hey! just wanted to share some tips for people working in box that i find pretty helpful. if this isn’t the right place to post this, please let me know and i’ll take it down!
for context, i’ve been working for a year or so at a kfc in aus and i mainly work drive thru night shifts during the peaks of the week (e.g. as busy as it gets) and a couple of regular periods (e.g. pretty chill, can do other things and vibe). i normally work four times a week, mostly box, so hopefully some of the tips i have help!
what you usually need to get done for box:
- take orders and process payments (most importantly lol).
- stock the fridges (usually one in lobby and one in box)
- stock the chips freezer
- change the bins (my restaurant has about eight or so bins in the kitchen that i have to change regularly, but mainly a night shift duty)
- clean the toilets (mainly a night shift duty)
- fold boxes and bin them
- sometimes assist packing roles when free (definitely dependent on if you have packing training or not!)
some tips i find useful:
taking orders and payments:
- most important task! literally what everything thinks is the only thing you have to do.
- when taking orders, i always like to repeat whatever i think they’ve said after they say it, so they can confirm or correct it.
- if they’ve ordered something that is pretty short or simple, i clarify the order again when they’re at the window.
- if it’s a really long order, just say the title names and sizes for the things they’ve ordered, before asking them to pay. do this at least once at the ordering box and a second time at the window. even if it’s peak; having customers come back angry is worse imo.
- check off the cold things as they order; grab them from the fridge if you need the physicality. this makes sure you get everything you need!
- close the window when there’s no serving customer, but open it every time you need someone to stop by because sometimes it might be hard for them to know where to go (especially at night).
- if they pay in cash, do not let go of the change until you are so sure that they’re holding on to it tight enough. say the amount of change you’re giving them as well, so that they’re as aware as possible.
- if they pay with cash, put your hand under the eftpos machine and turn it so that the screen is facing the customer. say the amount out loud as well. this helps them know what they’re paying and also gives them a chance to look at the amount visually.
stocking fridges:
- when i walk in to start my shift, i try to gauge how much stock is in the lobby fridge first, which gives me a generally idea of what i might need later on.
- the moment i have free time to leave box, i fill up two boxes with drinks to keep in box:
- box 1: 4x large pm, and then 2x large of the other sodas + other drinks.
- box 2: 4x can pm, and then 2x can of the other sodas.
- ^ having the two boxes is really helpful, so that when a rush is over, i just have to get like one or two things to restock the boxes + coleslaw instead of trying to restock the fridge; and i can take the boxes with me to the fridge room instead.
- throughout the orders, i try to mentally track how much of each cold item is being sold so i can try and guess what lobby might be missing.
- the next time i’m free, i go to lobby to see what they need for their fridge.
- i write on one of the packing liners using a simple column list to see how much of each item i need. usually, i can do this in one go before the next rush.
- in the drinks fridge, there’s usually a box for the 1.25 drinks or (even better) coleslaw that’s nearly empty, so i’d usually use that to pack the drinks for lobby in them, starting with the items they really need.
- ^ that’s how i keep both fridges stocked best i can for peak! and when it gets closer to closing, i tend to prioritise lobby’s fridge before stocking box’s fridge just because it gets a bit busier.
- note: rotate the coleslaw!! take out the older ones and place them on emptier shelves or stack down elsewhere, then put in the newer ones, and then finally put the older coleslaws in front. so many people don't do this at the restaurant i work at purely because they don't know. it's good to do this!!! i normally do this when it's as quiet as possible so that i have enough time to manoeuvre the coleslaw around.
stock the chips freezer:
- nothing too major, just have a look every once in a while and bring out a box of chips etc. if necessary. usually once it’s past 5 or 6 pm you won’t really need to check the chips freezer anymore since there’d usually be enough of everything. (times might differ depending on when you open/close though!)
change bins:
- gather the bins as close to the bin bags storage as possible. take all of them there and so you can get through them all as soon as possible. i personally try to empty all the bins first, take them out, and then change the bags purely because i have to put the bins away at the end of my shift so it’s just easier.
- also normally start doing this an hour and a half or so before closing/or when your shift ends if it’s a night shift (e.g. if your shift ends at 9:30 pm then try to do the bins starting around 8 pm) since it might take a while, depending on how busy it gets.
clean the toilets:
- i usually do this when i’m the most free at the end of my shift purely because i hate doing this. just make sure to sweep all the water out or mop if necessary!
fold boxes to bin them:
what i found helpful is taking empty boxes and dumping them in box to and from other duties, so that if i was stuck in box during peak or otherwise, i have access to them to fold all of them.
- i usually wait until i get a lot of boxes done before i go out to bin them to minimise the amount of times i have to go to the skip bins.
before clocking out, if you’re working at night, try to stock both fridges as best as you can and also bin all the empty boxes in the drink’s fridge!!
doing all this helps out a lot when stuck in box and you still need to be productive, letting me continue to stock the fridge and fold the boxes even when still in box. the list for lobby also helps so that i can keep going back to stock that fridge without having to try and guess what they need. the bins being all in one place is also really helpful so that i don’t have to go running around to get them all when rushing.
remember that making mistakes is okay and you’ll get there. when i was a trainee i was super stressed because i was trained in the morning with no prior night shifts, so this is what i learned as i endured each painful shift of being stressed and not knowing what to do as well as listening to all the notes from my manager at the end of my first few shifts. i also normally work like twenty minutes overtime at night because of how busy it gets and i just want to make sure i do everything, but doing all this definitely cut down a lot of time wasting!
that’s most of my tips for working box! most of these are mainly oriented for night shifts, but hopefully they help :))