Recently a co-worker and I went out to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants for lunch. I was really looking forward to it because we hadn’t been there in a long time and their food is very fresh and authentic. When we arrived it was crowded and once we placed our order there was only one small table left to sit at. As I sat down I noticed how messy the floor was around us and as the other customers finished their tables were not being cleaned up, something was wrong. As we waited, which was longer than usual, a waitress came up carrying two plates of food and was trying to find who it belonged to, she found the happy owners who had been waiting much longer than we had. She finally brought my co-workers food and after about another 5 minutes of not getting mine I stated to my co-worker, “look around us, the place is dirty, people are not getting their orders and it looks like just two women in the back trying to do everything themselves, they must be very short-handed today.” He totally agreed and we continued to watch as the two women were trying to do their best. I was beginning to think I was going back to work hungry, when one of the women came out from the kitchen and I was able to mention my order was missing. She immediately went to the kitchen and brought it out. I could tell after I took the first bite that it had been sitting there for a long time, it was cold and not quite the correct order, but at this point I was hungry and I did feel bad for them. Being an office manager I know how stressful it can be when you are short-handed. When we finally got up to leave, I wish I could have taken a picture of the place as every table was dirty and food was on the floor, not a very inviting picture.
As the afternoon went on I kept reflecting on this lunch scene and wondered If our office ever looked that chaotic when we were short-handed, I certainly hoped not. But how can we make sure that we do not look chaotic when we are short-handed? There are four important steps you can take to streamline things to get everyone through the crunch with less stress and a better outcome for all. (1). Be up front with your customers/patients. Let them know right away if you are running a bit behind or if there will be any delay at all. I certainly think this would have help the ladies in the restaurant today, if they would have told us that they were short-handed and out food might take a bit longer we at least would have had more understanding. (2) Once you have asked your customers/patients to be patient, remember to thank them for doing so. By acknowledging them and how they were willing to work with you and help relieve some stress it will make them happy they did so and you appreciated it. (3) All staff members move into “frontline” mode, leaving work that can be caught up on later for later and focusing on the here and now that needs to be done in order to serve your customers/patients in an efficient way. (4) Celebrate and reward yourselves for a job well done when the day is over. When times like this happen in the office it actually causes team members to grow closer as we serve each other while we serve our customers/patients. Working together during stressful times creates a bond and once you get though it you know that the next time you will be able to do it even better. Oh yeah, there is a (5) Smile and laugh, because life it too short not too and situations like these will continue to happen every now and again and we just need to work though them and get to the other side.
“You will find a joy in overcoming obstacles” ~ Helen Keller
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