Principles

Wave Theory

Our Chick-fil-A is influenced by the wave theory which was introduced to us by Jeff Glover. While this may make you think of beaches and surfing, the Wave Theory is actually a way to identify consumer patterns in the fast dining environment. Often in times of high customer volume, we tend to think that things are slowing down after large rushes of customers. During these times we send employees on break, or ask them to stock, but suddenly you'll find there's a rush of 8, 12, 20, or more customers waiting for service! This is because of waves.

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Customers don't appear regularly in spaced out intervals, but rather in waves of 4, 8, 10, 12 or more. This can be because of traffic lights, lunch breaks, or any number of factors. Don't think of the lull between waves as slowing down, instead be prepared for the next wave; stay in position, and be ready to go!

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Commit to iPOS

Run iPoS any time that it is safe! For our location that means from open to close we run iPoS except in extreme weather, but we realize this isn't the case for all locations. This only requires one team member extra, though adding more is always an option, and takes approximately six cars in a hour to break even on the commitment. iPads should be utilized more often than during lunch or dinner rushes; they can be out all day! Rain or shine, we go the extra Chick-fil-A mile. Using iPoS is important because we have to understand this idea, introduced by Jeff Glover, that while we see it as one line, our guests are actually waiting in four lines: placing the order, waiting to get to the window, paying for an receiving the order, and leaving the restaurant. Taking orders from the inside takes out our ability to have an accurate picture of the first line. We can measure the amount of time it takes to prepare the order, but we forget the time it takes in the line to place an order. Having iPads outside allows us to see the big picture and tend to all of our guests' needs as soon as possible.

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Leading vs. Lagging Indicators

Having an efficient drive-thru is about finding where problems lie and fixing them for maximum capacity. Find why the slow downs occur, why waves overwhelm your team members, and why there may be confusion among them. This is how your grow!

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However, finding problems is more than meets the eye. You can't just find them by taking a quick glance, you have to dig deep. Participate in every area of the drive-thru process, and even look at your drive-thru history. This allows you to identify lagging indicators, in other words, identify the problems and where they occur in the process. Identifying these can help you identify leading indicators, which are the things happening that have potential to lead to slow downs or back-ups in the drive-thru. Finding leading indicators really means finding the source of your problem, not just solving the problem where it is. They allow you to solve problems before they occur, and this can tie in with positional specificity.

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Example: if the second bagger, who is responsible for starting all orders on their screen, has only begun a fraction of their orders but no slowdown has occurred in the line, this is a leading indicator of a backup. In this case, the problem has not yet begun, but is in the works. The second bagger should be switched out for someone more efficient, solving the problem before it even occurs.

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"Pass the Pressure"

Passing the pressure is important for following the flow of the drive-thru. Initially, when receiving the order, the team member on iPad takes on the pressure. Once storing the order, they pass the pressure to the mobile cash, who passes to the window. The first person inside to receive this pressure is the window greeter. They then have to pass the pressure to the bagger(s) and team member(s) on drinks. These should be ready before the guest arrives at the window, but if not, the greeter needs to pass the pressure, because if there is no pressure, team members have no motivation to be quick and efficient. Pressure should never be a bad thing in this context, rather than causing stress, it should simply be and appropriate sense of urgency to motivate the team member.

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One complication in this can be when a guest has a complicated order, or is waiting on an order than is taking some time. To fix this, we use the idea of "bag or pull," introduced to us by Tony Fernandez, where guests whose orders are taking too long are asked to pull into a parking lot to reduce lag in the drive-thru. It is important to use this as an opportunity to create more pressure to serve these guests as fast as possible.

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Positional Specificity

Specifying the roles, responsibilities, and even the correct order to enact these responsibilities leaves as little room for questioning or error as possible. This doesn't mean the roles can't be changed or improved, of course, but having an established expectation of conduct stops confusion and helps efficiency. Without specificity, two or more people working the same position can cause tension and confusion. This leads to slow downs, which leads to back-ups, which causes problems for your guests!