Digital Checklists, 6 Ways They’ll Improve Your Restaurant Now
Digital checklists improve your restaurant in six ways, from less paper and faster training to a clear record of who did each task and lower liability.
Key takeaways
- Moving opening, closing and cleaning lists to a phone or tablet ends printing and filing, and one edit updates the list for every shift.
- Each completed task is saved with the time and the name of the person who did it, so you can confirm the ovens were cleaned without being on site.
- New hires can follow the checklist and linked training documents on their own instead of needing a manager at their side.
- Logging temperatures and equipment checks digitally keeps a complete record ready for the health inspector and lowers your liability.
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A digital checklist improves your restaurant in six ways: it cuts paper costs and waste, speeds up training, makes staff more efficient, shows who did each task and when, makes managing easier (even from another location), and lowers your liability by keeping health and safety checks on record. Digital checklists for restaurants replace the binder and clipboard with a list your team completes on a phone or tablet.
As a restaurant owner or manager, you already know the obstacles between you and a smooth operation. You don’t need more statistics about restaurant failures; you live that reality every day. What helps is making the daily routine simpler.
If you want better efficiency and accountability, a staff that stays organized and on track, and smoother day-to-day operations, one small change in how you work can bring big results: moving your checklists from paper to digital. Below, we go through the benefits of using a digital checklist in your restaurant operations.
Benefits of Using a Digital Checklist in Your Restaurant
Even today, many restaurants still use pen and paper for their checklists. Maybe you’re one of them and happy with your current system.
But the binder method is outdated for a reason. It adds costs to your budget, leads to miscommunication, and can cause friction between staff members. Whether you’re a restaurant owner, operator, manager or director of operations, a digital checklist changes how the day runs.
A health inspection checklist kept on a digital system helps you hold on to a good inspection score, because every check is recorded when it happens.
Operators who switch to digital restaurant checklists often wish they had done it sooner, because managers spend far less time collecting, checking and chasing paper. In an already complex industry, the technology to simplify your job (and your life) is available. Use it.
- Reduce costs and waste
- Save time on training
- Increase staff efficiency
- Improve accountability and transparency
- Streamline your management
- Decrease liability by ensuring health and safety compliance
1. Reduce costs and waste
If you still use binders, paper and pens to keep track of your restaurant operations, it is costing you money. With a digital checklist, you cut printing and storage costs, free up space and create less waste.
A paperless system also saves you the hassle of printing and handing out a physical list to every staff member. When you need to make changes (and you will), you update the list once and get on with your day.
A digital checklist lowers your costs and gives you time to focus on other parts of your restaurant. It can also improve food safety and overall sustainability.
2. Save time on training
Training new staff takes time, especially when you are short-handed. A digital onboarding checklist can save you a lot of that time while you run structured onboarding.
With an easy-to-use system in place, you can show new staff your procedures quickly. Write a clear, simple training manual, plus a list of the tasks that need to be done. Your team can then refer to the checklist and complete their duties without constant supervision.
You can also see how each new employee is getting on and step in with extra support when they need it. That matters when restaurants are struggling to find and keep good employees.
3. Increase staff efficiency
In 2022, the National Restaurant Association reported that 7 out of 10 restaurant operators were understaffed and facing labor challenges. When every procedure is in one easy-to-reach place, your staff know exactly what needs to be done and when.
New hires get up to speed quickly, and the rest of the team performs better too. Digital restaurant checklists help people work more efficiently, communicate better and avoid time-wasting confusion.
Productivity goes up when line cooks follow a kitchen maintenance checklist that keeps the kitchen running smoothly, dishwashers and janitors keep things sanitary, and servers give great customer service. Every minute counts.
4. Improved accountability and transparency
Digital checklists bring many benefits to restaurant operations. Perhaps the most obvious is that they help you keep track of the work. With a digital system, you can see who did what, and when, as it happens.
This helps most if you are always on the go or manage more than one location. You can keep everyone on the same page whether you are in the kitchen or choosing a new olive oil 1,000 miles away.
Find out whether the ovens have been cleaned, the garlic has been diced and the walk-in has been checked. You can open your checklists from anywhere, at any time, and stay organized. Don’t get ready; stay ready.
5. Streamline your management
Running a restaurant is no small feat. Many moving parts have to come together for everything to run smoothly, and from the kitchen to the front of house there is a lot to manage every day.
Operators are always looking for ways to improve efficiency and accountability among their staff. This is where digital checklists come in handy.
With a digital checklist, you can keep track of what needs to be done and when, wherever you are. Update and change lists as soon as something changes. Assign tasks to different members of your team and improve team communication. A digital checklist keeps you organized, and it also helps you be a more effective manager.
6. Decrease liability by ensuring health and safety compliance
Running a restaurant carries a lot of liability. That is true whether you run a traditional restaurant, a cloud kitchen or a shared kitchen.
If you manage with a pen-and-paper checklist, you are on call around the clock. You won’t know whether the oven was turned off, the hood was cleaned or the freezer door was closed until it’s too late.
A digital checklist keeps everyone on the same page as the shift happens, which matters even more if you share your space with other businesses. It helps the restaurant owner and the other concepts in the kitchen alike.
When your business is always up to code, you protect health and safety compliance. You also stay ahead by servicing your equipment on schedule and avoiding downtime. A clean, well-run kitchen carries less liability (and is much more successful) for everyone involved.
These six benefits are only part of how digital checklists can improve your restaurant operations. You can also use them to log temperatures, protect food safety and keep up with equipment maintenance.
A digital system increases accountability and efficiency, not only for your staff but for you as well. The result is a smoother operation and better profits.
Choosing a Digital Checklist for Your Restaurant
If you want to simplify how you manage your restaurant, a digital checklist is a must. Not all of them are equal, though. Free templates are a good start, but a checklist app adds due times, a record of who did each task, and reports you can’t get from a printed page.
MaintainIQ is a digital checklist app built for restaurants, covering everything from opening and closing to cleaning, sanitizing and temperature logs, with each completed checklist showing who submitted it and when. You can keep training files, manuals and spec sheets in its document library so every instruction is clear. It runs on iPhone, iPad and Android in English and Spanish, and it is priced per location with unlimited users. See whether this operations app for single and multi-location operators fits your restaurant.