Questions district managers ask about visits, calls and one-on-ones
These are the questions district and area managers ask before they buy a guide.
Each answer gives you one rule, one step or one thing to ask. Use it today.
How long should a unit visit be?
Pick the length from the purpose. Thirty minutes covers one conversation or one agreement. It cannot cover a shift. Sixty minutes covers one focus and a short walk. Ninety minutes covers part of a shift and a debrief. One hundred twenty minutes covers a full piece of work and a debrief, with no room for a second topic. Write the length down before you drive, and tell the manager.
The fuller answer is in District Manager Unit Visit Checklist.
Should I announce a unit visit?
It depends on what you need to see. Announce it when you need the manager and the right people there. You lose the unprepared view. Do not announce it when you need to see a usual shift, because an announced visit may not show it. Either way, tell the manager the purpose, the type and the length in the pre-brief or in the first minute. Ask what the manager would read into a visit with no warning.
The fuller answer is in District Manager Unit Visit Checklist.
How many things should I cover on one visit?
One. List the key numbers and mark the one furthest off target. If the manager can move it before your next visit, keep it. If not, keep the item they can move. Park the rest with a date to look at it again. Then write one sentence: on this visit I will work on one area so that something is different by a date. If any answer is it depends, the purpose has two parts. Cut one.
The fuller answer is in District Manager Unit Visit Checklist.
Can I check standards and develop a manager on the same visit?
Keep them apart. When one visit develops and judges at once, the manager may hear only the judging. If a check is due before your next visit, give it its own visit on its own date. If the development visit comes first, tell the manager the check comes later and this is not it. A safety, legal or pay problem gets handled at once, by the route your brand sets.
The fuller answer is in District Manager Unit Visit Checklist.
How often should I visit each unit?
Not evenly. Sort every unit into three piles: more of your time, steady time, or less. Sort on what the unit needs from you and what you agreed with the manager, not on how you rate the manager. Then set a visit rhythm and a call rhythm for each pile from the hours you really have. A unit moves up a pile on a trigger you can see, such as a missed number or a new manager.
The fuller answer is in Director of Operations Visit Frequency Guide.
How do I run a weekly call with my managers?
Keep the same order every week so managers can prepare. Each manager sends a written update the day before: one status line, one number and one blocker. Open the call with the blockers, not the good news. Then go through open items, each with an owner and a due date. Each manager types their own next step into the shared note before logging off. Anything that needs a debate is parked with a name and a date.
The fuller answer is in Area Manager Weekly Call Agenda.
What do I do when a restaurant is struggling?
Look outside the manager first. Some units struggle because of the site, the market or what the manager inherited, and a strong manager would struggle there too. Then list what was already tried and how long each fix held. Then list the levers you hold: schedule, budget, training and your own visits. Write all of it before you settle on a cause. Do not take the first explanation you are offered.
The fuller answer is in District Manager Struggling Restaurant Diagnosis.
What do I ask in a first one-on-one with a manager I now lead?
Decide nothing in the room. Before you sit down, write what you assume the manager wants kept and changed, so you can tell what you assumed from what you heard. In the room, say what the hour is for: to hear what they want kept, what they want changed, and what they hope and worry about. Ask what the unit does every shift that they would not want to lose. Write their words as said.
The fuller answer is in Area Manager Questions.
Try two pages first.
The cover and one worksheet page from the New District Manager Worksheet. No email needed.
Buying for a team or several units? See licences for teams and organizations.