Keeping your restaurant staff engaged and motivated can be a challenge, especially during busy shifts or repetitive tasks. One effective way to maintain morale, enhance teamwork, and even improve service quality is by incorporating fun and competitive server games into your restaurant. These activities not only help your servers develop essential skills, but they also foster a sense of camaraderie and make work more enjoyable.
In this blog we’ll take a look at why server games for restaurants are useful, some popular server games and how to implement them in your restaurant.
Why Restaurant Server Games Are Important
Restaurant server games serve as a midway point between training and company bonding. They allow your servers to get competitive while also training their own skills and, ultimately, benefit the restaurant and the servers in the process.
Boosting Morale and Reducing Stress
Server games are, at the end of the day, games. Because of this, they’re a great way to keep people engaged with the work, less stressed, and, ultimately, happier. And in this industry, happiness is what we want — especially our servers. But morale isn’t the only point of restaurant server games, they’re actually great as a form of bonding.
Encouraging Teamwork and Communication
Servers tend to be competitive; it’s just the way they are. And that, is something that you can lean on. Encourage your servers to get competitive (notably, not mean); whether it’s done for bragging rights or an actual prize, encourage your servers to get into the competition. This, in turn, can lead to increased teamwork and communication — assuming you incorporate some team-based games to the mix, of course.
Increasing Engagement and Productivity
Beyond communication and morale, restaurant server games can help increase productivity by a pretty wide margin. This is for two reasons: first and foremost, server games are, realistically, training made fun. Because of this, no matter how well they do in the games, your staff will be building tangible skills that will help them in the industry.
The other main point of server games is to get your staff engaged in the work around them. While these games can help them get more familiar with the menu and drinks, it’s more about empowering them to feel and act their best. Give them a win or two, and you’ll find that they’re more competent, confident, and engaged with their day-to-day — and that’s a major win!
Fun and Easy Restaurant Server Games to Try
Below, you’ll find a collection of relatively simple (and fun) restaurant server games. While you certainly don’t have to play or use these games, they can serve as a great foundation for building your own server games.
Speedy Order Relay
This server game for restaurants is an excellent way to help your servers build their skills with mentally processing orders, writing speed, and order accuracy. The rules are simple; each server must take the same order, delivered at high speed by a manager, and accurately input it into your POS. The fastest time with the most accurate entry wins!
Menu Memory Match
This server game is great for building menu knowledge, so save it for the next time you introduce a new menu. Have a manager ask vague questions about the menu to each server (e.g., Which dishes have fish? Can you tell me what to avoid if I’m allergic to garlic?) and get servers to answer the questions. The twist? They can’t reference the menu.
Beverage Pouring Accuracy
This game is great for all FOH, but it’s specifically wonderful for bartenders and servers who pour drinks tableside. Have each server pour water into a marked glass to a specific line. This will help them practice pouring quickly and accurately.
Table Setting Challenge
Table setting is something that will vary from restaurant to restaurant, so this is a great way to train new FOH on table settings. Simply have each server set a table for two, four, and eight, and time them. The fastest and most accurate server wins!
Trivia Time
This server game for restaurants is another great option for training, as it can help build knowledge about the restaurant, building, and menu. In short, build a set of questions that will test servers on their knowledge about the history of the restaurant, its chef, menu, and anything else that you can think of. Whoever gets the most right wins!
Competitive Games to Inspire Friendly Competition
As mentioned above, competition is a great way to encourage your servers to improve while keeping things fun.
Order Accuracy Race
Similar to the speed order relay above, this game will test your servers’ abilities to take orders at speed, place them (also at speed), and return to their tables. Time each server’s order and create a bracket system of winners. Each continuing level adds modifications like children at the table, allergies, or indecisive guests.
Table Service Time Trials
Set up trays with carefully plated food and full drinks and… let your servers loose. Run it like a relay, with each competitor needing to run to a table that’s named as they get the trays and return to the pass. Time them and, once again, start a bracket.
Beverage Balancing Challenge
Ever wonder how many drinks you can carry? This is the time to find out. Fill up a platter with as many glasses as you can (safely), and get your servers to run the gamut through your lobby. If you want to get extra spicy with it, have managers in the lobby to move tables and chairs as they compete.
Games for Training and Skill Development
These games are intended to help you train new employees.
The Perfect Upsell Game
Have a manager try to order as cheaply as possible and get each server to try to upsell them. It really is that simple. The higher your manager’s final “bill,” the more points you get. This helps build menu knowledge as well as helping to empower your employees to upsell.
New Menu Item Guessing Game
Have your chef plate up three new entrees (when launching a new menu, of course) and get servers to blindly taste test them. The one with the most accurate guess for ingredients, preparation, and name wins!
Role Playing Scenarios for Customer Service
This one is a classic, and for good reason. Whether you opt to roleplay a pesky, picky guest, or the nicest, sweetest old granny in the world is up to you — but make sure you stay in character. Ultimately, this game is simple; you pick a character and do your best to harass and bug your server. The more friendly and accommodating they are, the better!
Wine and Food Pairing Challenges
Once again, have your chef plate up a few (small) snacks. Next, pour a few glasses of wine. Now, ask your servers to match each glass to a plate and rate their choice. Be sure to give feedback and constructive criticism, though, or this won’t help build their knowledge of pairings.
How to Implement Server Games in Your Restaurant
With our examples out of the way, let’s briefly talk about how to actually implement these server games for restaurants.
Setting Clear Rules and Rewards
The first thing you should do is set clear rules, especially if trying to encourage a bit of competition. Make it clear that each person is competing on a level playing field and, importantly, also make it clear that these games aren’t about winning or losing, but about learning.
Next, we need to set a clear reward. You can go as low as bragging rights, of course, but most people will be encouraged by something more concrete. Whether that boils down to money, time off, or the first pick as early off for some time, that’s up to you — but offer up something that’s worth the effort they’ll be putting into these server games.
Encouraging Participation Without Pressure
Participation will always be more enthusiastic when it’s done with consent. As such, it’s incredibly important not to force your servers into things with which they’re not comfortable. If they don’t feel comfortable with relays, races, or role-playing, don’t make them do it. That will only build resentment and, importantly, will ultimately defeat the entire purpose of the games!
We’re here to build our skills and bond as a team over these server games, so don’t make people feel forced.
Rotating Games to Keep Things Fresh
Finally, keep in mind that these games can easily get old if you do them too often. Because of this, we’ve found that keeping a fresh rotation is generally best; it allows the servers to try new things and allows you to regularly run the most popular games for training, team bonding, and more.
One great way to easily keep the rotation going is to bring up new games as the menu changes. Whether you do tasting games for specials or new drinks is up to you, but try to bring these games about when there’s something new to learn. It’ll help keep your servers engaged and, crucially, will ensure that they’re learning new and valuable skills.
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