Here is an interesting article I found from the Wall Street Journal about servers “reading” tables to adjust their service style to fit the customer.
While this is presented in the article as a new approach, it is really an “old” approach. Before McDonalds encouraged the next generation of restaurant owners to standardize everything in their restaurant in an effort to improve quality through consistency, servers didn’t really have training manuals. They picked up what they could from following other servers then made the rest up as they go. While this probably wasn’t the best approach to improving service in the industry as a whole, and may not best allow the restaurant to have service that reinforces a particular theme, it did yield servers who thought on their feet and could change their style of service to fit the customer.
Take a look at the article and leave your thoughts here on service, training, standardization of procedures and whatever else the article inspires you to talk about…
O'Dell Restaurant Consulting's Blog 
Where is the link for this article?
Thanks
The tag for it posted in the wrong spot. The link is now up for the article.
Great article. Working at private clubs I have seen almost everything mentioned in the article. I think in the end you just have to have an open personality and be able to talk to people from all walks of life. As a graduate student I often was asked about my program by the older generation, while the younger generation might ask what places are popular to go to after dinner. I believe training all servers to do the same thing is the wrong way to go about it. Allow servers to be themselves, and if they are personable and friendly people, which they should be if you hired them, then they should thrive.