A fixed daily meeting that turns individuals into a team and transmits culture.
Will Guidara's framework, from Unreasonable Hospitality, pp. 60 to 78.
Make it mandatory and on time
Start at the same times every day and finish in exactly thirty minutes, with the leader running it at first.
Housekeeping
Start with practical announcements such as insurance deadlines.
A riff on inspiration
Share a story from another company or a service experience elsewhere to inspire the team.
Information transfer
Give written line-up notes and let the kitchen and wine director present new items.
Explain the why and celebrate wins
Speak to the spirit of the culture and publicly acknowledge people who are crushing it.
Call and response
Open with a greeting and close with Have a good service and Oui.
From chapter: Chapter 7: Setting Expectations, pp. 60–78
Eleven Madison Park’s first mission is to be the four-star restaurant for the next generation, but the restaurant Guidara joins is split between an old guard and a fine-dining squad, disorganised and overbooked. He listens first, sitting down with every team member, finds hidden talent (a food runner who becomes a head expediter), and sets clear, private, unemotional feedback with public praise and a Made Nice Award. His main lever is a mandatory daily thirty-minute pre-meal meeting on a fixed template. He cuts what servers must learn, tests them fortnightly on a fair test, and gives a first-day style speech only once the team is talking to one another.
