A Day in the Life of a Manager Shadowing Report

A Day in the Life of a ManagerShadowing Report

Presented by Dallas Andrakulic, Brian Cook and Alex Laduc

On November 29th

Principles of Management

Tim Haak General Manager of Olive GardenTim Haak is the general manager of Olive Garden on Military Rd. in Niagara FallsHe graduated from Nazareth College with a Bachelors degree in design but after working the hospitality/restaurant industry for over 30 years it ending up becoming his way of lifeHaaks Background In the Restaurant IndustryWorked at Red Robin in his teenage yearsManager of Starbucks from 2008-2012 Currently with Olive Garden after leaving Starbucks in 2012

Olive Gardens Background

Is an Italian restaurant that belongs to the Darden Family of RestaurantsIn 1982, it joined the Darden restaurant familyIts a full service restaurant with a main focus on sharing a meal together. Olive Garden has over 800 locations. Mostly in the United States but some all over the world.The restaurant chain accounts for $3.8 billion dollars of revenue in the Daren Family of RestaurantsAnd they continue to grow.

Observation and Interview Results

Strengths and Weakness

What do you believe to be your personal strengths as a manager?

He believes his strengths are:

Being financially responsible, with a high profit

He is makes and organizes the schedules so the company can make a profit.

Showing a key strength with the ability to organize.

Learning about Yourself and CommunicationWhat about weaknesses or anything you have to work on?

He believes his weaknesses are:

His anger (which he mentioned he is working on)

Being interpersonal at times with employees

Showing a key strength of increases his soft skills and communication

Managing Yourself to Get Things Done

In your opinion, would you consider the Front of house or Back of house more stressful to manage?

He believes the FOH is more stressful because theres a lot more moving parts

He believe poor staffing and unpredicted business is stressful

Showing that you need to know how to deal with stress

Problem Solving and Being EthicalHow would you handle a problem within your restaurant management team?How do you handle a problem within your staff?

First to diagnosing the problem

Become an effective team, even if not friends

If necessary having to provide disciplinary actions

Shows example of Problem-Solving Basis model

Motivation, Coaching and Building RelationshipsHow do you motivate management staff?

He sets goals

Addresses what they should work on (feedback)

Gives back during the holiday through gifts

Shows example of using soft power approach and goal setting theory

Conflicts

What do you do to keep yourself calm when dealing with an upset restaurant patron?

listen apologize empathize make sure they know you are being sincere

Shows example of using the Accommodating Style of handling conflicts

Managing Personal and Organizational Change

What is the most difficult part of your job?

the management team changesHe has to adapt quicklyLearning to become a team with new crew membersTim uses appreciative inquiry to turn the negative into a positive.

Shows example of using the use of setting a positive framework

Interview ResultsHis strength is making money by managing the expenses and organizingHis weakness is that he needs to control his anger if something happensFront house is more stressful for a manager in his opinionTim believes in problem solving by first diagnose the situationTim motivates the staff by setting goals, providing feedback and giving back during holidays through giftsHe says the way he deals with a conflict is that you need to listen, apologize, empathize, and make sure they know you are being sincereBecause he works for so long in the restaurant industry, his family is used to the hours he makes but he never takes work homeThe hardest part of his job is to quickly adapt to new managers in the team

Conclusion and Key Points We Took from this exerciseIt was a Great learning opportunity:Learned that managing costs time and effortTreating people equally is highly importantKnowing your strengths and weaknesses is very usefulKeep lines of communication open and clearProviding feedback and both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards help motivate staffThat you have to be able to deal with changes in the organization You must have setting goals skills and know what ways to properly enforce them

His and Our Final Last Words

managing is being a conductor of an orchestra

Tim Haak - 2016

Question that we asked TimWhat are your thoughts on Darden, anything they do particularly well or not so much?What training did you have to go through to become a general manager?Did you have to attend any management workshops to become a GM?What do you do on an average day?Who is your superior and how does communication work with anyone higher up?How do you handle stressful situations? What do you do to keep yourself calm when dealing with an upset restaurant patron?How would you handle a problem within your restaurant management team?How do you handle a problem within your staff?Do the hours of work affect your personal life? Such as family time?How would you describe your management style?What is the most difficult part of your job?What is the most rewarding part of your job?How do you motivate management staff?How do you motivate the other employees?In your opinion, would you consider the Front of house or Back of house more stressful to manage?What do you believe to be your personal strengths as a manager?What about weaknesses or anything you should work on?Do you know your personality typology? Examples; Extraverted/Introverted, Sensing/intuition, Thinking/Feeling, Judging/Perceiving.If so how do you use it to your advantage?What advice would you give to a new manager?What do you look for when hiring a new manager?What personal values do you bring to your day to day work life?What goals do you have for your future, around 5 years?

Images Cited

Linkedin,. Photo Of Tim Haak. 2016. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.Olive garden,. Olive Garden's Famous Breadsticks. 2016. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.Olive Garden,. Olive Garden's Salad And Breadsticks. 2016. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.Olive Garden,. Olive Garden's Statement. 2016. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.South- Western CENGAGE Learning,. Building Management Skills Front Cover. 2016. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.

References

[Olive Garden's Famous Special]. Retrieved from http://www.olivegarden.com/homeDaft,R.L., & Marcic,D. (2014). Building management skills: An action-first approach. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Darden Investor Presentation. (2016). Retrieved from https://s2.q4cdn.com/922937207/files/doc_presentations/2016/FY16-Second-Quarter-Investor-Presentation.pdfInformation | About Us | Olive Garden Italian Restaurant. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.olivegarden.com/about-usOlive Garden | Our Brands | Darden Restaurants. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://darden.com/restaurants/olive-garden

His and Our Final Last Words

managing is being a conductor of an orchestra

Tim Haak - 2016