Not a fan of waiting...

Working as a greeter at a busy restaurant that is only open for dinner and has 33 table, we are faced with a wait pretty much every evening. There is nothing more that a guest hates to hear more than "We are on a 45 minute wait, can I have your name please?".

Each night I dread going into work because I know there will at least be one unhappy party because they had to wait a little longer than expected. Don't get me wrong, I have been in their shoes and understand it's not fun waiting for a table when you are starving. But sometimes, people decide to sit and talk and there's nothing we can do about it.

Tonight was one of those nights where everyone decided they wanted to sit for hours and we were over quote with those who were waiting for a table. While looking around the lobby, I made an attempt to honestly pay attention to body language to see who was happy and who was not. Even though we were over quote on a few parties, you could tell that one was particularly not happy. Their arms were crossed, the eye brows were furrowed and their kept staring in our direction.

All the other greeters weren't paying attention and in my opinion probably wouldn't have noticed that they were unhappy unless they came over to talk to us. By taking on my challenge and paying attention to their body language, I walked over to let them know that tables were sitting longer than expected and that we would get them seated as soon as possible. The shear fact that I noticed that they were unhappy without them even having to mention anything to me eased their discomfort.

There might be something to this challenge that might actually work. Here's to my first night of success of observing body language at work.