Supervise drink services

This standard is about supervising the preparation and delivery of the drink service and is likely to be used by a supervisor responsible for the activities within the area of work on a daily basis under the direction of the relevant manager.
As with so many elements of great hospitality, an efficient drinks service starts with the staff in place to serve. Checking everyone is working to the same procedures and has clear, unambiguous direction will play a key role in delighting customers.

This standard explains more about enabling a friendly, hygienic and efficient service in relaxed safe surroundings, ensuring that the law is fully complied with and that customer behaviour problems are dealt with quickly and correctly.

When you have completed this standard you will be able to demonstrate your understanding of and ability to:

• Supervise drink services

1. Make sure staff have the skills, knowledge and resources they need when they  need them and encourage staff to ask questions if there is information that they do not understand
2. Inspect the drinking areas to ensure their comfort and attractiveness
3. Inspect the preparation areas to make sure that they been prepared in line with requirements, to the standard agreed and in time to allow the scheduled drink service to be provided
4. Make sure your staff follow drink service procedures, maintain the appearance  of the drink service area, conduct and present themselves according to organisational requirements and standards
5. Lead staff to identify different customers and their real and perceived needs and communicate with customers in a manner that promotes a positive customer experience
6. Make sure the drink service complies with relevant legal requirements, industry regulations, social responsibility, professional codes and organisational policies
7. Liaise with other relevant people and departments to ensure the delivery of an effective drink service, inform your staff and customers about any changes to the service that may affect them
8. Monitor the drink service areas and quality of service and take prompt and effective action to deal with any problems
9. Control costs, make best use of available resources and proactively seek new sources of support when issues arise
10. Monitor and review procedures to ensure the drink service meets the needs of customers
11. Collect and pass on feedback and recommend improvements to the relevant people according to your organisation's requirements
12. Give feedback to staff to help them improve their performance where appropriate
13. Use effective methods to gather, store and retrieve information, accurately complete the required records and report on performance to support the service according to your organisation’s procedures

1. The basic relevant legal requirements that affect the drink service and where information about licensing legislation can be found
2. Your organisation’s procedures and policies that are relevant to the drink service
3. The various procedures that need to be followed for the preparation of the drink service area, including those relating to: clearing, stocking products and equipment
4. The different roles and responsibilities of people in your area of responsibility and in other parts of the organisation that are relevant to the drink service
5. How an effective service is related to the profitability of the drink service and customer satisfaction
6. What problems can affect the drink service and the preparation of areas , how to address these and develop contingency plans to reduce the impact of these problems
7. How to ensure the preparation of the drink service area is done in time
8. The skills and knowledge necessary to ensure staff are equipped to carry out their responsibilities effectively
9. How to implement the basic legal requirements that affect the drink service and the implications of a failure to do so
10. The range of products in your area of responsibility and how to prepare and serve them
11. How to vary practise according to quiet periods, busy periods and delivery  of service to customers with special requirements and how you can reallocate work to different members of your staff to reduce  the impact of problems on service
12. How to communicate and deal effectively with the range of customer groups, (including those who are experiencing the effects of alcohol), why  this is important and best practice in the refusal of service
13. How deviations from legislation and industry specific regulations can be identified and put right
14. How to monitor and supervise staff practice in order to maintain standards
15. What methods can be used to monitor the preparation of the drink service area effectively
16. What action to take when preparation and delivery standards are not met
17. Why it is important to seek the views of staff and customers and gain their feedback and how to collect and analyse feedback
18. How to give feedback to your staff to help them improve their performance and how to present recommendations

1. Basic legal requirements
   1.1 permitted hours
   1.2 closing time
   1.3 licences
   1.4 residents and non-residents
   1.5 diners and non-diners
   1.6 young persons, service and employment
   1.7 right to eject and duty to refuse service
   1.8 gaming, betting and lotteries
   1.9 public entertainment
   1.10 weights and measures
   1.11 price lists, notices and payment for drinks
   1.12 drugs
   1.13 trades descriptions and consumer protection laws

The following behaviours are provided as guidance to underpin effective performance of a hospitality supervisor

1. You find practical ways to overcome barriers
2. You agree achievable objectives for yourself and give consistent and reliable performance
3. You clearly agree what is expected of others and hold them to account
4. You monitor the quality of work and progress against plans and take appropriate corrective action, where necessary
5. You model behaviour that shows respect, helpfulness and co- operation
6. You make appropriate information and knowledge available promptly to those who need and have a right to it
7. You recognise recurring problems and promote changes to structures, systems and processes to resolve these
8. You identify and work with people and organisations that can provide support for your work
9. You demonstrate passion for high quality drinks products and service

Effective methods to gather, store and retrieve information include cost- effective, time effective and ethical means. Information includes from customers and staff.

It is strongly recommended that HSL30 which covers food safety hygiene in the preparation and serving of food and drink is undertaken in conjunction with this standard. This standard is a sector specific standard and has particular links with the following standards in the Hospitality Supervision & Leadership suite of standards:
HSL1-6, HSL8, HSL10, HSL13-15, HSL19, HSL26 & HSL31