemed to work independently from each other. One would work the host table area and assist seating and prepping seating. Then the other would work in kitchen assisting and directing. Many times both were on the floor visiting with customers creating small talk. They were both very friendly to us and even asked what we were doing. There were a couple of times when we saw a manager talking to an employee and then they noticed we were watching and they both left the main room. They would be gone for a few minutes and then come back out. Both employee and manager went back to work like nothing was wrong but we were sure there was some type of conflict. Their teamwork kept the organization running smooth from what we could tell. Customers looked satisfied and left happy. Employees were happy and looked as if they were having fun while working. The managers were the key in making the workforce strong. The wait staff teamwork was dependent on the kitchen staff – if the kitchen was slow then customer would get restless.