We recently came across a timely article on the CFO website: “Think of Digital Transformation as Modular and Nimble.” CFO is “the leading media brand in the United States catering to influential finance executives who collectively control trillions of spend annually,” and it’s true that MeazureUp’s users are not usually working with trillions of dollars. However, many of their points address the recent “chaos” happening across the restaurant industry – and how to survive it.
You may be aware that digital transformation is in the process of sweeping through nearly every industry, sometimes improving processes and revenues, but other times leaving underwhelming results in its wake. Today’s challenge for many restaurants is understanding how to transform digitally in the most efficient way.
New technologies within the restaurant sector are everywhere these days. Chains that are using these new innovations seem to be doing pretty well – but there are so many innovations to choose from. How do you decide which tech improvement should be your first, or next?
Let’s see what CFO recommends…
“Legacy” vs. “Cloud”
When rating the pandemic’s lessons, the value of remote work is surely in the top five. Today’s trend is away from “legacy” systems that are stuck on one location and toward “cloud” data systems that allow information to flow back and forth through a widely dispersed, Internet-based “cloud” network.
Even restaurant administrative work can be performed anytime from anywhere – if you have the right tech in place. Have you thought about which of your operational processes could be done digitally in each location and uploaded to your network, rather than trying to document processes locally and then having to find a way to get that documentation to your central operations team?
“Modular” vs. “Comprehensive”
These are fancy terms that boil down to “Take what you can use immediately and leave the rest for later.” In other words, prioritize your operational needs: What sort of digital tool could help your restaurant chain the most, at this minute? And can you get just the part you need, rather than having to invest in some intricate system you really can’t optimize right away?
Getting Clear
CFO recommends the following steps for developing a vision and strategy for updating any operational technology:
- Start from the end: Clearly articulate your business’ vision of the result you want from your new tech tool.
- Once the vision is agreed upon, set clear priorities and tactics that will get you there. Start with the highest priority that is also easiest to implement, and plan to expand from there.
That idea of “easiest to implement” is important for a couple of reasons:
- Using specific tech tools to reach very specific objectives and goals forces every team to focus on the most relevant activities and outcomes. As CFO put it, “Teams learn from early wins, build confidence, and increase their probability of success for follow-on projects.”
- Using tools in a modular, “just what you need” way also delivers results more quickly, which develops momentum: “Putting points on the board early is a sure way to gain the trust of peers, top executives, and the board.”
Prioritizing Action
So what are CFO’s examples of the most actionable goals? As it turns out, some priorities are important to most businesses today regardless of industry or size. Just shout out if any of these would benefit your restaurant operations:
- Use real-time data to drive revenue.
- Streamline data to make quicker operational decisions.
- Identify cost reduction opportunities to save money.
- Reduce manual work to reduce errors.
- Improve analytics to deliver better insights.
- Onboard new employees faster and more efficiently for a better customer experience.
So which one or two of these would most benefit your restaurant operations, and the most quickly?
What if just one tool could deliver on all of these priorities, no matter the order in which you pursue them?
MeazureUp Inspires Transformation
The article states that “a successful digital transformation starts at the ground level,” while adding tools incrementally reduces both risk and investment overhead. This is exactly why MeazureUp was created for the restaurant industry.
- Our digital, mobile, cloud-based tool can be used by anyone in your organization with a smart device, from anywhere and at any time, no matter their role. It is designed to collect data and legally document actions taken during every shift in every location, so it’s truly ground level.
- Our tool is designed in increments for either daily data gathering or for audit support and documentation – or both. Each module works seamlessly with the other.
- In addition, MeazureUp can be customized to digitally store your employee onboarding and training information, so every best practice, how-to video, and step-by-step instruction is at hand whenever your employees need them.
MeazureUp replaces all the paper checklist and documentation functions in your restaurant with an easy to use app. As employees swipe and tap their way to completed checklists, all results are time- and date-stamped, geotagged, and uploaded into the app dashboard in real time. This opens up a clear window into restaurant operations that anyone can reference from anywhere. Temp checks? MeazureUp accesses and records data from smart thermometers. Line checks? Just look at the photos your employees uploaded minutes ago.
Because each action is recorded into the cloud, there’s no duplication of effort: no copying, transcribing or filing, which also means a drastic reduction in errors. And because all the data is kept secure and available in the cloud, it’s a matter of minutes to complete and distribute performance reports as needed, going back as far as your history with MeazureUp.
Finally, the app includes robust data analysis tools that will help uncover trends, either within locations or across multiple locations. Your entire organization has access to timely, objective information that can be used to improve subpar practices, establish retraining needs, recognize best practices, make fact-based strategic decisions, develop a consistent customer experience, and more.
Not only is the tech aspect of MeazureUp dazzling, so is the human aspect. The MeazureUp team customizes the app for your business’ specific needs (not to mention how customers continue to rate MeazureUp with 5-star reviews on the leading tech review site, Capterra).
For more information about how MeazureUp can transform your restaurant operations and help your bottom line, visit https://meazureup.com/restaurant-checklist-app/.
