Working at the Bar

Continuing with my "I don't learn anything unless I actually do it" theme, I spent a few hours inside the bar, doing drinks and understanding the flow.

Key thoughts:
1. The workflow is good for one person.  It gets a bit messy with two people, need to communicate on who is doing what drink for which table.  Since there is no "expo" for the drinks, then it's up to bartenders to manage.

2. There was a lack of drinks runners today. Could have been due to a bigger than expected sale for Tuesday, but there were a few times that drinks were waiting at the bar for a few minutes.  Not sure if it is worth having a drinks runner all the time, but having two in the bar helps, even if it is for 2 hours.

3. The workflow for getting the items was quite good.  I didn't have to reach too far to get my drink components.  I am a bit confused where I should be placing the drink we preparing, will have to ask Rod.  I felt I was putting the starting drink everywhere.

4. A lot of times it is about muscle memory.  Hence part time bartenders will never be as efficient, because they are not there enough.  A lot of the part timers we have want to work at the bar, but will never get that good, cause they are not there enough.  Same for me, I'm sure I am very slow.

5. Writing down some drinks to get into memory:
a. Strawberry Sunset: 3 oz apple juice, 1 oz strawberry puree, 1 oz mango, 1/2 oz syrup, 1 scoop crushed ice.
b. Margarita: salt rim, 1 1/2 oz tequila, 3/4 oz bols, 1 oz margarita mix, 1 lime wedge juice, 2 scoop normal ice in blender.  Blend till smooth.
c. Mango Lime Lassi: 3 oz mango puree, 1 oz syrup, 1 oz lime cordial, 1 lime wedge cut, 1 tsp yogurt, 1 scoop crushed ice in blender
d. Virgin Apple Mojito: 2 scoop raw sugar, 6 mint leaves, 1 1/2 oz apple syrup, 3 lime wedges, muddled, crush ice.

Learings 2014 02 09

What did I learn today?

I learned (from a book) that a lot of commentary on China comes from the people in Western countries with an intent to influence their own countries. That in China the fiscal management by the government was really not that great.  If anything, it is impressive the amount of improvement that has occured even with government intervention.  It speaks of the resourcefulness and skill of the entrepreneurs in China.  And that ultimately, China is diverse (if not more so) than any other country, purely because there are just more people there, people with opinions and wants and needs.

That what I say to my staff about my partners, I probably need to internalise myself, and speak up about it.  Slowly, I think I am lifting my own veil and getting a better understanding of the people around me.

That I need to provide and ask for clarity for every action.  It makes it easier to hold people accountable.

That I need to continuously prune the systems that we have in order for it to be most effective.  I need to employ Gall's law more often, don't make a system any more complex than it has to be in order to achieve a stated goal.  When the goal difficulty increase (as it always will in a business), only then should the system increase in complexity.

That I need to start building more things to do OUTSIDE of the business in order to keep my balance and to keep energetic INSIDE the business.