How to Use the Power of Checklists to Improve Your Restaurant's Consistency and Efficiency

Do you remember the major news headline from two weeks ago? With the constant flow of information, in addition to running an independent restaurant, you probably can't remember. You're not alone.

Research has shown that not only do the best of us sometimes forget, we usually do. The Ebbinghaus "curve of forgetting" indicated that after 19 minutes only 58 percent of what we've learned is retained; after one day it's only 34 percent, after six days 25 percent and after 31 days only 21 percent.

In the hubbub of a busy restaurant, with many, many moving parts, it is easy to overlook little items. Consider everything that goes through a new server's head as he or she approaches a table of six diners. Water. Bread service. Remembering the daily specials. The list goes on. But if the server forgets to bring soupspoons and the diners wait patiently as their bisque cools, it could hurt the entire experience and be a reason not to return. It is a small error, yes; but one that could be avoided with some kind of prompt.