Let’s face it: restaurant staff often care less about when they work than who is on the schedule with them. I remember the days so clearly when I was setting up for a big weekend in the summer at The Bridge Tender on Wrightsville Beach NC. Rolling silverware, loading up the bread warmers and making TONS of sweet tea. The phone at the hostess stand would ring and I would hustle out of the kitchen to grab it. Maybe it was a last minute party of 20 that I could add to my section ($$)…or maybe it was Alec Baldwin calling to let me know he and Kim Bassinger were coming in (yes, he did that. I waited on them 1/2 dozen times I bet). In fact – I even had to sing Happy Birthday to Kim’s father one time with 6 other waiters while she stared at us. Yes, seriously. It was awful.

Sorry, anyway, so the phone call was hardly ever Alec, sometimes a last minute reservation – but more often than not an employee wanting to know who was managing tomorrow night or who they were closing with. Both of these would often a spark a shift trade – especially on weekends when getting out of the restaurant ASAP and going to Red Dogs was very very important. I definitely remember some very lazy guys who were terrible at cleaning up and closing with them was a nightmare. Combine that with a closing manager who is nit picky and wants everything spotless – and you can forget going out after work. By the way, this was such a problem with 60+ young staff that calling the restaurant for this kind of stuff was forbidden. So guess what? People would drive over just to see who else was working with them tomorrow night. Crazy, really?

The point here is that knowing who your working with is often as important as when your working. Schedulefly makes is easy to see when your friends (or those you might want to avoid) are working…

http://screenr.com/Content/assets/screenr_1116090935.swf

Keepin’ It Simple & Fun,

Wes @ Schedulefly