The Learning E.D.G.E.: Melting Pot Restaurant Newsletter

Special Edition
June 2004

Melting Pot Restaurants, Inc. Selects
Leading Training Company & Location for Championship Training & Team Building Event!

The Learning E.D.G.E. Inc.
Chosen For its Experience,
To Build a More Effective Melting Pot Restaurant Team

A real world, practical applications approach to the new world of business management, The Learning E.D.G.E., Inc.specializes in customized sales, marketing and customer service programs that enhance or change current performance to meet newly defined skill requirements.

The Learning E.D.G.E., Inc.is a Texas based developmental resource team available for those companies who have looked at the skill and knowledge base of their current sales, retail merchandising, project or marketing teams and don't find the needed level of competency to meet the challenges of today's changing business environment.

The Learning E.D.G.E., Inc.and their consulting resources have worked in several industries that include: consumer package goods, telecommunications, computer hardware and software, building, funeral, financial, chemical, restaurant, pharmaceutical and travel, to name a few, and have helped build more solid and productive business teams in each.

The Learning E.D.G.E., Inc.has worked for companies like: Bayer Corporation, Nokia, Sabre, Bristol-Myers Squibb, American Airlines, U.S. Brick, Dell Computer, G.E. Medical, Aether Systems, KFC, Lennox, Verizon, Mead Johnson Nutritional, Gadzooks, Lennox, Genuity, QualComm, Citigroup, Dobson Electric, Service Corp International, Dial Corp, Gillette, Johnson Wax, Kraft General Foods, M & M Mars, PaperMate, Rayovac, Capital One, Zales, Nokia, Deloitte Consulting, Capital One and Reynolds Metals to name a few . . . and now the Melting Pot Restaurants

Park Lane Ranch was chosen for the location and is the premier dude ranch location in Dallas, Texas. Park Lane Ranch has over 18,000 air-conditioned square feet indoor and over 380 acres of grounds. The Ranch has, a 72-hole miniature golf course and a nine-hole pitch and putt course. The ranch can host parties of between 25 to 2,500 people. Park Lane also has a professional driving range .

Melting Pot Restaurant Team Building Event Is Tied Into Their National Training Champion Conference In Dallas!

The Melting Pot Restaurant Team came together for a team training and team building session at Park Lane Ranch in Dallas to build a more effective Melting Pot Restaurant Training Champions team. They wanted their training team to bond while increasing their knowledge and appreciation for each other as valuable training resources. They wanted the team to experience activities that would challenge them to become better Training Champions and deliver life applications to the team that could be applied at their respective restaurants. The Melting Pot Restaurant team also wanted to have some fun while addressing some very specific learning objectives that included:

TRAINING CHAMPIONS’ TEAM BUILDING GOALS

To further develop the team's communications skills to make each team member more effective in handling their responsibilities as training champion for their respective franchise restaurants .

To develop team members' leadership skills that will help them to assume the champion's role for the training function in their respective locations in line with the Melting Pot stated principles of inspiring others by our positive example and attitude .

To maximize the teams' effectiveness and improve their desire to help others, and that when we do, we are actually helping ourselves .

To encourage one another to become better training champions by using all the available resources at your respective locations while constantly striving to live the company mission and vision and practice its principles by learning more effective approaches to personal and team development .

With these goals in mind Kelvin T. Johnson, FMP, director of training & education for the franchisor, talked with Joe Hudson, from The Learning E.D.G.E., Inc.,to design a comprehensive learning and fun half-day experience for the team .

The workshop was held at Park Lane in Dallas and focused on the learning objectives listed above. Information and activities worked to get the team members to know one another better, to understand the power of each individual while bonding together for a stronger Melting Pot Restaurant Training Champion's Team

The key attributes that needed to be displayed by each team leader on every activity were:

Effective Communicator

Respected

Supportive

Honest

Competent

The team also reviewed five 10-second tips for giving encouragement to trainees and peers at The Melting Pot. Those five tips included the following:

Each Training Champion worked to convey these five 10-second encouragements in each activity during the course of the afternoon. The adventure learning challenges for the half day included: The Bridge, Hole-In-One, Team Miniature Golf, and Barrel Racing.

The teams set out to conquer the Olympic challenges and turned in some incredible times, and had a great deal of fun in the process.

Olympic record-time was set and another tied when The Melting Pot Training Champions' put on their game face!

A new Olympic record was set in the Team Miniature Golf: Joey Raines, of Dallas, Texas led the Purple People Eaters to a new Olympics Ranch record with a 1.67 stroke average. Another Olympic Ranch record was broken in the Hole-In-One with Alex Harkins, of Orlando, Florida leading the way for the Purple People Eaters turning in a Ranch record score of 11 Holes-In-One.

The other Team Olympic challengers that took home medals were:

Barrel Racing: the Big Blue Balls with Michael Hughes, of Atlanta, Georgia, as the lead wrangler came in with a time of 11:15 and were the Overall Champions and in second place were the Purple People Eaters with Sean Wallace, of Dallas, Texas, leading the way in a time of 13:14.

The Bridge to the Customer with Jeff Schechtman, of Boca Raton, Florida, at the helm took the Big Blue Balls to a time of 10:14; second place went to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tana Peckman, of St. Louis, Missouri leading the team in a time of 10:31.

In the Hole-In-One, the second best time was turned in by the Red Hot Chili Peppers under the leadership of Heidi Supple, of Madison, Wisconsin, with 10 holes in one.

In the Team Miniature Golf, the second best score turned in was by the Big Blue Balls under the leadership of Sarah Mitchell, of Tampa, Florida, with 2.05 strokes.

Special Olympic designed T-Shirts were also presented to top team encouragers, and they were selected by The Melting Pot TMPRI Conference Staff. These shirts were awarded to:

GREEN GODESS:

Sonny Camire – Ocala, Florida
Kathy Parker – Albuquerque, New Mexico

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS:

Tana Peckman – St. Louis, Missouri
Holly Lynn Miller – Schaumburg, IL

THE BLUE BALLS:

Sara Mitchell – Tampa, Florida
Michael Hughes – Kennesaw, Georgia

PURPLE PEOPLE EATERS:

Alex Harkins – Orlando, Florida
Jeff Nichols – Wilmington, Delaware

Special thanks to Bob Johnston, Mike Maglin, Kelvin Johnson, Michael Robie, Neil Hackley, Emily Lawrence for their time and effort in handling all the meeting details!

The Melting Pot Restaurant Event Spells Further Training Success

Key points made at the workshop included:

The three components needed for effective teams are: The Leader, the Team Members and The Challenge.
Be faithful hard-working servants of the people you lead! Lead by example-The Melting Pot!
Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress and working together is success.
Discussing that a team is a group of ordinary individuals doing extra ordinary things together to reach a common goal.
Success depends above all, upon people. Build relationships, teams, and partnerships — and motivate people to contribute. Cultivate leadership, creativity, and excellence. Listen; seek new ideas and advice. —Ruth Scott, Pres. & CEO, Assoc. for Portland (OR) Progress
Trust Depends on: Open and Honest Communication, Offering Constructive Advice & Feedback without Harming The Working Relationship, Acceptance of Each Team Member and Embracing Their Differences, Respecting the Opinions of All Team Members, The Leader and Team Must Feel-We Fail or We Succeed Together, There Are No Individual Heroes, Everyone Is Recognized For Their Part, All Contributions Are Valued, Common Goals That All Are Committed To Achieving Excellence, Establishing & Practicing Ethical Standards.
Words of encouragement fan the spark of genius into the flame of achievement.
It takes 30 encouraging words or sentences to negate one discouraging word said in haste or anger. Let your brain engage before your jaw jacks.
We believe in inspiring others by our positive example and attitude! -The Melting Pot
A simple "thank you" still goes a long way in motivating employees, a recent survey of financial executives shows. Thirty-eight percent of those polled said that, other than monetary rewards, frequent recognition of accomplishments is the best way to encourage staff members. Frequent communication ranked a very close second, receiving 37 percent of the response.

TEN-SECOND TIPS FOR TRAINING CHAMPIONS

Set your trainees up for success. When you give someone a new challenge, tell him why you're trusting him to be successful.
Make a quick stop to tell your trainees any positive behavior that you've noticed. You can do this in 10 seconds or less.
Resist the temptation to correct behaviors following a positive comment about a trainees work.
Don't use sarcasm, even in a teasing way. This kind of teasing isn't funny. When the performance is done as expected - make your positive comment and stifle!
Don't steal the stage. When a trainee tells you of an accomplishment they're proud of, don't steal the stage by immediately telling them about something that this reminds you of. Keep the spotlight on their accomplishment. This might be hard for you, especially if you're dying to tell her a better way she can do it next time, or if you want to share your own experience. Resist, resist, resist!
Provide Feedback And Listen To Others-The Melting Pot
Positive recognition is often considered to be the responsibility of managers, but a Gallup survey has found that employees also cherish praise and recognition from peers.

Training Champions share real-life applications on
improving team effort back at the restaurant.

The Hole-In-One Activity

I found myself focusing on "the best" team member and I ignored the others and that can't happen in my position as trainer.
Don't limit trainees to my way or the highway training philosophy.
Clarify the rules and guidelines for trainees and always be sure they understand the rules and responsibilities of their job.
Give specific instruction and make sure the trainee understands what you mean before you let her leave the training situation.
One trainer isn't enough; we must have a backup if we are to meet the needs of all trainees.
You can be stretched too thin, it is important to remain consistent and focus on one task at a time.
Plan first but be prepared to alter the plan "on-the-fly" based on the situations that present themselves with the trainee and the restaurant.
My illustrations as a trainer need to be very specific and I will not know if they are understood unless I ask.
One leader is not enough; we need to share the responsibility with a mentor and a coach.

Team Miniature Golf Activity

Make sure that we never loose sight of the fact that the job needs to be fun and that the more thoroughly we can plan the more fun the training job can be.
Getting the teams in the restaurant to divide to be more productive is essential.
We must always do our personal best, as we are the role models in the restaurant.
We must be accountable for our actions as trainers and accept our roles and responsibilities with great enthusiasm.
Information is power and if we can provide our training information to the trainee, we equip her with the power to succeed.
Effective communication is key to passing on the skills and knowledge the trainee will need to succeed in the restaurant.
Give lots of "thank you" to the trainee and anyone else who helps you in the restaurant.
Communicate both the positive and the negative to the trainee but pick your time wisely — pre-shift is very important.
As a trainer I must always be open for suggestions and be willing to change with new ideas and better ways of accomplishing a task.
Smaller can be better, so we must learn to tag team for a better restaurant team and for better customer service.
Honesty is always the best policy and I must strive to be honest with everyone I come in contact with at the restaurant, especially the new trainee.
Work under the training philosophy of keeping things simple. Don't make things more difficult than they have to be.

The Barrel Racing Activity

Walk together — Be in sync with the trainee and the guests' needs.
Encourage each other and keep each other on task. Don't be a distraction in the restaurant. ENCOURAGEMENT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WE CAN GIVE OUR TRAINEE INITIALLY AND CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THEIR TRAINING.
When something doesn't work well go to a new plan.
Unity is key! We must all learn to work together more effectively.
New talents can be observed as you work with the trainee and together you can work through any restrictions.
Bring up similarities in the trainee and trainer to relate to them more effectively.
Smooth communication is important between the trainer and the trainee as well as the customer.
You may need to adopt or change your approach with the customer and the trainee as you determine the needs of each.
Consistency is very important! Good food, Good atmosphere is your message to the trainee.
Pace of the learning is key! The pace of each trainee is different just like the pace of each customer enjoying our dining experience is different.
Tasks are sometimes harder than they look for the trainee and we must be encouragers and persistent until it is done right.

The Bridge to Customer Service Activity

Be understanding and understand that mistakes happen and we should be able to learn from them and make sure they don't happen again.
Working hours with actual guests is different from training with no guests.
We need to plan for accidents and don't panic when they happen but proceed ahead with caution.
Treat your employees as if they were your customers. Customers will return if treated well. Employees and trainees work and learn better if they are treated like customers.
Let employees know that you are there for them. Employees and trainees will not always react in the same way to you. Cherish the uniqueness of each employee and trainee.
Look for different strengths in each employee and trainee, as all are uniquely different in their abilities and skills.
Be positive with training and direction and you will get positive results.
Take the time to plan your communication. Every word is important and must be communicated positively and effectively if the trainee is to progress through and effectively complete the training and development program.

In following the direction from the Melting Pot of "Always looking for ways to Improve", the team closed out their training session by developing both team and personal goals. The team goals were captured on a team action planner and were revisited on day two of the training workshop

These actions plans included: