Principles and Functions of Managing a Food Service Organization

Ever walked into a café on a busy Saturday morning and felt a sense of calm, organized energy? Your coffee order is taken smoothly, the barista is gliding through drink orders, and tables are cleared efficiently. Now, think about the opposite: a restaurant where servers are running into each other, the kitchen is shouting, and your order is lost in the shuffle. The difference isn’t just luck or the quality of the coffee. It’s management. In the fast-paced, high-pressure world of food service, management is the invisible framework that holds everything together, turning potential chaos into a symphony of good service.

But what is this “management” exactly? It’s not just one person being “the boss.” It’s a set of proven ideas and active jobs. Think of it as having two parts: the principles (the “why” or the guiding beliefs) and the functions (the “how” or the actions you take). Let’s break down how these two parts come together to create a successful food service organization.

The guiding ‘why’: Principles of management 🔗

In the early 20th century, a French engineer named Henri Fayol revolutionized how we think about business. He proposed a set of 14 principles of management that are not rigid rules, but flexible guidelines. While he was thinking about mines and factories, his ideas are incredibly relevant to running a restaurant, bakery, or catering business today. While we won’t cover all 14, let’s look at the most critical ones for food service.

Division of work 🔗

This is the idea of specialization. Instead of having one person try to do everything-take the order, cook the meal, pour the drink, and run the cash register-you divide the labor. In a kitchen, this is the brigade de cuisine system: you have a saucier (sauce chef), a grillardin (grill chef), and a pâtissier (pastry chef). Each person becomes an expert at their station. This specialization increases speed, consistency (the steak is always grilled perfectly), and overall efficiency. A well-run front-of-house does the same, with hosts, servers, and bussers each owning their specific roles.

Authority and responsibility 🔗

This principle states that with authority (the right to give orders) comes responsibility (accountability for the outcome). A head chef has the authority to tell the line cooks what to do, but they are also responsible for every plate that leaves the kitchen. If a dish is sent back, the chef is ultimately accountable. This balance is crucial. Giving a shift manager the responsibility to “increase sales” without giving them the authority to offer a “special” or train staff is setting them up for failure.

Unity of command 🔗

This is simple but vital: each employee should receive orders from only one superior. Imagine a server who is told by the floor manager to clear table five, by the bartender to run drinks to table two, and by the head chef to stop taking orders because the kitchen is backed up. The server is now frozen, confused, and stressed. This principle prevents conflicting instructions and clarifies priorities. In a food service setting, the server should report to the floor manager, the line cook to the sous chef, and so on up the chain.

Unity of direction 🔗

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This principle means that a group of activities with the same objective should be directed by one manager using one plan. For example, if a restaurant decides to launch a “Spring Vegan Menu,” this is a single objective. The unity of direction means one manager (perhaps the head chef or F&B director) creates one plan that coordinates everyone. The kitchen (recipe development), the bar (vegan wine pairings), and marketing (social media promotion) all work in harmony toward that single goal, rather than running in different directions.

Subordination of individual interest to general interest 🔗

The goals of the organization must always come before the goals of an individual. A classic restaurant example is the “best station.” A senior server might want the high-traffic, 6-table station every night because it guarantees the best tips (individual interest). However, the manager knows that rotating stations is fairer to all staff, prevents burnout, and ensures all sections of the restaurant get equally good service (general interest). A good manager helps staff see why the team’s success ultimately benefits everyone.

Esprit de corps 🔗

This is a French term that means “team spirit.” A manager’s job is to build morale and a sense of unity. In the high-stress environment of a kitchen, where tensions can run high, this is essential. A manager who uses “divide and conquer” or publicly blames individuals creates a toxic culture. A manager who fosters esprit de corps-perhaps with a pre-shift huddle, celebrating a “server of the week,” or ensuring the front-of-house and back-of-house teams respect each other-creates a place where people *want* to work. This harmony is felt by the customers.

The active ‘how’: Functions of management 🔗

If principles are the “why,” functions are the “how.” These are the active verbs of management-the jobs a manager must do every single day. The classic framework includes planning, organizing, directing, coordinating, and controlling.

1. Planning 🔗

This is the foundation. Planning is the process of thinking ahead and deciding on a course of action. It’s not just “what are we doing for dinner tonight?” It’s multi-layered.

• Strategic Planning (Long-term): Where do we want the business to be in 3 years? Examples: “We will open a second location,” or “We will become the top-rated catering company in the city.”
• Tactical Planning (Mid-term): What do we need to do this year to achieve our strategic plan? Example: “We will develop a catering menu and marketing package by Q3.”
• Operational Planning (Short-term): This is the daily, weekly, and monthly work. Examples: Creating the weekly staff schedule, planning the menu for an upcoming banquet, or creating a cleaning rota.

Without planning, a food service business is just reacting to problems all day. With good planning, it can anticipate challenges (like a big holiday rush) and prepare for them.

2. Organizing 🔗

Once you have a plan, you must organize your resources to make it happen. This is all about building the structure. In food service, organizing involves:

• Allocating tasks: This goes back to the “division of work.” Who is responsible for what?
• Creating an organizational chart: Who reports to whom? This establishes the “scalar chain” and “unity of command.”
• Designing workflow: How should the kitchen be laid out to minimize steps? Where should the POS terminals be placed for maximum efficiency?

A well-organized restaurant feels intuitive. The server knows exactly where to get clean glasses, the cook knows where every ingredient is, and the customer gets their food faster.

3. Directing (or leading) 🔗

This is the human-to-human function. You can have a perfect plan and a perfectly organized restaurant, but if your team is unmotivated or confused, you will fail. Directing, or leading, is the art of inspiring your team to work toward the common goal. This function includes:

• Communicating: Clearly explaining the plan (like a new menu special) in a pre-shift meeting.
• Motivating: Understanding what drives your staff. Is it public recognition? Financial bonuses? A positive work environment?
• Training and coaching: Showing a new barista the right way to steam milk, or coaching a server on how to handle a customer complaint gracefully.
• Empowering: Giving staff the authority to solve problems. For example, empowering a server to offer a free dessert to an unhappy customer on the spot (authority and responsibility!).

4. Coordinating 🔗

Coordinating is the function that synchronizes all the other parts. It’s the manager’s job to ensure all the departments are working together, not in silos. In a hotel, the restaurant manager must coordinate with the front desk about large group check-ins. In a catering business, the kitchen manager must coordinate with the sales manager about a client’s specific menu requests and with the logistics manager about delivery times. Without coordination, you get chaos: the kitchen prepares a buffet for 50 people, but the logistics team was told 100.

5. Controlling and evaluating 🔗

Finally, a manager must check that the plan is actually working. The controlling function is a three-step process:

1. Setting standards: Establishing the “right” way. This can be a “standard recipe” that every cook must follow, a “standard time” for greeting a table (e.g., within 2 minutes), or a “standard cost” for a dish.
2. Measuring performance: This is where the data comes in. You measure what’s actually happening. How many customers did we serve? What was our actual food cost this week? How many complaints did we get?
3. Taking corrective action: Comparing performance to the standard and fixing what’s broken.

This is one of the most critical functions in any food service institution. A huge part of this is cost control. For example, a manager sets a standard food cost of 28%. They measure performance and find it’s at 35%. They must take corrective action: Is it portion control (are cooks using too much)? Is it waste (is food being spoiled)? Is it purchasing (is the supplier charging too much)? The same process applies to labor costs, quality standards, and hygiene. Evaluating is simply the end-of-period review of this entire process.

Putting it all together: A day in the life 🔗

Let’s see how this works in practice. Meet Alex, the new manager of “The Corner Bistro.”

On Monday, Alex sits down for planning. He sees a big convention is in town next week, so he adjusts the staff schedule (operational planning) and orders extra produce.

On Tuesday, he’s organizing. He notices the bar and the server station are always congested. He redesigns the layout, moving the glassware to a new shelf to create a better flow (organizing resources and workflow).

During the busy Friday night shift, Alex is directing. He sees a new server is overwhelmed. He quietly pulls her aside, gives a few words of encouragement, and reminds her to focus on one table at a time (motivating and coaching). He leads the pre-shift meeting, clearly explaining the night’s specials and sales goals (communicating), which builds esprit de corps.

Throughout the night, he’s coordinating. He’s the central point, telling the host to slow down on seating for 10 minutes to let the kitchen catch up (coordinating front-of-house and back-of-house).

At the end of the week, Alex is controlling. He runs the numbers. Food sales were high, but he sees that wine waste was up. He investigates and finds a new bartender isn’t preserving open bottles correctly. He schedules a new training session (taking corrective action). This evaluation then feeds back into his plan for next week’s training.

As you can see, management isn’t a title. It’s a continuous, dynamic process. The principles are the compass, and the functions are the actions that move the ship forward. In food service, mastering both is the real recipe for success.

What do you think? Think about the best dining experience you’ve ever had. Which of these principles (like division of work or esprit de corps) do you think was most visible? And which management function (like planning or controlling) do you think is the most difficult to get right in a busy kitchen?

References

1. https://www.mygreatlearning.com/blog/henri-fayol-principles-of-management/
2. https://www.bu.edu/bhr/2018/02/13/5-keys-to-successful-hospitality-leadership/
3. https://ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in/hsp05/chapter/functions-of-management-in-food-service/
4. https://www.ecpi.edu/blog/understanding-food-service-cost-controls-in-food-service-management