Molecular Mixology

What is Molecular Mixology?????It is surprising to know a lot of Food service staff are unaware of the concept of Molecular Mixology....is it because the scientific method is not used in the organisation they work or lack of updating knowledge in their fields of work.


to the process of creating cocktails using the scientific equipment and techniques of molecular gastronomy.

These methods enable the creation of greater intensities and varieties of flavour and different ways of presenting drinks, for example using gels, powders, foams, atomized sprays etc., as well as affecting the appearance of the cocktail.

Managing people

People are an organisation’s most important assets. The tasks of a manager are essentially people-oriented. Unless there is some understanding of people, management will be unsuccessful. Poor people management is an important contributor to project failure.

People management factors:

Consistency: Team members should all be treated in a comparable way without favourites or discrimination.

Respect:Different team members have different skills and these differences should be respected.

Inclusion:Involve all team members and make sure that people’s views are considered.

Honesty:You should always be honest about what is going well and what is going badly in a project.

Managers in a company may not wish to lose people to a new project. Part-time involvement may be inevitable. Skills such as UI design and hardware interfacing are in short supply. Recent graduates may not have specific skills but may be a way of introducing new skills. Technical proficiency may be less important than social skills.

Motivating people:

An important role of a manager is to motivate the people working on a project. Motivation is a complex issue but it appears that there  are different types of motivation based on:

•         Basic needs (e.g. food, sleep, etc.);

•         Personal needs (e.g. respect, self-esteem);

•         Social needs (e.g. to be accepted as part of a group).

Need satisfaction:

Social

•         Provide communal facilities;

•         Allow informal communications.

Esteem

•         Recognition of achievements;

•         Appropriate rewards.

Self-realization

•         Training - people want to learn more;

•         Responsibility.

Training and Development

Developing people or Management development is an activity designed to improve the performance of existing managers,further fulfill the needs of the organisation in the future. A training personnel needs the right knowledge,skills and teaching/coaching abilities,experience,expertise and resources to meet training needs.

Training would normally be imparted to employees so as to improve the job performance of current employees, to multitasking staff, to raise the general level of management thinking, to provide managerial talent and excel in ones field in return benefiting the organisation.

Identification of training needs is the first step and a critical one in the training activity, most of the time job descriptions of individuals as perceived by them and their seniors is different resulting in lower levels of performance and appraisal.

Next identification of the trainer, the trainer should have sound knowledge of the subject, adapting his training styles to the audience in training, using various techniques and generating interest in the subject being dealt with, most importantly possess the attitude of openness to ideas and relating and adapting new techniques.

All good managers are not necessarily good trainers or a good supervisor on the job need not be a good trainer thus preference should be given to a person who can put across the concept and convince individuals to adapt to correct techniques.

Training material provided should have relevant details, precise and easy to understand.Training methods and techniques should contribute to maintaining interest and high degree of participation and capable of inducing knowledge.

Evaluation of training which is the most important factor as this will show the end result of training. Evaluation can be done on the job, in an appraisal on a rating scale or with a questionnaire.

Finally the training process should be well defined to meet the needs of the employer and employee mutually befitting all concerned, elevating and boosting confidence and awareness in ones self. 

Cutting Cost - Food and Beverage Service.

CENTER PIECE - Replacing floral table arrangements with edible centerpieces that feature standard desserts or fresh local fruit or even Breads.

Centerpieces can even provide entertainment value - Board games as a centerpiece that also become part of the entertainment and interaction.

•Quiz.

Puzzles

News Article - 

•About different Restaurants (Food and Beverage options)

•New dish on the menu.

•Promotion Offer.

•Discount availability.

ENTERTAINMENT - Instead of bringing in entertainment like a live band or performers , maybe you have the chef in house do a cooking demonstration that showcases local dishes and ingredients.

PORTION SIZE - 

Do you really need to have 200gm of dal cooked , or is it OK to have 180gm.

•A plated dinner actually can be less expensive than a buffet, and it's a way of having what appears to have a higher value because of how people perceive the dining experience in plated versus buffet.

It's a common misconception that buffets are cheaper.

•If you choose to do a buffet, try using smaller plates.

•The trick is to always go with smaller plates because people are going to fill their plate regardless and if you give them a smaller plate, they're less likely to consume as much," "Likewise, if you go with a plated dinner and want to use a smaller salad, put it on a smaller plate and they'll never know."

CROSS TRAINING - 

Make sure your top employees are cross-trained to handle more than one position. That way, your hotel can meet its budget goals while still providing quality service—and employees can expand their knowledge base.

•It’s also important to train across division, For example, a roomservice operator may be busy handling food orders from about 6:30-8:30 a.m., but then be relatively idle the rest of the day. Rather than train them on a completely different position, like housekeeping, have them work across departments in a similar job—like booking tee times in early afternoon or handling reservation calls once travel agents and other businesses are open.