You might remember me mentioning that we relocated last year so I could take a job as a food service director. Well, it’s been just over a year since we made the big move, and I have learned a few things in the process.
1. group projects may not be 100% useless.
All throughout college I hated group projects. If I was paired with slackers, I had to do all the work myself. If my group consisted of overachievers, I felt like the slacker and never seemed to know what was going on. I just wanted to do my own work and be responsible for my own grades. Why couldn’t teachers just let me do that?
Over the last year I have been involved in a number of projects, most recently an overhaul of the hospital’s cafe equipment. I’ve had to collaborate with the communications director to get the message out about our menu changes. I’ve worked with the CEO and CFO regarding purchasing decisions. Currently I’m working with the maintenance crew to get all this lovely new equipment installed. Would you believe they have other projects to attend to?
Believe me, I wish I could do it all myself. But I physically can’t, and I know that all those group projects, whether they intended to or not, taught me to be okay with being powerless sometimes. Thankfully the people I work with are really nice, which makes these real-life group projects a lot more bearable.
2. employees come and go.
In January of this year, two staff transferred out of my department and into other areas of the organization. Since I had recently taken over the department, I took their movement more personally than I should have. I thought for sure this was evidence that I was failing as a director. Guess what? People move. And in the food service industry, people move a lot.
Since then, I’ve had two other employees leave, and I’ve also had the unpleasant experience of letting someone go. It’s been tough, but I try to look at each of these instances as lessons learned rather than “why is this happening to me?!”
3. how to check in a food order quickly.
I really want to train someone to take over the freight aspect of the kitchen, but it seems as soon as I hire one person, they are filling in for another. So here I am, still ordering food and putting away frieght myself.
With all this practice, I have at least picked up some tricks to make the check-in process go faster.I’ll leave the details for another time, but I’ve learned a few things that have been a lifesaver. I’m always open to new tips and tricks too.
4. hire Well.
Back in the spring we were very short staffed and no one was applying to the open positions. I had two applications come in, and I hired both people. I truly felt that I had no choice, that we couldn’t survive any longer with a skeleton staff.
Those two staff members turned out to be a drain on my energy and resources. Looking back, I don’t know for sure what I would do differently. I was feeling pretty desperate and exhausted at the time. But I have since been incredibly careful when hiring, and I have a better picture of what I am looking for in staff.
I used to think that I just needed people that would show up and not call in all the time (can I get an amen from my fellow food service directors?). But I need much more than that. I need people who can problem solve and follow instructions. I need people that will take correction and come to work with an open mind. AndI need people that can play nice with others! If employees don’t have those qualities, I am expending just as much effort as if they were calling in sick all the time.
5. make friends inside the field and out.
I recently met the RDs at a nearby hospital. It was so refreshing to talk to other people with similar struggles, like documenting in EPIC without anyone to show us how. Since then I have met some more RDs and tried to broaden my professional circle.
It is so good to have people who you can bounce ideas off of. Sometimes they have previously solved a problem you are currently facing. One food service director I met told me that he is never contacted by staff on the weekend. Some weekends I get contacted 5 or more times. Knowing that peaceful weekends are possible gave me the courage to start coaching my staff to solve problems on their own and not contact me for non-emergencies.
As much as I love to have friends in the field, it’s equally refreshing to have friends in pharmacy, physical therapy, finance, etc. I have acquaintances in pretty much every department of our hospital, and it has paid off to have someone I can approach with questions beyond my scope.
6. I hate scheduling.
It didn’t take me the full year to learn this. There have been a couple of months in the last year where scheduling wasn’t too much of a problem. But good grief. Almost every month it feels like there is some new crisis and I am left patching together a puzzle with too few pieces. Anyone out there mastered the schedule aspect of food service directorship?
7. your employees don’t have to like you.
Ouch. This isn’t a fun one. And it’s something I still struggle with. It’s much nicer if employees do like me, but I can’t make decisions based on how happy they will be with me.
8. ask the dumb questions.
A few weeks back I was at patient rounds and had a question about a patient’s medication. I don’t currently have a solid knowledge about medications and their side effects, and I felt like I should have known the answer to my question. But, I went ahead and asked the pharmacist anyway.
I felt stupid, but he is a very approachable guy. As I was asking, a PA student stepped closer and said that she was wondering the very same thing. This made me feel less stupid. Come to find out, the pharmacist wasn’t positive and had to do some quick research before giving me an answer.
I’m so glad I swallowed my pride and asked the question, because I learned from it, and so did two other people. I often second-guess myself and feel like I should already know things I am just now learning. But the truth is, I need to go from not knowing to knowing. Even if someone does treat me like I’m stupid along the way, I am at least on an upward path!
Drop me a line and tell me what you have learned at the last year in your job, and what you are looking forward to learning in the next year!