Memory training - how to memorize orders!
As a waiter, you have to remember countless orders, and sometimes there are even special requests! For experienced waiters and waitresses, remembering orders from 6 tables is no longer a problem. But for newcomers and career changers, it can be a challenge to get the drinks and food to the right person. How do the pros do it?
Remembering orders made easy!
In some restaurants, the service staff work with a notepad - this makes it much easier to remember things. But even if you take orders with such "helpers", you need to work out a system for making a note of things. Because you don't have time to write things down in the order flow!
If you have to manage without a notepad or electronic aids such as Orderman, you'll be doing yourself a favor if you always think of stories as mnemonic devices. This type of association is called "chunking" - waiters memorize small pieces of information (the person ordering, the table number and the order itself) and combine these pieces into a short story or even just a sentence that they can recall.
FOR EXAMPLE: The lady at table 8 orders a glass of white wine. The gentleman next to her orders a whiskey and a glass of water. The story could be: On the eighth floor, the man pours himself a glass of whiskey - the woman gets herself a glass of white wine and takes her husband a glass of water.
As you can see, it doesn't have to be an exciting story, just a link that you remember. The best way to practise this technique is to play memory games or solve Sudoku puzzles very often - this is where you use exactly the part of your brain that you need for chunking.
Other waiters prefer to remember orders visually - they internalize the place, the person and the drink in their mind's eye.
Which method is easiest for you or whether you want to use your own method is of course up to you. You have to work with the tools that work for you. This is completely individual, the only important thing is that the orders arrive correctly.
Fancy some service?
Are you a chunking pro and want to prove yourself in service? Then take a look at hogastjob.com - you're sure to find a suitable position here!
