Your team works with numbers every day, but which figures do they find important? By involving your staff in choosing KPIs and reports, you increase their engagement and gain valuable insights from the field. In this article, you'll learn how to determine together with your team which figures you want to see daily.
Why let your team think about numbers?
Your chef knows exactly which ingredients have become expensive. Your servers see which dishes come back often. Your dishwasher knows how much gets thrown away. By asking for their input, you get a more complete picture of your business.
💡 Example:
Restaurant De Zon organized a team meeting about numbers:
- Chef wanted to see cutting waste per supplier
- Servers wanted revenue per table and average check
- Dishwasher wanted to track waste per day
- Owner wanted total food cost per week
Result: everyone looked at 'their' figure and improved their work
Organize a numbers session with your team
Schedule a 45-minute meeting where you determine together which figures are useful. Make it interactive and let everyone have a say. No judgment, just curiosity about their perspective.
Start with the question: "What are you curious about in our restaurant?" You'll be surprised by the answers. Many staff members think about costs and efficiency, but rarely get the chance to share this.
⚠️ Note:
Don't share confidential figures like your total profit or staff costs. Focus on operational figures where they have influence.
Which figures interest which roles?
Different roles have different interests. By taking this into account, you make figures more relevant:
- Kitchen: food cost per dish, cutting waste, waste, most popular dishes
- Servers: revenue per shift, average check, number of covers, upselling results
- Bar: pour cost, most popular drinks, revenue per hour
- General: daily revenue, customer satisfaction, occupancy rate
💡 Example:
Brasserie Het Plein let the team choose from 12 possible figures:
- Kitchen chose: waste per day and food cost top 5 dishes
- Servers chose: revenue per shift and average check
- Owner chose: weekly food cost and occupancy rate
Total: 6 figures that were reviewed daily
Make figures accessible and understandable
Figures are only useful if your team understands them. Explain what a figure means and why it's important. A food cost of 32% means little if you don't know that 35% is the limit.
Use visual aids like charts or color codes. Green for good, orange for attention, red for action needed. That way everyone sees at a glance how things stand.
Weekly figures check with the team
Organize a short 10-minute meeting every week where you discuss the chosen figures. What stands out? What's going well? Where can we focus?
- Discuss trends: "Our food cost has been dropping for 3 weeks"
- Celebrate successes: "You've cut waste in half"
- Ask questions: "Why was Tuesday such a good day?"
- Ask for ideas: "How can we do this even better?"
⚠️ Note:
Don't use figures to punish, but to improve. If food cost is too high, you find solutions together.
Digital dashboards that everyone can read
With a system like KitchenNmbrs you can create different dashboards for different roles. The chef sees their figures, the servers see theirs. Everyone has access to information that's relevant to them.
The advantage of digital figures is that they're always up to date. No outdated lists on the wall, but real-time insight into how you're performing as a team.
How do you organize a numbers session? (step by step)
Schedule a 45-minute team meeting
Choose a quiet moment, for example before the shift starts. Make sure all departments are represented: kitchen, servers, bar. Make clear that this isn't a meeting to evaluate performance, but to determine together which information is useful.
Ask your team the right questions
Start with: "What are you curious about in our restaurant?" Let everyone give answers. Ask follow-up questions: "Which figures would help you do your job better?" Write down all suggestions without judgment.
Select 4-6 most important figures together
Vote as a team on which figures are most valuable. Don't choose too many (max 6) to maintain clarity. Explain each chosen figure and why it's important for the restaurant.
✨ Pro tip
Start with one figure per person and let them work with it for a week. If they get enthusiastic, you can add more figures. Engagement grows gradually.
Calculate this yourself?
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Frequently asked questions
How many figures should I share with my team?
Start with 4-6 figures that are directly relevant to their work. Too many figures cause confusion, too few cause lack of insight. You can always expand later as the team gets used to working with numbers.
What if my team isn't interested in figures?
Start small and make it personally relevant. Show how figures make their work easier. For example: "By tracking waste, you won't have to fetch extra ingredients as often." Focus on benefits for them, not for you.
Which figures should I not share with my staff?
Don't share confidential financial information like total profit, staff costs, or your personal income. Focus on operational figures where they have influence: food cost, waste, revenue per shift, customer satisfaction.
How often should I discuss figures with the team?
Organize a short 10-minute meeting every week to discuss trends. You can share figures daily via a dashboard or whiteboard, but don't discuss them daily - that becomes tiring.
What if figures show poor performance?
Never use figures to punish, always to improve. Ask questions: "What do you think caused this?" and "How can we solve this together?" Make it a shared challenge rather than a reproach.
📚 Sources consulted
- EU Verordening 852/2004 — Levensmiddelenhygiëne (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 853/2004 — Hygiënevoorschriften voor levensmiddelen van dierlijke oorsprong (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 1169/2011 — Voedselinformatie aan consumenten (2011) — Official source
- NVWA — Hygiënecode voor de horeca (2024) — Official source
- NVWA — Allergenen in voedsel (2024) — Official source
- Codex Alimentarius — International Food Standards (2024) — Official source
- FSA — Safer food, better business (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- BVL — Lebensmittelhygiene (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- Warenwetbesluit Bereiding en behandeling van levensmiddelen (2024) — Official source
- WHO — Foodborne diseases estimates (2024) — Official source
Food Standards Agency (FSA) — https://www.food.gov.uk
The HACCP standards shown in this application are for informational purposes only. KitchenNmbrs does not guarantee that displayed values are current or complete. Always consult the FSA or your local authority for the latest regulations.
Written by
Jeffrey Smit
Founder & CEO of KitchenNmbrs
Jeffrey Smit built KitchenNmbrs from 8 years of hands-on experience as kitchen manager at 1NUL8 Group in Rotterdam. His mission: give every restaurant owner control over food cost.
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