Manager's Handbook

• The title does not make the manager: posture and behaviour
• Questioning
• Opening doors
• Fear
• The risk of making a mistake
• Negotiation
• 5 Factors for creating a sense of belonging
• Selling in a restaurant
• Welcoming the guest
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The title does not make the manager: posture and behaviour:
Manager, a real question of posture: should you lead with a firm hand or just show and let go?

• The apprentice manager or the manager who is still learning, the one who doubts, looks for instructions, techniques or even recipes. The
process that would work for sure and with every member of the team.

What if there were no instructions for use?

• The art of management lies very much in the exercise of so-called soft skills. Companies recognise them as essential because they are generic;
where technique sometimes fails, they can be a good help.
• However, these skills, which are essentially human and inaccurate, are uncomfortable for those who are so fond of procedures and
guarantees... and prefer purely technical management skills.
• In reality the two palettes complement each other, technical skills and soft skills. And this is fortunate for managers who have not received
technical training before taking up their posts: perhaps they already possess the necessary soft skills!

What exactly are these soft skills of the manager?

These are social and relational skills. They include behavioural knowledge, human qualities and what is known as emotional intelligence. In a word, it
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is a combination of life skills and know-how.
 Concrete examples of what a manager needs to know how to do and be:

• Making clear requests

How do I do this? Read Making clear requests
• Sometimes letting go and trusting
Because managing means getting others to do things while remaining responsible for the results of their work
• Framing and reframing (setting clear limits)
How do you do it? There are limits (but which ones!) or the art of framing
• Managing conflicts
Techniques exist, but good emotional management counts a lot
• Being credible and inspiring (exemplary)
Be aware of yourself, of the image you give in your daily behaviour
• Speaking in front of your team
From one to one or in front of the whole team, the manager must be able to attract attention
• Know how to listen
e.g.: hear the "no" behind the "I'll try to do it".
• Really listen
e.g.: hearing the risk of demotivation behind the alleged fatigue: Active listening, the royal road to efficiency!
• Sociability, reaching out to everyone
e.g.: An expert can work in his corner, as a manager you have to work as a team!
• Giving constructive feedback
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e.g.: Identify the strengths and areas for improvement of an employee and express them in a positive way, without devaluing criticism
• Reading one's own and others' emotions to avoid power games.
e.g. understanding why one is angry and what constructive action this calls for in response
• Know how to become consciously competent again and explain to others in a pedagogical way
e.g. explain how to deal with a disgruntled customer to make it accessible to juniors
• Have a good self-esteem so as not to penalise your team and give them their rightful place
e.g. know how to put your team or an employee in the spotlight rather than yourself when announcing a success.
• Managing the team's motivation over time
e.g. knowing when it is important to celebrate a success and not to move on to the next objective in a second.

You are good, you are senior or old in the company, so you are nominated as manager:

• Technical and interpersonal skills are not in the welcome kit of the promoted manager. Some need to be acquired, others are already there, or
need to be developed - if the manager didn't know himself, perhaps he was chosen for them!
• Becoming a manager means changing one's posture, and this requires, above all, a personal, inner evolution.
• Emotional and social intelligence, awareness of oneself and others, management of oneself and others: beyond the innate part, this is learned
and worked on, with authorisations, trial and error, permanent evolution.
• Coaching or training combined with personal work (putting into action on a daily basis) can reveal your full potential as a manager! And allow
you to express your unique style, which will make the difference.
• The manager is a conductor, he sets the pace and the team beats to it. If you are fair and good, the team will be too.
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 Questioning:
Put yourself in the shoes of the person you are asking. First, take a neutral position or one that is in tune with the situation and the question being
asked. You invite him to answer, either as an actor or as an observer. They can see what is going on, or you can invite them to think about how
they feel or to step back from the situation.
• The 6 managerial postures; Authenticity to build trust. Humility to support accountability. Adventure to develop pleasure. Serviceability to
enhance collective intelligence. Fairness to become more agile. Resilience to learn from mistakes and failures.
• The 5 mental gestures; Attention, Comprehension, Creative imagination, Reflection, Memorization.
Posture X Mental Gesture X Object = Infinite Possibilities

1st way to vary questions:

• The mental gesture; when you ask someone a question, you are inviting them to a specific mental gesture. If you are asked to summarise a
situation, you will use different cortical areas than if you are asked to analyse a situation. It's not the same neurons that are working; not the
same connections.

• Taking a step back by doubling the verb. So awareness of the 'world map', if it is now to offer opportunities, new paths. Different mental
gestures must be proposed. By proposing different mental gestures, the possibilities multiply whatever the object.

• Asking questions differently opens up different opportunities. Sometimes it makes sense to know the answer when seeking an answer from
subordinates to better gauge their level of commitment.
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 Opening doors:
• Daring to go through doors to open up your field of vision - Beyond the limits
• Opening doors is learning to respect the 3M code; Mimeticism, Memory and Mastery.
• Accepting to let go of the hand of the past, to cut with the past, is an art " If nothing is sacrificed, nothing is obtained ".
• 3 universal keys R.C.R. is; Rigour (project) Commitment (Stature, presence, looking ahead) and Regularity

Fear:
How can we turn our fears into a driving force rather than a brake? How to position yourself in the face of adversity?

Three Keys:
1: Magical thinking: that which conditions, that which carries, that which reminds you of who you are. To overcome your fears is to be yourself.
2: Motivating thought: the one that pulls you up from the depths, that puts you back into action, that gives you energy, that allows you to never
forget where you are going. This one is constructive = to reach the moon, you have to aim for the stars.
3: The present time: that anchors you in the moment, that allows you to live your life to the full, not to think about the fear of tomorrow. By
putting goals into perspective, you accept failure.

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 The risk of making a mistake:
The power of resolution; Boldness vs. Courage so Choice vs. Fatality

• Boldness is; evolving, gathering information, visualising where we are going, building scenarios
• It gives you the power of resolution and therefore the ability to project yourself.
• If the cause is good, it is perseverance, if it is bad, it is obstinacy.
• You have to let go, to be able to say to yourself that you attach more importance to something that affects you. Therefore, take a step back:
see, observe from another angle, other possibilities, a different objective.
• Do not kill, keep the child in us because it is he who shows boldness.

Negociating:
• Taking control of one's intuitions when dealing with a colleague or a guest.
Beware of intuition! Take time, have energy and motivation. Each of the hypotheses must be challenged.
• Move from a desire to convince to a desire to understand.
Understanding is essential because it allows you to look for a 'yes' behind a 'no'.
• Seek to raise the other.
How can I make the other person accept my proposal freely, but with their own way of thinking?
This is only possible by raising the other person, to the benefit of theMC
agreement.
Conseils = Seeking to raise the partner 7
 5 Factors for creating a sense of belonging
• It is often said that in business, it is better to try to retain the customers you have before looking for new ones. Well, it's the same with
employees. It has long been recognized that it costs much less to implement measures and strategies to retain them than to hire new
ones.

• Usually we make a big deal of the absenteeism rate as an indicator of satisfaction within the company. But what about those who hardly
ever miss work but are not very or not at all productive at work? This is called presenteeism.

• The former is a physical absence, the latter a moral absence: you do the minimum to avoid being reprimanded, you don't get involved,
and most importantly, you don't contribute your talents to the organisation. Presenteeism is an insidious evil because, as a leader, you risk
seeing only the effects of the problem, i.e. low productivity that costs the organisation a fortune, without diagnosing the cause. What to do
about it?

• Developing and maintaining a strong sense of belonging is undoubtedly the best antidote for reducing presenteeism in your organisation
and, consequently, improving efficiency and productivity through a greater voluntary contribution by everyone to the business project.
Now is the time to start changing certain aspects of your management. Several studies have looked at the management factors that have
a direct effect on the sense of belonging.

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We can summarise them in five

1: Valuation and recognition :

You cannot develop a sense of ownership or even hope to increase the level of engagement if you do not respect your employees, if you do not
consider them as stakeholders in your projects, and above all, if you do not concretely recognize their merits.

2: Product and service quality :

It is important to remember that an employee cannot identify with a company that produces products that he or she considers to be of poor
quality. Because in this case, the element of pride is missing. The same goes for customer service. You don't want to praise a company whose
customers complain that they are not treated well.

3: Clear and challenging responsibilities:

It is not the job description that is important, but the clarity of what is expected of the employee. If the role and responsibilities given to the person
do not allow them to use their knowledge and judgement, how can they develop a sense of belonging to the company.

4: Information and communication :

Keeping people informed about the company's vision, directions, projects, achievements and performance contributes greatly to developing a
sense of belonging. And the worse the economic situation, the more important communication is.

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5: Perception of management effectiveness :
A company that manages its human, material and financial resources well creates a positive perception among employees. In fact, the more it
optimises its productivity and the better it controls its costs, the more employees are willing to join.

Whatever you think, organisational efforts to project a positive image, aggressive compensation programmes, participatory management and
even engagement programmes are far less effective strategies than implementing the five factors described above. You have the recipe, now all
you have to do is cook!

Selling in a restaurant
• We can never repeat this enough: the professions of the restaurant industry are above all those of reception and salesperson. Knowing that
the first 5 minutes of communication between the sales assistant and the guest will condition the whole service, we will first define the
elements that allow us to communicate, how to take care of the reception of the guest and then we will go into more detail on the different
stages of a restaurant sale.
• The communication elements of the floor staff
• Communicating with another person is not just about exchanging words, our attitude, gestures and presentation are just as important as
the verbal elements.
• The infrastructure of the restaurant is just as important as the staff: no smells, clean premises, a cheerful façade, well-presented menus,
decorative elements, etc.
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 Non-verbal elements

Dress code Clean, ironed and adapted clothes, they transcribe our personality.

Body language Hair neatly trimmed and styled, nails clean, beard shaved, etc.

Attitude Leaning on tables or walls is not a sign of dynamism.

It's a matter of course for our business, it must be natural and show the client that we are really happy
Smile that they have chosen our establishment.
No big, brisk gestures, they should support the speech and complement it. Crossed arms should be
Gestures avoided. Open arms are a positive sign of welcome.
To look at a guest is to establish a first contact with them, to acknowledge them: "I have seen you, and
The look I will take care of you as soon as possible".

Verbal elements

We no longer take the time to speak, this is a general observation. Yet the comprehensibility of a
The flow sentence depends on a slow (but not monotonous) and well articulated speech.

The tone should be appropriate to the circumstances. At the reception desk, the tone should be warm
The tone and reassuring (with a lower vocal "note"). When taking an order, the tone should be convincing, with a
touch of passion for example.

In the restaurant, we must use simple, correct vocabulary that everyone can understand. Let's avoid
taking the guests for professionals of our trade: salamander, julienne and other technological terms
are unknown to the guests, let's not use them without describing them or with the only aim of
The vocabulary promoting our skills. Some words are dangerous for sales:
Negative words: No, I can't, impossible, etc.
Aggressive words: I'll show you that - I've been doing this job for 10 years...
Diminutives and superlatives: A little coffee? - I have a great promotion on... - etc...

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 Welcoming the guest:
• Keep in mind that the first 5 minutes are the most important, as the guest will build up a general idea of the establishment in this short period
of time and through the welcome.
• As soon as the guest arrives, you must look at them (a sign of recognition) and smile at them. Even if you are busy, they will be more likely to
wait for you to take care of them.

The phases of reception :

• Welcome words: "Good morning Madam, good morning Sir", do not just say "Good morning".
• Check if they have a reservation: a guest who has a reservation should have the feeling that they are expected
• Show them to their table: do not say "Follow me" but "I will show you to your table".
• Pull out the chairs for the ladies
• Check that the table is suitable: "Is this table suitable for you?
• Present the menu to the ladies first
• Respect the rules of precedence and age differences
• Start the sales process

The sale can be summarised in 3 main steps:

• Listen-->Propose-->Conclude MC Conseils 12
Listen
• This is an essential phase which consists of listening to the client's needs in order to analyse what he or she wants in order to offer the service
that best meets their expectations. Each client has his or her own needs, which may vary according to character (a nervous client/ a lymphatic
client), the time of day and the type of meal (the needs are not the same for a business lunch as for a leisurely dinner).
• Listening is not just letting the guest speak, it is paying attention and understanding what they are asking for by rephrasing it. A guest who is
listened to is a guest who is trusted and understood. E.g.: "Very well sir, if I have understood correctly...".
• You also need to know how to observe your client to better situate them and adapt to their needs: age, social situation, personality, etc....

Suggest, Argue
To argue is to enhance the value of a product or service in order to make it correspond to the client's desires.
To construct a sales pitch to enhance the value of a product, the following rules must be observed:

• Be familiar with the product you are arguing for

• Use appropriate vocabulary
• Do not sell a price (a price alone does not sell and is not a selling point)
• Emphasise the product's qualities: "Our fishmonger delivered some magnificent sole this morning".
• Always speak in the present tense: avoid speaking in the future or conditional tense: "I recommend that you drink this Chardonnay with your
sea bream".

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There are no small clients:
The client who takes a simple service today may be the important client of tomorrow.

Some tips:
• Avoid drowning the client with too many offers: it is best to stick to a pair of offers: for example, the client wants a Mediterranean fish, he will
be offered a choice between sea bream and red mullet or between sea bream and turbot, but not all three. In fact, the client easily memorizes
an offer with two products, beyond that, it seems more confusing for him. Utiliser l'argumentation interrogative.
• Instead of telling the guest "This Viognier will appeal to the ladies", you ask the guest: "Don't you think that a grape variety as fragrant as
Viognier will appeal to the ladies?
• Do not hesitate, when possible, to present the product you wish to sell: cheese platter, dessert trolley, shellfish in an aquarium, etc.

Conclude:
As a result of your sales pitch, the client agrees with you and you have to conclude the moment you observe a signal from the client:
• A change of attitude: the client relaxes in his chair
• A question: if I take what you suggest, won't it take too long?
• A reflection: it doesn't look too bad what you are proposing...
• You can leave the guest by reassuring them of their choice: "I am sure that your choice of wines will pleasantly surprise the other guests".

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