The Hardest Part of Kitchen Management Isn’t The Food

Kathleen Kane, SNS

22 hours ago

2 min read

Meals have recipes. People don’t.

A school nutrition manager can organize production, manage orders and inventory, and serve hundreds of students, yet still lose sleep over a difficult conversation with an employee. Maybe someone pushes back whenever job assignments change. Two coworkers keep bringing their disagreements to you. Or a dependable employee has become impatient with everyone, and you aren’t sure why.

These problems aren’t listed on the production record, but they affect every item that is. When employees aren’t communicating or working together, instructions get missed, tasks fall behind, and mistakes increase. The result can be wasted food, inconsistent quality, and slower service for students.

It can be tempting to stay focused on other tasks and hope the tension settles itself. But when issues go unaddressed, employees may begin to see the behavior as acceptable or assume their concerns don’t matter. Effective managers know having a difficult conversation is hard, but necessary. Practice these steps until they become habit.

Step 1: Stop and pause before responding. Give your body's flight or fight response time to settle. An irritated comment can trigger an irritated answer. Taking a breath gives you time to choose words that address the concern without adding to the tension.

Step 2: Get curious, not furious. Before deciding an employee has a bad attitude, ask what is happening. Perhaps expectations were unclear, job loads feel unfair, or the employee needs help but doesn’t know how to ask.

Step 3: Move the conversation toward a specific next step. What needs to change? What support is needed? When will you check back?

Step 4: And when you handle something poorly, acknowledge it. An apology can strengthen your credibility while showing the team what accountability looks like.
Step 5: Understanding the concern doesn’t mean agreeing with every complaint. Managers still need to address disrespect, explain expectations, and follow through. Upholding standards consistently is how a culture of respect is built.

Managing difficult people takes practice. You don’t need a perfect response to every situation. You do need the willingness to address concerns, listen carefully, and help your team find a better way to work together.