Profit Improvement Sprint Pack (90-day modules)

Welcome — what this sprint pack is for

This sprint pack helps a cross-functional team turn focused weekly work into measurable profit improvements over 90 days. It is a practical program focused on rapid discovery, small experiments, data-driven decisions, and standardization so gains can be sustained. Use the templates and checklists below as a starting point and adapt them to your menu, systems, and staffing.

How the 90-day structure works

Organize work into weekly modules with a clear objective, owner, data collection requirements, and decision rule. Run short experiments, measure results against a baseline, and either adopt, adapt, or stop each idea. Teams should meet weekly (brief huddle + data review) and have a short planning session to set the next week's module.

Weekly module template (copy & reuse)

• Module name: (e.g., "Reduce sandwich waste at lunch")
• Objective: Clear, measurable outcome (example: reduce waste by 20% in lunch service)
• Owner: Name and role
• Time budget: Estimated staff hours this week
• Deliverables: Experiment run, data collected, decision at week close
• Data to collect: Specific fields and frequency (see Data Collection Checklist)
• Decision rule: Threshold to adopt, adapt, or stop (e.g., waste reduction ≥15%)

Experiment design template (use for every test)

• Hypothesis: "If we X, then Y will change by Z%"
• Primary metric: What you will measure (food cost %, waste lbs, ticket time, upsell rate)
• Baseline: Current value and measurement period
• Target: Numeric improvement to be considered successful
• Test plan: Steps, who does what, scripts or recipe changes, signage
• Duration: Number of shifts or days
• Data collection method: Who logs what and where (paper log, POS report, inventory count)
• Analysis & decision: How results will be evaluated and the decision timeline

Data collection checklist (daily & weekly items)

Collect the smallest useful dataset that supports your experiment. Examples:

• Daily (every shift): Sales by category (POS), daily covers, voids/remakes count and reason, waste log entries (lbs and category), temperature logs where relevant, shift labor hours
• Weekly: Inventory snapshot for key costed SKUs, recipe yield checks, supplier price changes, aggregated waste by category, labor vs. sales analysis
• Before/after comparisons: Same-day-of-week baselines are often best for restaurant experiments

Cross-functional roles-by-week plan (90-day rhythm)

Match the right people to the right weeks. Below is a sample rhythm to adapt to your team size and priorities.

• Weeks 1–2: Leadership + operations kickoff: set goals, pick priority experiments, baseline data pull
• Weeks 3–5: Kitchen focus: recipe checks, portion control, waste logging experiments
• Weeks 6–8: Service & pricing tests: menu tweaks, upsell training, ticket mix experiments
• Weeks 9–11: Labor & scheduling experiments: match staffing to demand, simplify prep tasks
• Weeks 12–13: Stabilize & standardize: codify successful changes into SOPs and training materials

Example quick experiments (ready to adapt)

• Reduce garnish portions on a high-waste dish and measure waste/labor time.
• Test a small price increase on a bestselling item with a communication script and measure sales and margins.
• Try a single-station prep change to reduce ticket time during the busiest hour and measure throughput.

How to run weekly huddles

• 15–30 minutes. Quick review of metrics, what changed last week, barriers, and the next week's owner and experiment.
• Bring one clear decision: adopt / adapt / stop for each experiment that finished this week.

Turning experiments into lasting improvement

Successful experiments need to be translated into SOPs, training, and simple job aids. Capture what changed, why it worked, and how to measure ongoing compliance. Schedule a check-in 30 days after adoption to ensure the gain sticks.

Where to start

Pick one area with reasonably reliable data (menu, waste, or labor). Run one small experiment this week using the templates above. Keep records so the team can learn quickly and build momentum.

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