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BWW Leaders Manage Teams Through Coronavirus Challenge
BWW LEADERS MANAGE BWW LEADERS MANAGE TEAMS THROUGH CORONAVIRUS TEAMS THROUGH CORONAVIRUS CHALLENGE CHALLENGE
In the six months since the calendar turned from 2019 to 2020, the world has experienced unprecedented change. The novel coronavirus pandemic disrupted economies and social institutions across the world on a scale that was unimaginable at the dawn of the new year.
For the restaurant industry, the challenges – and pains – of COVID-19 have been especially acute. Orders to close dining rooms and socially distance were meant to slow the spread of the virus, but a side effect was the complete upheaval of industry operations. For quick-serve restaurants, where much of the business is conducted by drive-thru, the effects were not as severe as they were for fast-casual concepts, many of which had no easy means to quickly switch to serving customers suddenly not allowed or simply afraid to walk through their doors.
At Buffalo Wild Wings®, the formula of food plus drink plus sports is meant to bring people together in the sports bar for extended periods of time. It’s a great business plan. Unfortunately, according to community health experts, it also creates an environment conducive to the spread of COVID-19. The upheaval wrought by the virus left BWW® managers scrambling to adopt new ways to provide food to customers and to prepare for a raft of new operating procedures designed to keep team members and customers safe as dining rooms were allowed to reopen.
The weeks after the pandemic’s arrival were filled with challenges. The experience was “ever changing. Each hour, day and week there were changes that were made to both provide
by Sean Ireland
a safer environment for our guests and to execute takeout on a much higher level,” said Anthony Bourne, director of marketing and development for Montana-based Anderson Management Group and its seven BWW locations. “I personally had to become more flexible. Each day brought a new challenge, and we all had to adapt to that.”
For Juan Feliciano, area director for Four M Franchising, based in New York, the changes the coronavirus brought to the restaurant industry provided company managers with an opportunity to look at operations through a new lens. “At first we really dug in and assisted in hourly positions. This allowed us to see our operations from the view of our teams, almost like they do on the TV show, ‘Undercover Boss,’” he said. “It was pretty interesting to see the trials and tribulations [our team members] go through each day. To put ourselves in their viewpoint gave us a new perspective in execution and standards.”
That viewpoint was an important consideration as those managers led implementation of the new health and safety guidelines and operations procedures needed – and, in many cases, required – for restaurant dining rooms to reopen. Knowing that significant changes were coming, keeping team members top of mind was an important step toward easing the anxieties they faced and getting buy-in as they returned to work.
“A lot of policies and procedures were implemented from
state and/or local regulations. It is also fair to say we had to create several of our own out of necessity,” Bourne said.
Among the steps taken by the Anderson Management Group were the development of a reporting system that requires employees to verify before beginning a shift that they are not ill and the use of new cleaning products effective against the virus at tables between guest visits and on various high touch-point areas throughout the day. Of course, spacing for takeout and dine-in seating operations also had to be rearranged so socialdistancing standards were kept.
“We created systems from a tracking sheet for our illness policy, brought in floor decals to help guests see spacing standards, posted cleaning requirements for our team and tracked their performance,” Bourne said. “Each day it became very important to get our team together to review any changes and the expectations for the day.”
In addition to the new safety procedures, the company added delivery services to its arsenal and began using technology that helped guests maintain social distancing when they came to the restaurant to pick up food. “We decided to bring delivery services into each of our markets as well as a new wait-list app for our team out front. Having an app that allows guests to wait in their cars became essential early on,” Bourne added. “Having the ability to deliver in each market really gave us the increase in sales that we needed.”
Four M Franchising likewise had new procedures to develop, model and then require team members to adopt and practice. “Frequent handwashing has gone to an exponential version,” Feliciano said. “Wearing protective masks during shifts and high touch-point adherence were procedures that also went to an elevated level. Discussing these with our teams and going over them daily were very important to get this going in the right direction. Store visits included leading by example to help create the practices.” Feliciano noted the importance of contributions from Buffalo Wild Wings and Inspire Brands to help Four M Franchising set a steady course. “In a time of uncertainty and not knowing apples from oranges with different information, it was important to have some level of consistent information. Thanks to Inspire Brands and our own leadership, we were able to drive home one message,” he said.
Employees have responded well to that message. Honest, open and clear communications keep everyone on the same page and reduce anxiety, and in uncertain times, one of the biggest challenges can be keeping everyone calm and level-headed.
Managing emotions is every bit as important as managing operations. “The teams have done well accepting change. Many have changed their mindsets and are overcoming adversity,” Feliciano said. “Understanding that we have to adapt to the new normal right now is key. When people don’t understand what is happening around them, it is difficult to move forward. As our teams continue to educate themselves, they learn more and more that we can overcome this.”
Bourne said Anderson Management Group’s teams have also done well changing the routines required to get them to the new normal that has the sports bars up and running at full speed again. “We have been lucky to have some amazing team members who made the transition easier than we anticipated,” he said. “I believe the biggest challenge has been keeping our team on task day in and day out. With all the changes that have happened, we find that we spend most of our time working on the basics.”
Managing through the crisis has been difficult, but as an old saying credited to John Adams, the second U.S. president, holds, “A problem is an opportunity in disguise.” In various forms, this maxim has been used by leaders ever since to illuminate the difficulties their enterprises face in an optimistic light. Adams probably never conceived of the havoc that the novel coronavirus would create more than 200 years later, but these BWW leaders have at least embraced his sentiment.
“Although each day brought its own challenges, I feel that we were able to learn and grow throughout,” Bourne said. “I am grateful that we were able to stay open and be there for our friends and family during this time of need.”
“It has been a humbling and challenging experience,” Feliciano added. “It has taught me and our teams an appreciation for our staff, for each other and for our guests that choose us as their moment of normalcy with great food.” S
