Real-Life Decision Making
"The manager's job is to make quick, intelligent decisions on how the restaurant is going to run that will maximize profit weighed against guest satisfaction," says restaurant manager Eric Brandt.
Managing a restaurant is a big job. You must face a mountain's worth of tasks and duties, many of which involve making the right decision quickly.
A restaurant manager makes dozens of decisions every day. These include everything from how much food to order to a variety of staff issues. But while decisions about food are usually pretty straightforward, staffing issues require a certain amount of tact and sensitivity.
You are the manager at a restaurant. You have 24 employees, who are generally all pretty well behaved. When anyone gets hired, you tell them that they should call ahead of time if they are running late, just so you will know that they are on their way and won't worry when they aren't there on time.
Unfortunately, you've noticed that people have started coming in late without calling. It isn't a serious problem yet, but it is happening at least once or twice a week.
In order to prevent it from becoming a serious problem, it's clear that something must be done.
On a particularly busy Friday night, Bill, a cook, comes in 10 minutes late. You spent the last 10 minutes calling his house, then trying to find someone to work the night in case Bill didn't show up at all. Now, it's already busy and you're angry.
When Bill comes in, what do you do?