Tom O’Dea: Ham House Catering Assistant

Introduction

I currently work at the incredibly popular café at National Trust’s Ham House. Due to its popularity, the café can often become a very hectic and busy work environment. This has given me invaluable

experience in working hard as both a team member/leader and how to work under intense time pressure and stress, while keeping a smile on my face for the customers.

Throughout my time at Ham House, I feel that I have gained and now truly appreciate a nonstop work ethic. There is always something that needs to be done. As a result I have learned many important skillsets, a few examples include the ability to prioritise, organise and multitask.

Here are a few examples of the positions and duty’s that I’m required to work on an average busy day. Throughout the day I will either stick to one position or swap if team members need help or if a priority situation arises.

Front of house:

Till:

When working the till I also become the main staff member in charge of quickly and effectively confirming that everything with the customer’s order is correct. Due to our cafes poor layout, we serve all food to the customer at the till rather than deliveries to tables which can easily lead to quite a lot of stress and could quickly get out of control. This means I have to decipher what the customer has ordered/amend orders if they made mistakes or changed their mind (a majority of our customers are elderly). I also need to relay messages to the staff member on drinks while simultaneously making sure that all the food reaches the correct customers in a timely fashion. The till machine itself is also poorly organised and the card machine is also slow. This requires me to show a lot of charisma and positivity to customers who may be frustrated with the waiting time. I attempt to keep all the customers happy with humour and kindness and keep them unaware of the hard work of my colleagues. In additions if there are complaints or urgent needs of customers I attempt to solve them.

Drinks:

The staff member on drinks has to make hundreds of coffees and teas for the customers as fast as possible. I often don’t take this position as I’m not as quick as the other team members. I recognise my own weakness in that area, which is why I try to find another position to assist with and leave that role to someone more effective.

Serving food & taking orders:

The third role on the front is to take the food orders. This requires a lot of presence and volume so that we can get the full and correct order from our customers to the kitchen staff. The customers often won’t give the full food & drink order without patience and prompting. This is essential if the front is going to run smoothly. I personally bring in my own notepads for whoevers on drinks; so that I can write down the drinks order in a clear list to reduce overwhelming them. This position also requires us to quickly get to the kitchen and yell the food order. Depending on the skill level of whoevers in the kitchen we have situations where the chef doesn’t reply or even ignores our calls.

Tom O’Dea: Ham House Catering Assistant

Due to these experiences I am very prepared to make sure that difficult staff members understand the order and check that they will bring out the correct meal. If this doesn’t happen then the hardworking till/drinks team will suffer, this is an example of how I will not let any hardworking team mates struggle if I can assist them & that I will always try to get the most out of the other colleagues who aren’t as good, or at least supervise them and confirm success.

Pot wash & Kitchen:

Pot wash:

In the pot wash, I need to sort, wash, dry and redistribute huge amounts of cutlery, dishes and pots quickly; otherwise the cafe grinds to a halt. We run out of everything fast, which means there isn’t a second to rest. Other staff members often slack when working in the pot wash, but for me, when the machine is mid-washing that is when I go out and gather trays so that we can try and keep a constant flow of the reusable equipment. I also often need to prioritise what to wash depending on whatever screams I have heard on what is dangerously low (aka plates, glasses, tea spoons, cups).

Delivery:

On certain days when deliveries arrive (typically always at peak times), I am tasked with double checking long lists of items to make sure the driver hasn't forgotten anything. I then have to carry the heavy delivery's containing food and drink to the correct storerooms.

Kitchen:

I have also worked in the kitchen where I quickly prepared food such as jacket potatoes, soups and stews. At the end of the day I restock everything and help clean the Cafe, preparing it for the next day. On some occasions the National Trust host fancy night events, where I have gained some experience as a Waiter.

Bank Holidays:

On the busiest of occasions such as a bank holiday, the staff and I have to serve ques that stretch out the door with new customers constantly adding to the line. It's an incredibly hectic and can be unrelenting for hours. I have gained experience in perseverance and learned how to organise and lead necessary teamwork of my small staff group in order to deal with the que. I also know how to politely interact and deal with rude customers.

Closing:

At the end of the shift it is everyone’s job to clean up and close the café. This involves sweeping up two big rooms plus the kitchen & pot wash, finish pot washing everything, cleaning the coffee machines, cling filming food, restocking the big fridge, taking out the bins and mopping.

On a few occasions where the manager and supervisor were busy or unavailable to work, I have been selected with the supervisor position. All of that is an average day at the Ham House Café. I have worked through many long hours and now truly appreciate what it’s like to dig deep and persevere to the end of a tough day and being proud of putting out the working best performance I possibly could.