There’s not a day that goes by when I don’t think of Michael O’Grady. I can’t forget the creative ways he coached and mentored so many to new heights. In this series, Lesson’s Learned from the Magnificent Manager, I’ll share my insights, break throughs, tools, and techniques which honor Michael’s legacy of helping others grow and succeed.

Recently, after a boat ride up the Potomac on a beautiful July afternoon, I stopped by a half-empty Washington Harbor café in Georgetown with family and friends. While struggling to put two tables together, a server scolded, “You have to check in with the host first and you can’t sit here unless you order entrees!” After making my way to the podium hidden to the far side of the café, the hostess gazed right through me from behind her Angelina Jolie-style shades like a lifeless creature from an X-Men movie. No smile. No hello.

Had the host stand been positioned in the front, had the greeter been well-cast and trained to warmly welcome instead of painting me invisible, and if the server been empowered to lighten up with the rule book, we might not have taken our $70 to the Sequoia Restaurant a few steps away.

When we experience poor service, our first inclination is to blame the staff. But the real culprit behind most service failures is in the systems, not the people. How do you find out how and take action?

1 Listen
"Why can’t servers just smile? It can’t be that difficult,” I hear managers bemoan. The insights into what gets in the way of giving great service are within the very people we expect to be so hospitable and gracious. Great managers take time to tune in to the troops closest to the action—dishwashers, servers, hosts, bussers, and bartenders. You might ask, “How easy is it to get a drink from the service bartender?” Or, “Does the current training teach you how to keep your cool with tired, wired, and demanding guests?”

One of our best questions was, “If you owned this restaurant, what would you do differently?” says Kathy Stewart, former director of training for Great American Restaurants. “We not only got gems on how to build and improve systems but also extraordinary insights into our company culture. The staff told us everything in graphic detail—how they felt about their jobs, their managers, and the company. Our most powerful listening tool was a yearly anonymous survey. We heard amazing stuff,” continues Kathy.

Listening, whether in focus groups, town hall meetings, pre-shifts, or one-on-one, uncovers the cogs in the wheel for both guests and staff. Encourage people to bring problems to you without fear of reprisal. Remember, internal complaints, like external complaints, are gifts that bring insights to innovate and improve.

2 Involve
Years ago, while working with the View Lounge, the tallest revolving rooftop bar overlooking Times Square, it didn’t take long to find out why its service scores were in the tank. I overheard a server telling a guest to get up and move from their seats by the window. “Sorry, folks. Fire policy states that you can’t sit there in groups of larger than five.”

The system failed the servers, who were never taught to artfully explain the fire policy. They were put in the unfortunate position of playing the bad cop. So, we worked with the staff to develop their dialogue: “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you in advance for your understanding and patience. It’s important for your safety to sit on the second tier. I’d be happy to help you move your snacks and drinks, and I’ll buy you a round.” Each crew member incorporated the new verbiage into their own style.

3 Re-engineer
It was bad enough when travel groups flying out of Newark to Aruba had to endure security lines, a Miami stop over, customs, luggage retrieval, and a bus to the Marriott. So, when these bedraggled guests finally arrived, they desperately pushed, shoved, and elbowed their way off the bus to see who could be first in line at the front desk. Check-in was chaotic and painfully slow. And, the comment cards revealed, “The front desk clerks were pathetic, rude and incompetent.”

We had to take action fast. First, we got the bus drivers to meet guests at the airport armed with bottled water and cold towels. When the bus arrived at the hotel, we had our most gracious associate hop on the bus and deliver a warm welcome and inform guests about our new easy check-in plan,“Welcome to the best resort in the Caribbean. We have great news. There’s no need to rush to the front desk. Greeters will direct you to tables in the lobby where you can pick up your key packets and be quickly on the way to your room. Then you can go straight out to our pool bar and enjoy a Funky Monkey Piña Colada!” By re-engineering the system we made things easier and faster for both guests and hotel associates.

4 Make It Easy
“How can you work in that pulsating nut house packed wall to wall with a three-hour wait?” friends often asked when I waited tables at Paolo’s back in ‘87. Michael O’Grady built such seamless systems that I lived in what I called a salesman’s paradise. The service bar was set up with all of the red wines in a rack and the whites in a cooler for easy access. Michael ensured that we always had an ace service bartender. And he assembled what he called his Thai-busser contingent, a cadre of amazing worker bees who could clear and reset a table in under 10 seconds. When food came up it was on it’s way in a nanosecond. Our handsome, highly proficient hosts could pack the room tighter than a drum. I felt calm and totally in control, dead center in the eye of the storm. Michael’s super teams, along with brilliantly crafted systems, created a professional environment where guests where dazzled and I could thrive.

I think back and I wonder if that server is still back at that Georgetown café, trapped, spending all of her time policing guests. Poorly designed systems create incompetence, demoralize staff, and make for angry and defecting guests. Artfully designed systems lay the groundwork for seamless service, boost morale, and build sales and guest loyalty. My partner and training design expert Kathy Stewart says: ”When you create great systems, you make the right thing the easiest thing to do.”

Bob Brown, president of Bob Brown Service Solutions, www.bobbrownss.com, pioneered Marriott’s Service Excellence Program and has worked with clients such as Disney, Hilton, Morton’s of Chicago, Olive Garden, and Red Lobster. He has appeared on the “Food Network” and “Hospitality Television” and is author of The Little Brown Book of Restaurant Success and The Big Brown Book of Managers’ Success.