It's All About the Team

“What do you think about it?”

“I like it”, I replied.

He nods and says “Why?”

I paused. I’ve spent hours collecting my thoughts in preparation for my stage on February 20^th, 2010 at a three-star Michelin ranked restaurant in the heart of New York City. Hours gathering together strengths and weaknesses about myself, reasons I was drawn to the restaurant, and so on. After I paused, there were of those brief three seconds where over a thousand thoughts run through one’s mind, in attempts to properly articulate exactly what I wanted to say.

“It’s all about the teamwork, the way they all are working together is such a beautiful thing”. I said this as I looked around the kitchen, noticing the chef de parties at each station, working faster than I’ve ever seen before. Thomas Keller agreed with me. In our discussion, he compared it to basketball, how each member of that team is a key part to successfully winning a game. That was the highlight of my day, and he slyly noted, “It should have been the highlight of my month!”

In Supervision in the Hospitality Industry, Chapter 7 describes teamwork. Defining what a team is and the importance of working together in a cohesive manner. “A team is a special kind of group. Teams are task oriented work groups; they can evolve or be appointed” (Supervision in the Hospitality Industry, Chapter 7, pg 224). February 20^th, I was in awe at the way this team have come together, day after day to working meticulously to achieve a certain goal. The respect for each other, the food and themselves are all equally important in the ambiance and energy level set in the kitchen.

The section titled Working Together defines team norms. These norms are constantly evolving. It’s partly about the individual, but it’s more about the whole. This industry is about growth, a restaurant’s growth, growth as an individual and up keeping the standards set forth. The importance of following the norms and learning everything that this restaurant has been evolving to standardize the norms preventing backtracking is of tremendous importance and a key part in developing a successful team.