While sitting down to dinner at Park Tavern with my husband recently and watching the dishes arrive at our table, I started to wonder how the symphony was put together in the kitchen. What do they do to make sure all the dishes are prepared, cooked just right, and get everything out in a timely manner – is there synchronization in the kitchen that eliminates duplicate tasks and possible confusion about the progress of each dish?
Believe it or not, there certainly is a hierarchy in the kitchen; yet there is also a clear understanding that each player is equally important. The kitchen brigade, officially known as the Brigade de Cuisine, is based on a military model; it assigns specific tasks to each cook. All team members are involved – all talents and skills are used. A philosophy of divide and conquer allows a well organised team to reach a level of success.
And because I do what I do, I started thinking about how a restaurant kitchen could be compared to a company. So, how do you build this team?
First, one needs to understand that what’s absolutely true in the kitchen is that success is less about the individual talent of cooks and much more about how well everyone plays together in the sandbox. In other words, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This oft quoted phrase, often mis-attributed to Aristotle, defines the modern concept of synergy.
Sounds easy, right? Let’s look at the key ingredients:
-Head Chef: an executive chef, head chef or sous chef is needed to guide the passage of each dish from raw ingredients to plating. A single voice is crucial in timing the assembly of dishes and their sauces, functioning like an orchestral conductor by combining the diverse parts to make a whole. There is no task more important than identifying, selecting, training and building a team ready to win as a collective unit. After all, whether in the kitchen or in business, it is the job of the leader to build the environment for a team to form.
-Know Your Job: a group that follows distinct individual roles performs better than one in which cooks consistently encroach upon each other’s task to lend their advice and expertise. You’ve heard of the saying “too many cooks spoil the broth?” It holds true in business as well: when team members don’t communicate and work at cross purposes, the result is wasted effort. Each member of the team should know their own role and what they need to do. In the kitchen, one person is responsible for prepping vegetables and other sides, another works at the stove, and a third puts the finished plate together. Likewise in business, team members need to make sure there is no duplication and that nothing falls through the cracks.
-Specialist Roles: certain key roles within the kitchen team should be reserved for cooks with specialised training and experience. Although lots of cooks can dice vegetables, it takes special skills to function as a pastry chef. In a business context, you need to make sure you have all the necessary skills on your team to execute your project.
Effective teamwork within the kitchen is crucial to its success; without teamwork, the team is unable to provide effective service, quality food or provide meals in a timely manner. In the kitchen as in business: Teamwork = Success.