Have You Actually Prepared Your Team for the Christmas Rush – Or Just Hoped They’d Cope?
Picture a dam holding back a rising tide. Strong, sturdy, built with good intentions.
But if even one part of it has a weakness, the entire thing can give way under pressure.
That’s December in hospitality.
The water rises fast, and the real question isn’t whether your team can handle the surge, it’s whether you’ve equipped them to.
Today’s post digs into exactly that: the difference between believing your team will cope and actively preparing them to succeed, why leadership under pressure defines outcomes, and what operators can still do right now to protect service, standards and staff wellbeing during the busiest stretch of the year.
Are They Going To Cope?
There’s a moment every December when an operator looks across the floor and maybe it’s mid-service, maybe it’s during a frantic reset and realises the team are hanging on by grit alone.
It’s not that they don’t care.
It’s not that they’re not talented.
It’s simply that willpower is no substitute for preparation.
The assumption that “they’ve done Christmas before, they’ll be fine” is one of the biggest operational blind spots in the industry.
Because experience isn’t the same as readiness.
Readiness is intentional.
Readiness is structured.
Readiness is visible.
And readiness shows up in service long before the first Christmas cracker gets pulled.
Leadership consultant Simon Sinek once said,
“Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge.”
December is the month that either proves you’ve done that or exposes that you haven’t.
The Cost of Assuming Your Team Will ‘Figure It Out’
Research from CGA shows that more than half of hospitality workers report higher emotional fatigue in December than any other month of the year.
Not surprising when you consider the pace, the pressure, the expectations and the relentless nature of festive service.
When teams aren’t prepared, you see it immediately:
• Service flow cracks under volume
• Communication becomes reactive and chaotic
• Morale dips earlier and recovers slower
• Guest expectations grow faster than the team’s capacity
• Mistakes increase, margins shrink, standards wobble
And often, quietly but critically, resentment builds.
Not towards the work, but towards leadership that hasn’t equipped them for it.
December doesn’t create these problems; it reveals them.
Preparation Isn’t Training. It’s Clarity.
A lot of operators think preparing teams means giving them more knowledge.
In reality, it’s giving them more certainty.
The people on your floor and in your kitchen don’t need another briefing sheet.
They need answers to the things that will trip them up in the heat of service:
• What’s the priority when everything comes at once?
• Who owns communication when the system overloads?
• What standards are non-negotiable when time is tight?
• Where do they go for support mid-shift?
• What decisions can they make without permission?
When those points are crystal clear, the team move as one.
A Cornell Hospitality Study found that teams with clear service decision-making guidelines operate up to 30% more efficiently during peak trading.
Clarity is not a luxury; it’s a multiplier.
Your Mid-Week Reality Check
If you stood on your pass right now and asked your team:
“What does great service look like this week?”
Would they all give the same answer?
If not, that’s your Wednesday warning.
Because clarity isn’t about grand speeches.
It’s about alignment – the kind that keeps a venue running smoothly even when the covers stack higher than the prep list.
What You Can Do Before Friday
Here’s the practical, immediate move:
Run a 10-minute pre-shift alignment session today.
Not a lecture.
Not a download of information.
A focused, pointed conversation around:
• Today’s pressure points
• One service behaviour that matters most
• What every team member is empowered to decide
• Who is leading communication on shift
• What “winning the shift” looks like when it’s busy
Ten minutes.
Huge return.
A Call to Action That Actually Matters
If reading this makes you think,
“We should have sorted this weeks ago,”
you’re not alone.
Thousands of operators hit December with the same realisation, and that’s exactly why The Fresh Group exists.
From people management to operational structure, from leadership clarity to service flow, we help hospitality businesses move from reactive to prepared, from overwhelmed to organised.
If your team are carrying the weight instead of being supported through it, take the step now:
Book a Discovery Call through The Fresh Group website and let’s get your operation aligned, resilient and ready – not just for this December, but for every peak season ahead.
Final Thought
Preparation isn’t a task.
It’s a responsibility.
And teams don’t need perfect leaders – they need present ones.
Ask the right questions today, bring your team into the conversation, and watch how quickly December becomes manageable instead of overwhelming.
