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The revised schedule required only 111 server-hours, compared to 154 required by the original schedule, about a 28 per cent reduction, resulting in an increase in productivity from 11.1 covers per server-hour to 15.4. The largest increase was in late supper productivity, which rose from 10.4 to 17.8. This figure is a bit misleading, however, because contingency coverage was available if needed. The old schedule had been planned to cover higher levels of business even though they may not materialize. The new schedule provides greater flexibility. The gains in other periods were more concrete. Dinner productivity increased from 9.5 to 15.5, a gain of six covers per server-hour. Breakfast showed a gain of 4.5. These productivity rates represent reasonable attainable standards for the restaurant.

Table 4.6 Table 5: Server productivity with revised schedule (weekdays only)
		Average covers	Server hours scheduled	Covers per hour
Breakfast	6.00-11.00	520	34	15.3
Lunch	11.00-14.00	450	33	13.6
Afternoon	14.00-17.00	175	9	19.4
Dinner	17.00-22.00	435	28	15.5
Late supper	22.00-1.00	125	7	17.8
Total/ average		1,705	111	15.4

Table 4.7 Table 6: Productivity by hour, revised schedule
Timeperiod	Covers	Staffing (original)	Productivity (covers per server- hour)	Staffing (revised)	Productivity (revised)
6.00-7.00	40	12	6.6*	6	13.3*
7.00-8.00	90	12	7.5	6	15.0
8.00-9.00	250	12	20.8	11	22.7
9.00-10.00	80	6	13.3	6	13.3
10.00-11.00	60	6	10.0	5	12.0
11.00-12.00	100	12	8.3	11	9.1
12.00-13.00	200	12	16.7	11	18.2
13.00-14.00	150	12	12.5	11	13.6
14.00-15.00	75	6	12.5	3	25.0
15.00-16.00	40	3	13.3	3	13.3
16.00-17.00	60	3	20.0	3	20.0
17.00-18.00	175	10	17.5	8	21.9
18.00-19.00	100	10	10.0	8	12.5
19.00-20.00	80	10	8.0	60	13.3
20.00-21.00	60	8	7.5	3	20.0
21.00-22.00	20	8	2.5	3	6.7
22.00-23.00	60	4	15.0	3	20.0
23.00-24.00	40	4	10.0	2	20.0
24.00-1.00	25	4	6.25	2	12.5
Total/ average	1,705	154	11.1	111	15.4
* For first half hour of service (after set-up time)

Table 4.8 Table 7: Cover counts by day of week
		Mon.	Tues.	Wed.	Thu.	Fri.	Sat.
Breakfast	6.30-11.00	545	532	545	528	450	226
Lunch	11.00-14.00	436	427	445	463	479	483
Afternoon	14.00-17.00	140	164	186	194	191	243
Dinner	17.00-22.00	417	429	445	437	447	324
Late supper	22.00-1.00	80	100	125	150	170	221
Total		1,618	1,652	1,746	1,772	1,737	1,515

We can take this analysis one step further. These productivity rates were established on the basis of averages. Averages are combinations of low values and high values. The covers served by day of the week are shown in Table 7. Generally the figures are quite consistent. However, several are out of line. Friday breakfast is quite a bit lower than the rest of the weekdays. If this is a regular occurrence, our standard reflects lower productivity for that meal period. On Monday, business also seems to slacken after lunch. For late supper there is a wide range between the lowest day and the highest. Saturday, which we have not considered so far, shows a very different pattern of business. Separate standards could be set up for Saturday, using the same methodology the manager applied in developing weekday schedules and standards.

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