I love lists. We have a to-do list at the bakery every day. It's called THE list. Usually about 10-15 items on a sheet of yellow legal paper. In no particular order, but always starting with...
- Breakfast -- reset (This means baking the breakfast items for the display case, then preparing more for the next day.)
The list continues with cakes to be finished, cookies to be baked, buttercream to be made. Special cleaning tasks. Sometimes even "order lunch" makes the list.
We all love checking things off the list.
Did I mention that, while numbered, the listed items are in no particular order? We sit down at the end of the day and write down tasks as they come to mind, starting with breakfast, then items that were not crossed off the day before, then new items. Then items we meant to put down earlier but forgot.
Because I'm the boss, I have a pretty good idea which items on THE list are most important, and which are not.
Unfortunately, not everyone who works at the bakery has the same insight. Everyone has their own system. Some do the easy tasks first. Some the shorter ones. Some the fun ones. And every once-in-a-while someone tackles the most pressing or important item first.
Assuming we have mastered the concept of the Critical Path, we need a group lesson on the 80/20 Rule.
Everyone, and not just at the bakery, needs to understand that twenty percent (two or three in our case) of the items on any given to-do list are REALLY vital and should be done first.
The trick is teaching everyone what is important. And that's not so easy.
What is most important to me? Making sure the next customer's order is ready when they come to pick it up.
So sometimes putting a bow on a cake is the most important task on the list (which may also qualify as fun or easy).
Sometimes making buttercream is what it takes to get the order out. Sometimes it's baking cake, or icing a cake, or cutting a board to fit a special size cake. Or folding boxes.
The other 80% of the items on the list?
Most of them still need to get done before we leave for the day.
And you thought all we did was decorate cakes...
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