I have always viewed teamwork as important in the working world. This especially applies to the restaurant business. If you plan on going to work with a self-serving attitude and expect to make a rewarding night out of it, I'm going to go ahead and send a huge "Good Luck" your way. You will need it.

Due to a recent change in management, we Copper Cellar kids have been undergoing "team bonding" sorts of activities at work. They usually come in the form of games. My personal favorite, that ahem, I won, was "serving Bingo." This is where we have randomly selected teams and one giant bingo chart that has different tasks to complete or food items to sell. If you and your teammate can get Bingo, you win not only a $2 scratch off money card, but also the priceless satisfaction of having formed a closer bond with another fellow employee.

Touching, really.

But no, in actuality, it was pretty fun. And I would genuinely say it did keep everyone in good spirits throughout the night. It also made me think about WHY it is we do those types of things. It's not just for the worthless satisfaction of defeating your co-workers in a homemade game of Bingo, but more importantly, to help maintain relationships with every member of the staff.

As a server, to be really efficient and successful, you need to make sure you have at least a minimal relationship with each different type of staff. As a server, to really be efficient and successful, you need to make sure you have at least a minimal relationship with each different type of staff. Having the mindset that YOU can solely take care of YOU is ignorance at its finest. The restaurant functions like a giant grid; for it to run smoothly, every individual piece needs to be connected. When those ties get broken, things start to fall apart. For any of you who have seen the movie Waiting, that is surprisingly an extremely accurate portrayal of the typical inner-workings of a restaurant. If you haven't seen it, go watch it. It illustrates why it is important for the server to possess the following relationships:

Server to Hostess: This one is easy to overlook, but it is one of the most important ones to maintain. The hostesses are essentially in complete control over who gets seated, with what type of table, and how frequently it may happen. Not only that, but in some restaurants (mine included), the hostesses are in charge of bussing your tables AFTER you have pre-bussed - taken the larger plates and whatnot off the table before the guests actually leave. Failure to do so results in a very angry hostess. Those are not fun. I would know, because before serving, I was a hostess, and I remember dealing with inconsiderate servers. Let's just say that a mad hostess results in an extremely mad server. So, simple solution: make nice with the hostesses if you want tables.

Server to Cook: These guys make everything you bring to your tables. They choose how well to put your food together, how fast it comes out, and how accurate the order is. It's definitely important to make sure you're on good terms with these guys, because if they don't like you, you end up sitting pretty low on their priority list, and that is NOT somewhere you want to be. When you end up needing re-cooked items, extra sides of something, or specialty orders, you're only going to get those things on time if they feel like you should have it on time. Plus, when you're friends with the cooks, they're usually more than willing to give you a ridiculous amount of free food. You gotta love those guys for that.

Server to Bartender: These people can make or break you when it comes to tables that order alcohol. The drinks get made at the pace they choose to make them. If you help them out by bringing them their customer's food on your way out of the kitchen or helping them stock up on ice for the bar, then chances are they will make sure you get your drinks on time. If you stand around watching them without so much as a "Hey, how can I help you," then chances are you'll get your drinks if and when they feel like making them. Believe me, having them take their sweet time simply out of spite is a road you want to avoid at all costs. If you scratch their backs, they'll scratch yours. And on time, too.

Server to Manager: This is a more obvious relationship that is extremely imperative. The managers control basically everything. They control the number of shifts you get per week, the sections you get assigned, what time to cut you at the end of the night, etc. Overall, your existence as a server is planned and controlled by these people. Once you get hired there, you basically hand your soul over to them via an application and an agreement form that "you promise to abide by all the rules in the handbook." (Yeah, because that happens.)  So obviously, you want to make sure you do whatever it takes to remain on their good side.

So generally, as with any work environment, it is important to realize that for a company to run smoothly, each individual part needs to work together efficiently. It's easy enough to do if you have common sense to go along with common courtesy. There are simple solutions to avoid big problems. Be generous, listen to your co-workers, and help out when you see someone who needs it. And of course, above all else, have fun while doing so.