Sally is the general manager of one of the best restaurants in town, known as The Pub. As usual, at 6:00 P.M. on a Friday night, there is a 45-minute wait. The kitchen is overloaded and is running behind in check times, the time that elapses between the kitchen getting the order and the guest receiving his or her meal. This is critical, especially if a guest complains about waiting too long for a meal. Sally is waiting for her two head line cooks to come in for the closing shift. At 6:15 P.M., she receives phone calls from both of them. They are both sick with the flu and are not coming to work. As Sally gets off the phone, the hostess tells her that a party of 50 is scheduled to arrive at 7:30 P.M. Sally is concerned, knowing that they are currently running a sixperson line with only four cooks. The productivity is very high, but the check times are extremely long. How can Sally handle the situation?

Please answer the following questions (1 - 5) with two paragraphs per question:

1. How would you handle the short-staffing issue?

2. What measures would you take to get the appropriate cooks in to work as soon as possible?

3. What would you do to ensure a smooth, successful transition for the party of 50?

4. How would you manipulate your floor plan to provide exceptional service for the party of 50?

5. How would you immediately make an impact on the long check times?