Written by Michael Hartzell Monday, 09 January 2012 10:30

If morale is low in your restaurant and it is tough to get people to smile, then this garbage challenge will spice up the morale.

Here is the garbage challenge:

If you are a dishwasher and I am an assistant, manager, district manager or restaurant owner; you would receive the following challenge.

"I am going to DUMP the garbage can from the dishstation onto the floor.  If I find any silverware in the garbage on the floor, you clean up the garbage off the floor.  If I don't find a single piece of silverware in the garbage, I will clean it up."

In the early days of starting this challenge, I wore a suit and tie.  To dump a 30 gallon garbage upside down and begin to poke through it while wearing a tie is, to say the least, gross.

It did not take long for a crowd to gather and only seconds to see smiles among those watching me as I am on my hands and knees looking for the forks.

The smile on the dishwasher, however, soon went away as I would find a fork or spoon, hold it up for all to see and then point to the garbage on the floor. "You lose the challenge.  You have to clean it up." I would say with a big smile. 

The benefits were:

■The cost of silverware goes down.  Guaranteed. 
■Appreciation from the teams increased as they knew their boss was someone who was willing to take a risk and not just talk.
■Smiles and chatter about an unusual event lifted morale even if but for a moment.  Work had its fun moments, too.
■Team members greeted the manager or owner at the door with a smile; ready to accept a new challenge.
Over the years I would make the challenge over and over.  Even as a restaurant owner I would approach the dishwashers for random tests.

I never cleaned up the garbage.  Not once.  There was always at least one piece of silverware (and often times even plates) in the garbage can.

A small confession:  There were several times when I had to work very hard to find that one fork or spoon. What a sigh of relief I had when it ended.  (A change of clothes soon was added to my car inventory.)

What does it take to send a message to a team?  How far are you willing to go?  Does it seem a bit silly?  It is silly.  In fact, it is just a bit crazy.  That's the point.

The garbage can challenge was something I learned in the 70's.  It was not my idea.  Of course I used it for the next 30 years with success.  The dishwashers would greet me at the door and say:  "Mike, give me the challenge today.  I am ready!  You won't find anything this time!"

If you are a restaurant owner or manager, can you say that your team greets you at the door with a smile and enthusiasm?

What is it going to take to keep the team making an effort to do what might seem to be the same dreary job?

***provided by http://www.michaelhartzell.com