If you want to know where your restaurant is heading, don't look at how the restaurant looks. Watch the team. If you find everyone working in their own direction, know that there is a problem. If you find a lot of coming and going, know that there is no discipline. If you find people coming to spend their time and not to work, know that the management is absent. If you find a chef working with his own ideas without a recipe, another chef making his recipe like a secret formula, a third chef holding his phone, and a fourth chef disappearing every now and then, know that operations are running by chance. And if you find cliques and personal relationships stronger than teamwork and cooperation, know that everyone is playing for themselves. At that point, you are not entering a restaurant. You are entering a market. Everyone works in their own way without a system, management, or clear operating procedures. A successful restaurant is never dependent on one person. A successful restaurant depends on a system that manages people. A successful restaurant is one where any employee working in it finds a system established from day one to follow. Mohamed El Shenawy Founder of Bait Al Matayem Consultant for establishing, operating, and developing restaurants and catering I help restaurant owners and investors evaluate, establish, develop, and operate their projects.