​Chances are good that your restaurant has felt some urgency to adopt new technology in the front and back of house in the past two years. But the focus on having the right combination of technology can make it easy to ignore some foundational human elements that, if not in place, may prevent you from getting the experience and efficiency you’re after. Specifically, is your team on board with the changes you’re making? Do they know what problems your technology is there to help solve or simplify? Do they understand how your new tools and systems work – and if not, can you provide clear training to support them? If you’re just beginning to review options, involve team members in the process of selecting new technology to help ensure they are invested in the result. Finally, to what degree can you rely on your tech vendor for training, repairs or basic support when something goes wrong? Making sure your employees can get guidance in using new tools and systems should be a key part of your investment.

What goes for your food safety management program also applies to your technology: When your team understands why you’re enforcing a process or using a particular tool, they are more invested in using it and making it work for them. Your staff may have good reasons to resist the technology you introduce – perhaps they think it’s too complicated to learn, or maybe they feel it’s there to put them out of a job. But in truth, restaurants that use technology to truly support their staff gain the most from their tech and team alike – by offloading repetitive tasks, making existing tasks easier/faster/more efficient, or allowing staff to focus on more customer-facing responsibilities. Make sure your staff sees how the new scheduling software will allow them to swap shifts quickly or get paid faster. Show them how the inventory management system helps them avoid having to return to a guest’s table and apologize that an item isn’t in stock. Or how the kitchen display system helps them impress an allergic guest by getting an order precisely right each time.

At a time when restaurant operators are being stretched, it’s easy for things to fall through the cracks. As you have adapted your business in recent months and years to accommodate mobile orders and off-premise dining, have you compromised at all with regard to your methods of securing the guest data you manage? One restaurant consultant interviewed in a recent Hospitality Net report indicated that since the start of the pandemic, he has seen more restaurants cut corners on online security in an effort to make tech-driven conveniences available to guests. Threat actors tend to look for easy targets – ensuring your business has up-to-date protections in place can help you avoid being in that position amid the sharp rise in online transactions you’ve likely been processing.

You’re likely having more guests passing through your restaurant – in person and via delivered orders – than usual at this time of year. The added pressure on your staff can cause errors to happen more easily, and if those errors involve a menu item being inadvertently given to an allergic guest, it could pose a major problem for your business. Lean on tech tools to keep everyone on track when things get busy. A recent report from Restaurant Technology News suggests using tech tools to get real-time food safety reminders and updates to employees via their smartphones. It can help them keep critical information in mind and help you address any problems with noncompliance right in the moment. Your technology can also help you keep track – of order accuracy, ideal staffing levels, and performance. Collecting data in all of these areas will help you more readily identify where your weaknesses are.

There is a lot of waste – and therefore money – that can hide in your inventory. The topic loomed large in a recent survey of restaurant operators by the National Restaurant Association and the accounting software provider Sage Intacct. Inventory management systems rose to the top of the list of technologies restaurant operators are looking to implement in the next one to two years. The responses represent an evolution from how operators were feeling in the middle of the pandemic, when delivery apps and QR codes jumped in popularity. Regardless of the times, being able to manage your inventory with greater precision can be a significant boost to your efficiency. It can help you tighten up your menu and ensure that every ingredient you have on hand is pulling its weight in terms of profitability and popularity. At the same time, it can minimize the space you need to store what you serve, the amount of food coming back to the kitchen untouched, and the scraps you have to discard.

Nowadays, being a “green” company is an important brand benefit – and a compelling part of the story you can share with guests. But while being green is often associated with using sustainable suppliers or serving takeout food in compostable containers, your technology can also play a major role in how environmentally responsible you can claim to be. Restaurants can be paper-heavy businesses – from the takeout menus they generate, to the ordering pads and checklists used for tracking inventory. Any efforts you make to automate your paper processes using technology can contribute not only to your overall efficiency but also to your greenness – and the story that can help you connect with your guests.

As restaurant operators struggle with perennial challenges around labor (made more difficult in times of high inflation), more of them have turned to robots as a means of easing labor struggles for good. According to the International Federation of Robotics, which conducts an annual robot census based on global vendor data, approximately 121,000 service-sector robots were sold last year to carry out tasks ranging from transportation to vacuuming. The potential benefits have sounded appealing. Robots may offer restaurants a means of managing the shortage of workers, along with offloading labor-intensive, repetitive, time-consuming or even dangerous tasks. But as a recent Wall Street Journal article describes, the machines have been experiencing some growing pains. Companies ranging from Amazon to DoorDash are no longer operating a home-delivery robot and a salad-making robot, respectively, having found that their robots weren’t meeting their service needs or simply weren’t worth the investment. Other reviews of robots have been more mixed, with businesses interested in adopting the technology but feeling some ambivalence about investing in robots without being certain of their longterm benefits. What’s clearer is that enough companies are using robots for a variety of tasks now that lessons are due to emerge about where the machines can best meet an operator’s needs – and where they may fall short. In the meantime, focusing on smaller-scale automation – e.g. improving digital ordering, streamlining order preparation through a connected kitchen display system, or using chatbot technology to respond to calls or online requests – may be the more prudent way to go. The same goes for your employee policies, since it could take some time for businesses to determine how best to operate without a human touch – or even with a bit less of one.

Not every restaurant has the resources to invest in the latest tech. But observing what happens for those that do can offer a window into how the industry is evolving – and what consumers will begin to expect as a result. Taco Bell is now making a significant move into edge computing – technology that is currently already being used in sectors such as energy and manufacturing to make fast decisions (with help from 5G internet speeds) from data collected by connected devices. Taco Bell is using edge computing to support digital order placement, which allows it to process requests and account data using a mix of cloud services, connected devices and software at the restaurants themselves – and to do so at lightning speed, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article. A computer server at each restaurant accepts data from digital and in-person orders and loyalty accounts, then combines it with kitchen operations to make rapid decisions. In practice, this means an employee can be alerted at the precise time he needs to drop potatoes into the fryer for an order of nacho fries so they are ready just as the delivery driver arrives to collect them.

When you think about training your staff, do you consider primarily the on-the-job coaching you offer to help them do their job? If so, you could be missing a big part of what helps you build staff knowledge and retention at your restaurant. Using a combination of tech-based tools in your training program can help you build engagement, improve information retention, and minimize disruptions and gaps in institutional knowledge when long-time staff leave. As a recent Restaurant Technology News report explains, employing a combination of gamification, microlearning modules and videos can help reduce cognitive overload, help staff get up-to-speed quickly, and ensure the information sticks.