Who’d a thunk it? That our posture and bearing is our own personal architecture. Within our stature, resides our constitution and skills by which we can reach the highest acme of success.
Soldiers stand at attention for a reason. To stand at attention is a form of saluting, giving ones undivided attention and perhaps the apogee of paying respect.
This kick-ass advice is not some elaborate rigmarole. It is an authentic, true-blue way of commanding mutual respect. Posture becomes your moniker and a telltale sign of your self-confidence. Your stance literally exemplifies you, sending a resonating message about how you should be treated. It can make a huge difference in the way guests respond to you. Place your feet apart at a comfortable distance, distributing your weight evenly on both feet. Keep your shoulders back, head up, hands locked behind your back, take 7 cleansing breaths and greet guests with direct eye contact.This is welcoming waitstaff posture. An, all hands on deck salute looks like:
Notice that in all of these clips the notorious elbows are locked into the torso. The non-verbal message being projected here is... “I respect you and I require the same in return. You have my undivided attention. You are important to me.” Last clip was me, being naughty again, just testing, to see if you are paying attention!
Aggressive or negative body language is easy to spot. It involves the notorious elbows. So we don’t have enough problems in this world? We have to pick on a set of perfectly innocent little ole elbows? OYI!!! First of all they aren’t innocent. On the surface they may appear to be just another trite set of limbs... but they’re NOT! Elbows can be evil. They undermine and gobblygook waitstaff’s body language. Sending an outcry of negativity to those we serve. Remembering the guest is the one you intend to collect a handsome gratuity from. Extended elbows also pose a logistical nightmare to other waitstaff, trying to negotiate serving with full trays through narrow aisles.
Extended elbows with hands on hips are culprits, bandits meant to “kill” a perfectly good posture which “kills” profit.
Crossing your arms in front of you is another negative non-verbal expression. It’s interpreted to mean, “I really don’t care. I am resisting you.” It is a sign of defensive resistance.
Recently, I was called upon to give a waitstaff spiel on posture-makes-profit to a set of hardcore servers. The management was having a real bear of a problem with the long termers. The know it alls, the ones that complained the loudest, performed the least and were outwardly resistant to mending their bad habits. They were effectively killing the business.I began working my way down the line of 17 bootstrapped servers who openly hated me! Matilde, was the worst of the bunch. French, an 8 year veteran server, with a nasty attitude. She was persistent in advertising her degree from a prominent hospitality university. Pifffffff to that one! There wasn’t a word that came out of my mouth that she didn’t challenge. In the end, I asked her this question, “If you are so learned and well trained, why then are you ranking so low on your gratuities and performance?” I never waited for an answer. Instead I set about showing her what she was doing wrong and how she was coming off to guests. I presented her with a snap shot of her posture, which I had taken with my cell phone, earlier that day. I saw her take a big gulp as she remained stupefied and silent. The position of her feet, her hands, elbows, and chin were all wrong! I also emphasized the importance of breathing and relaxing prior to her introduction to the guest table. “Take 7 deep cleansing breaths, prior to your spiel. Don’t rush even when you’re backed up with tables. The more you rush, the more mistakes you will make and waste valuable time.” I worked with her for less than 10 minutes and then challenged her to “prove me wrong ~ a-hole”. I told her to call me with feedback at the end of her shift. She did! Matilde, had tripled her tips that night. She was overwhelmed! She was now officially one of my posture-makes-profit zealots!
I also nipped another nasty habit she had for telling the rest of the crew how not to do things. A new server had attempted to set a good example by breaking down the dirty dishes in a more orderly fashion. Matilde asked her, “Why?”Anyone who openly challenges betterment is a PIN HEAD!Gosh! I love my work!!!Lock your damn elbows behind your back, for cryin’out loud! How hard can it be?
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(c) 2010 ptsaldari.posterous.com : PTsaldari Group Inc. | The Art of Serving Well | Serve Me Well Inc. All rights reserved. This article originally appeared on ptsaldari.posterous.com blog authored by PTsaldari. This article may be shared and reprinted as long as this entire copyright message accompanies it. Email: ptsaldari@gmail.com
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