How to Become a Better Restaurant Manager: Skills, KPIs & Tools

To become a better restaurant manager, you need strong leadership quality, improved operational efficiency, and the ability to take data-driven decisions. This all combines to make a good restaurant manager and helps to run a successful restaurant business. In 2026, the responsibility of a restaurant manager has changed. Now, it is not only limited to managing daily operations and supervising the staff. Here, we will give proven ideas on how to become a better restaurant manager. So, walk with us and become a better restaurant manager.

Who is a Restaurant Manager?

A restaurant manager is a person who oversees the entire restaurant operation and makes sure the restaurant runs smoothly. They are one of the most crucial parts of a restaurant.

However, the daily activities of a restaurant are managed and supervised by managers. A restaurant manager also handles any kinds of emergencies in the entire restaurant. Both the front and back of house management are also the manager's duties.

The main tasks of a restaurant manager are to make menu choices, check food quality, check raw material quality, and measure customer satisfaction. A restaurant manager is a professional person who ensures high-quality dining services.

Essential Restaurant Manager Skills

Every leader must have some specific skills and attributes. A skilled leader can help any business or organization to reach its goals. However, a restaurant manager is the leader of a restaurant. What skills do you need to be a restaurant manager? It is a fundamental question for those who want to build their career as a restaurant manager. Here, we have discussed some essential skills that are very important for a restaurant manager.

Excellent Communication Skill 

A person with excellent communication skills is highly effective for any business or organization. One of the significant duties of a restaurant manager is to communicate with the customers, employees and others. So, having a solid communication skills is very essential for managing a restaurant. Excellent communication skills help to create a positive work environment. Communicating skills may build good relationships with customers that encourage them to revisit restaurants.

Positive Attitude and Motivation

A positive attitude promotes success and excellence in business. Having a manager with a positive attitude is essential to maintain a restaurant environment. It can also help the staff to work hard when the work pressure is high. On the other hand, a manager with a negative attitude can change the entire restaurant scenario, including customers and staff. A positive attitude and motivation is always considered a strong base point for any restaurant manager.

Financial Management

Financial management is another key skill of a restaurant manager. As a manager, you should have the ability to control prime cost, forecast sales, and other financial statements. When a manager has strong financial management skills, he can definitely operate the restaurant more smartly. Simply, financial management means the manager has the ability to understand restaurant money, including profit and loss.

Problem Solving

At the time of managing a restaurant, you may find different kinds of problems. These problems can be between the employees, suppliers or customers. So the manager must solve these problems. A restaurant manager with good problem-solving skills can handle the issues better with fewer complications. In this problem-solving criteria, you may have to face emergency medical issues, food shortages, and violence. Having intense problem solving skills can help to make instant decisions to solve problems.

Multitasking skill

As a restaurant manager, you have multiple responsibilities to handle at the same time. These responsibilities could be interacting with guests, dealing with suppliers, discussing with staff and so on. If you can handle multiple tasks, you may choose a restaurant manager job. But keep in mind that while performing multitasking responsibilities, you have to keep calm and quiet. While performing multitasking, try to reduce errors and do it properly.

Team Work

A restaurant runs through teamwork. To run a successful restaurant takes a lot of work, challenging and stressful. The restaurant has different parts, and every part has different criteria, responsibilities and staff. Different teams maintain it. As a manager, you will have to make sure that all of the team is working well. You can also promote your teamwork by discussing the team member's strengths and weaknesses. Teamwork is considered one of the most mandatory skills to become a better restaurant manager. 

Marketing and Revenue Growth

Marketing and revenue growth are core and fundamental skills of a restaurant manager. It refers to the manager having the ability to increase restaurant sales, engage with more customers, and maximize revenue. However, marketing and revenue growth is a skill where the restaurant manager does planning and makes an executive marketing plan for social media and local marketing. When the manager does effective marketing, restaurant revenue increases and brand awareness builds.

How to Become a Better Restaurant Manager

A better restaurant manager can make a balance in leadership and operational control and create financial awareness. It involves improving communication with staff, monitoring performance through key metrics, controlling food and labor costs, and using technology such as POS systems to make data-driven decisions. A better restaurant manager also focuses on training teams, resolving issues, and adapting to industry trends.

So, let's get to know how to become a better restaurant manager.

Create a Clear Operational Plan

A successful restaurant business comes with a clear operational plan. You can create a daily, weekly, or monthly plan by covering the entire restaurant operations. It helps with better staff management, inventory control, and increased sales. Moreover, a clear operational plan also improves accountability and profit margin of a restaurant business. So, to be a better restaurant manager, you must focus on that sector. As a restaurant manager, you have to create a clear operational plan and better implementation.

Use AI Scheduling Tools

Artificial intelligence is now ruling the world. With the developed technology and invention, AI has invented different types of tools and systems. One of the most important inventions is AI shift scheduling apps. It is a tool that can automatically schedule hours for staffing. A restaurant can use real-time data to manage staff. It will reduce overtime, prevent over- or understaffing, and overall improve staff satisfaction.

Track Prime Cost Weekly

A better restaurant manager always focuses on restaurant profit. The profit is a good balance between food cost and labor cost. It is considered one of the most important metrics for restaurants. A better restaurant manager always tracks prime costs on a regular basis. When you track prime costs properly, you may solve any issues before they grow. 

Train Staff on Upselling

Upselling is a good strategy for restaurant businesses. Every restaurant manager should focus on upselling. As a manager, you must train your staff on spelling. When your staff are properly trained, they recommend the high-selling or premium menus to the customers. As a result, the total bills increase, and the restaurant makes more profits.

Be Present on the Floor

The main duty of a restaurant manager is to lead the staff from the front. As a manager, you should be visible to the guest and always ask for any need or take a review from the customers. It works positively in the restaurant business. You can easily take any initial steps if any issues occur. This is the way a manager can effectively manage the restaurant for better performance.  

Control Food & Labor Costs

Controlling food and labor costs is an essential quality of a restaurant manager. If you want to know how to become a better restaurant manager, you must know how to control food and labor costs. Food and labor costs are basically the monitoring of the portion of the menus, food wastage, supplier pricing, staff handling, etc. A manager always focuses on those terms and always makes sure to fulfill all the targets.  

Use POS Data Daily

A POS system is an essential tool in the restaurant business. Nowadays, almost every restaurant uses an advanced POS system. And the POS system provides important data on business, like sales trends, low-selling products, high-selling products, peak hours, off hours, etc. As a better restaurant manager, you must review the POS data regularly to take initial steps for restaurant operation. 

Build Strong FOH & BOH Communication

A restaurant's success depends on how smoothly the front vs. the back of the house can communicate. When the FOH and BOH can communicate easily, fewer errors happen. As a result, restaurants can provide better service, which leads to better customer satisfaction. So, when you are a restaurant manager, you must ensure both FOH and BOH communicate effectively.

Use Technology to Save Time

Technology is a blessing. Better technology means better restaurant management. A manager's main responsibility is to use advanced technology to reduce error and save time. Advanced technology includes restaurant POS software, inventory control systems, reporting dashboards, etc. So, to be a better restaurant manager, you must follow the trends and use better technology for better performance. 

Stay Calm Under Pressure

A restaurant is a very busy place, and the manager holds the maximum responsibility. He has to oversee both the front house and the back house, the staff, the profits, and the customers. So, the manager should have to work under pressure. If you really want to be a better restaurant manager, you must stay calm under pressure. A better manager always kept the same tone for the entire team.

Key Responsibilities of a Restaurant Manager

A restaurant manager's duties cover all areas of the restaurant. He has a lot of responsibilities, which cover everything from daily operations to planning and business reporting and managing relationships with customers, staff, and suppliers. Here, we outline the key responsibilities of a restaurant manager.

Let's find out the responsibility and learn how to become a better restaurant manager.

• Leadership 
• Market Research
• Accounting and Finance
• Hiring and Training Staff
• Ensuring Customer Satisfaction
• Inventory Management
• Marketing and Advertising
• Planning Menus and Pricing
• Food Quality Maintaining

Leadership

Leadership is one of the most critical responsibilities of a restaurant manager. He has to lead the restaurant. He is the head of the team. As the head of the team, he has to give direction to the team members. A restaurant manager needs to organize daily work activities so that the restaurant can run smoothly. A good leader can run a business very effectively without any hassle. Good leadership can maintain a healthy relationship with the other team members.

Market Research

Researching the market is considered a solid key responsibility of a restaurant manager. These responsibilities are mainly about researching the current market to attract more customers and making more profit. Market research can be divided into two main parts.

• Target The Audience
• Competitor Analysis

1. Target The Audience

Targeting the audience is to find out who are the main customers. What are their behavioral qualities? What are their food preferences? Getting answers to this question can help to target the primary customer or audience. 

2. Competitor Analysis

Competitor analysis is to analyze the competitors in the market. As we all know, the restaurant business is very competitive, and surviving in the competitive market is very challenging. Competitor analysis should be conducted on a regular basis to stay up-to-date. 

Accounting and Finance

Keeping track of accounting and finances is an essential part of a restaurant business. These sectors can be divided into two main categories.

• Managing Financial Budget and Cost Monitoring
• Maintaining Financial Records and Reports

1. Managing Financial Budget and Cost Monitoring 

As a Restaurant manager, it's essential to keep track of the financial budget and cost monitoring. Budget management is quite tricky. Every restaurant owner wants to keep the business open and get more profit. A restaurant manager needs to make a budget by analyzing several factors, including labor cost, cost of goods sold, net operating income, profit and inventory cost.

2. Maintaining Financial Records and Reports

Making money is vital to run a successful business. It is part of a restaurant manager's job to report on business performance. It is crucial for business growth. Collecting data from restaurant management software, analyzing them and making reports is a very crucial responsibility for a restaurant manager.

Hiring and Training Staff 

Hiring and training staff is one of the significant responsibilities of a restaurant manager. He has to educate all the staff about their duties who work in the back of the restaurant, the front of the restaurant, and restaurant operations. He has to onboard new employees and make outlines for their responsibilities. Along with this, he has to provide training for new employees and ensure that all of the staff is working well.

Ensuring Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction should be maintained as per restaurant standards. Customer satisfaction responsibilities include attending to guests, dealing with issues, and collecting feedback. When a customer faces any issues, the manager's responsibility is to attend to the guest, find out the issues, and solve the problems as early as possible. He needs to make sure that customers are delighted with their services.

Inventory Management

Inventory management means that the restaurant and kitchen are stocked with everything that is needed to maintain staff and dining. A manager will have to make sure that the restaurant kitchen is stocked with the right amount of food. He needs to check on inventory variance, like the difference between the actual cost and the recorded cost of the ingredients. Moreover, he should also keep track of any kinds of food stolen, low-stock ingredients, or over-portioned, wasted, or stolen food.

Advertising and Marketing 

The main motive for a restaurant is making more profit. For this purpose, you need to do more marketing and advertising. So that people know about your restaurant. You will have to make sure that all seats are totaled. You may use different types of social sites to optimize visibility on search engines or random advertisements. This responsibility is significant for a restaurant manager.

Planning Menus and Pricing

Menus or food item variations are one of the significant factors for a restaurant. Nowadays, people are obese with different types of food. So, planning menus for restaurants is a tough decision. Choosing food items and adjusting their pricing according to the demographic is very important. The restaurant manager will research and create food and beverage menus in cooperation with the head chef.

Food Quality Maintaining and Sanitation

Meeting health and food safety regulations is a crucial part of operating a restaurant business. Along with food quality, he also needs to make sure that the entire restaurant, from kitchen to sanitation, is neat and clean. They ensure the overall safety of the restaurant environment.

Frequently Asked Question(FAQs)

How Do You Manage a Busy Restaurant?

Managing a busy restaurant can be challenging. To manage a busy restaurant, you need a proper management plan, well-trained staff, work coordination, and advanced technologies. With this combination, you can manage a busy restaurant very quickly.

How to Manage Restaurant Staff Well?

To manage restaurant staff well, you need proper management skills. First of all, you need to make sure that the staff feels valued. Always try to keep a positive attitude on your face to make a positive impact on staff. Be considerate and compassionate and allow independence at work.

How Much Can a Restaurant Manager Earn?

A restaurant manager's earnings may vary from country to country. But, In the United States, a restaurant manager's average salary is $56,864 as of August 27, 2023. But this range typically changes. The overall salary range falls between $51,638 to $63,952. It varies due to work experience, certification, additional skills or number of years spent in this field.

Final Thought

A restaurant manager is a position that is full of responsibilities. A person with high passion, strong management skills, and high dedication can be a better restaurant manager. Most people start their careers from a lower position, like the head of sales, food and beverage coordinator, or assistant restaurant manager. As they gain experience, their position goes up. Finally, they can get the chance to be a restaurant manager. This is how a restaurant manager's career can start. So, if you have a passion for working in a restaurant, you must learn how to become a better restaurant.