Scenario: Terra Rossa Restaurant & Bar

As a manager at Terra Rossa Restaurant & Bar in Melbourne, you are responsible for managing the restaurant staff, resolving any conflicts with customers and within the staff members, and ensuring that the restaurant provides high-quality Italian cuisine, drinks, and accommodation services.

With the arrival of the Footy season, you anticipate a significant increase in customer inflow, and as such, you have put measures in place to ensure that any customer is catered to within 2 minutes of their arrival and served delicious food and drinks within 15 minutes of order. You have a total of 15 staff on Fridays and Saturdays, including 4 chefs, 3 bar attendants, 3 support staff/kitchen hands, and 5 waitresses.

One day, on Footy Friday, you notice that a customer is not happy with the food quality and is claiming that their food did not arrive on time. The customer is misbehaving with your staff and using abusive language towards them, even threatening them. Your staff is trying to resolve the issue, but the customer's tone is too loud, and they are not willing to listen to anything.

Your staff member, who is handling the situation, escalates it to you, and as a manager, it is your responsibility to handle the conflict and ensure that the situation is resolved amicably.

To begin with, you must identify the root cause of the conflict and take appropriate measures to prevent the situation from escalating further. This may involve talking to the customer and trying to understand their grievances, showing empathy towards their situation, and using different conflict-resolution techniques to de-escalate the situation.

It is also crucial to ensure the safety of your staff members and provide them with the support they need to handle the conflict. This may involve providing them with additional training on how to handle difficult customers or giving them access to resources and tools that can help them manage conflicts more effectively.

As a manager, you must also follow the organization's policies and procedures to manage the conflict. This may involve reviewing the policies and procedures and identifying areas that need improvement, such as the customer service protocols, conflict-resolution processes, and staff training programs.

It is also essential to act as a role model and take responsibility for resolving the conflict. This may involve taking a proactive approach to addressing the situation and ensuring that all stakeholders involved in the conflict are heard and their needs are met.

Evaluating the impact of the conflict on the business and other customers is also important. This may involve conducting a review of the restaurant's performance, looking at customer feedback and reviews, and analyzing any data that can help you identify areas that need improvement.

To resolve the conflict, it is important to discuss with the customer and evaluate different options to resolve the conflict. This may involve providing a refund, offering a complimentary meal, or providing a discount on future orders.

It is also important to check whether any legal actions need to be taken, such as filing a police report or seeking legal advice from an attorney.

Once you have implemented the best solutions to resolve the conflict, you must complete an incident report detailing the date of the incident, the staff members involved, the action taken, and the impact of the conflict.

In summary, as a manager at Terra Rossa Restaurant & Bar, you must have excellent conflict-resolution skills, strong communication skills, and a proactive approach to managing conflicts with customers and within the staff members. By following the organization's policies and procedures and acting as a role model, you can ensure that the restaurant provides high-quality services to customers and creates a positive working environment for the staff members.

You are required to fill in the Incident Report provided to evaluate the effectiveness of the solutions and identify any further action that may need to be taken.

Incident Report

Date: [insert date of the incident]

Incident: [brief description of the incident, including the root cause of the conflict and parties involved]

Staff Involved: [list the names and roles of the staff members involved in the incident]

Action Taken: [detail the steps taken to resolve the conflict, including communication with the customer and staff, conflict-resolution techniques employed, and any other measures taken to ensure the safety of staff and customers]

Impact of Conflict: [describe the impact of the conflict on the business and other customers, including any complaints received, damage to the restaurant's reputation, or financial losses incurred]

Evaluation and Reflection:

To evaluate and reflect on the conflict resolution, the student should cover the following points:

1. Communication: The student should discuss how they communicated with the customer and staff members involved in the conflict. They should reflect on their communication skills and identify areas for improvement.
2. Effectiveness of Strategies: The student should evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented resolution strategies. They should analyze the impact of the conflict on customer satisfaction, staff safety, and the business's performance. They should also consider alternative approaches that could have been employed in the resolution process and assess their potential effectiveness in comparison to the chosen strategies.
3. Causes of Conflict: The student should determine the underlying causes of the conflict. They should investigate the causes, such as delays in food delivery or miscommunication between staff and customers.
4. Recommendations: The student should develop recommendations for workplace enhancements and improvements to address the identified causes of conflict. They should consider strategies such as staff training, policy revisions, or changes to communication channels.
5. Communication of Findings: The student should communicate their findings and recommendations to relevant stakeholders, such as supervisors, managers, or HR personnel, to contribute to the ongoing improvement of the workplace environment.
6. Overall Reflection: The student should reflect on their overall performance and skills during the conflict resolution process. They should identify areas of strength and areas for improvement in their conflict resolution and communication skills.