Your first week with Service en Place

Create your account and say what you run

Sign up, then answer two questions: what kind of operation this is (Cafe / Restaurant, Hotel or Coworking), and what your first Read should look at. Most places start with The shift.

Service en Place adds starter stations and shift periods for you. You can rename or change them later in Setup.

Answer three questions about a normal week, if you like

Tap Make this more precise first to say what a normal peak looks like, how much slack the team has, and how written-down your routines are. It helps tell a normal rush from unusual pressure. You can skip it with Start my first Pressure scan.

Find your way around

• Today is your starting page: what needs doing now.
• Scan, Read, Work and Patterns are the four steps.
• Record opens to show each area. Use only the ones your site needs.
• Open Tablet turns a device into a station screen.
• Setup holds your shifts, stations and team.
• Every main page has a Help button at the top.

Owners and managers

Run a Pressure scan

Open Scan, check the shift at the top is the right one, and mark each line Not true, Slightly true, Mostly true or Clearly true. Only mark what you can honestly see.

• Solid blue is your answer. A pale blue chip marked last scan is what you answered last time. It doesn't count until you choose.
• Fast scan and Guided flow take you through the questions. Full library lists them all.
• Your first scan may start by asking "What slips when you're not there?". That only sets which question comes first.

Tap Create Read

One answer is enough to create a Read, but the more you answer, the stronger it is. Your answers stay in the browser until you tap Create Read, so finish before you close the tab.

Look at your Read

Start at the top left: your main pressure, then the recommended move and its first step. The number on the right is the pressure level out of 100.

Levels: 0 to 19 calm, 20 to 39 watch, 40 to 59 manager action needed, 60 to 100 immediate.

Say what you'll do about it

Tap Use this move if it fits. If it doesn't, tap Adjust. Disagreeing is fine, and your answer goes on the record without changing this Read or future ones.

To see why the Read chose this move, tap Why this move? below the checklist. It lists the answers behind it.

Tick the checklist as you go

Each Read comes with a checklist for its move. Tick items as they're done, and your progress is saved with the date and your name.

Turn the move into Work

A Read doesn't create jobs by itself. There are two ways to do it, depending on the job. While Work is empty, its Open Read checklists button takes you straight to your Read's checklist.

For a job that will come back again: tap Run/save standard on the Read. Standards & checks opens with the item ready. Save it, then tap Send to Work beside it in the Library. In Read checklists, some items offer Send to Work directly. Saved standards need the Plus plan or above.

For a one-off job: open Work and tap Post open work. Give it a title, a due time and a station. Choose Work + station tablet if the station should see it too. Posting your own jobs needs the Pro plan or above.

Check it's on the board

Work shows what needs attention, and each job shows its station, owner and due time. Use Assign work to name someone. An unassigned job stays open until someone takes it.

If you posted a job that's no longer needed, open it and use Withdraw this work. Give a reason. It leaves the board and stays in history, and it doesn't mark any problem as solved.

Set your PIN, and ask your team to set theirs

Go to Setup → Your tablet PIN and type a four-digit PIN twice. Everyone sets their own. To change it, you need your current PIN. If someone forgets theirs, an owner or area manager can clear it so they can set a new one.

Invite your team from Setup → Manage team.

Put a tablet on the pass

On any tablet or phone, sign in, tap Open Tablet and choose a station. Tablets need the Plus plan or above.

The station screen shows Do next and quick Record buttons. Staff pick their name and enter their PIN at Attendance to sign in for the shift. Jobs due on a later day don't appear here yet.

Record one real thing

Next time something goes wrong, write it down: a guest complaint, a broken fridge or a tray of spoiled prep. The quickest way is Today → Report an issue, or the Record buttons on the tablet.

Add the shift and station if you can. That's what lets Patterns show where something keeps happening later.

Close the shift

After service, go to Work → Close the shift. It appears when the shift has records to review. One person chooses their name, enters their PIN and signs once for that shift period.

Signing says the shift's records were reviewed and its open problems were seen and carried forward. It doesn't say anything was fixed. A manager resolves problems afterwards and writes down what changed.

Pass it on with Handover

Open Handover, choose the shift and read what the next person inherits. Acknowledge it, then use Print / Save PDF or Share handover. Missing records show as missing, so a gap never reads as "all fine".

Start each day on Today

Open each item under Needs attention. Evidence gaps lists records that are missing or didn't load. Between shifts, Today shows the next shift, or the last one that ended if none is left today, and says which.

Scan again when things change

Run another scan when the picture has really changed, such as a key person off or a sudden rush. Don't rescan to rewrite an old Read. If you rescan within a shift, the latest Read is the one that counts, and the earlier one stays in history.

Let Patterns build up

Patterns compares each area in 4-week periods, so it needs some weeks of records. Until then it may show only what's happening now. Pick a shift period and a view, and start with Recorded findings. Patterns needs the Plus plan or above.