Establishments where employees have specific roles and function in an assembly line fashion perform with maximized efficiency. Creating specific roles for staff not only avoids the inevitable confusion that comes with the unnecessary overlap of job responsibilities, but it also creates a more pleasant and seamless experience for the customer.

Chipotle is a prime example of a fast casual restaurant that operates in an assembly-line fashion. Whether it’s your first time or you’re a weekly regular, at Chipotle, there’s never any confusion about where to wait on line. Because food is being prepared in front of the customer, not only does this prevent any possible miscommunications from occurring, but it also consolidates the queue. There’s only one line to order, pay and pick up food.

The seamless assembly line ordering process is not Chipotle’s only advantage— there’s a specific formula each time. It’s consistent. You know when you enter Chipotle (or maybe you don’t, if you’ve never been) that one employee is in charge of asking whether you’d like a bowl, salad, burrito or tacos, another employee is assigned to certain additions (type of protein, what kind of beans etc.), and a separate employee is responsible for another group of additions (sour cream, cheese, guacamole, etc.), and finally a fourth employee manages the payment transaction. Ordering and paying in one line and divvying separate tasks amongst employees diminish the frequency of incorrect orders. It also eliminates the confusion and frustration guests feel when they aren’t sure where to order verses where to wait and pay.

Similarly, Just Salad administers specific roles to employees. There’s the official “order taker” who repeats back everything the customer requested, and then the written order is delivered to salad/wrap preparer number one, and so on. Once again, one employee is assigned a specific task; the order taker doesn’t also handle the payment transaction.

Assigning specific roles to each employee is crucial to maximizing efficiency, especially in fast-casual restaurants. If you want to avoid confusion, chaos and miscommunications that could easily develop from multiple employees unknowingly performing the same task, you may want to consider assigning specific roles for each employee. Assembly lines are one of the easiest methods to achieving higher efficiency. Increased efficiency leads to decreased expenses and greater profitability!

Happy assembling and Happy Thanksgiving…TaraPaige Group.