Clause 5: Leadership aka setting the tone for quality

We’re back with another clause - clause 5: leadership to be exact. Now, before you assume you’ve heard it all before and check out. This blog involves cats, coffee and some juicy goss on Doug, the owner of Just Beans Cafe.*

*This is a hypothetical character in a hypothetical scenario. 

Good, you’re still reading. Now, let’s compare Maggie’s Cat Cafe (where she’s hitting home runs on the leadership front) and Just Beans Cafe (keyword: just). 

Maggie takes leadership seriously like she takes looking after all 10 of her cats seriously. She knows that running a cafe with coffee AND cats requires clear structure, accountability, a strong commitment to quality, and an obscene amount of litter trays. I can only imagine, we have two cats and we are a 5 litter household, but that’s another story.

Maggie sets clear expectations

• She has a Quality Policy: "Great coffee, happy and healthy cats, and a cozy, clean space for customers."
• This is reinforced daily, so staff know exactly what’s expected. We love managing expectations!

Defined roles & responsibilities

• Leo, the Head Barista - Makes sure every flat white is smooth, strong, and fur-free (very important).
• Jenna, the Cat Supervisor - Oversees cat care, and ensures little Becky isn’t holding whiskers by his back legs!
• The Front-of-House Team - Keeps the cafe clean, customers happy, and the cats entertained.

Culture of accountability & improvement

• Weekly team meetings to check in on customer feedback and cat behaviour updates (Mr Meowster is stealing his fellow feline friends’ food? Time for a new plan.)
• Employees feel heard and have the power to suggest improvements.
• Maggie leads by example - if something needs fixing, she’s the first to step up.

Customers keep coming back because the experience is always great - coffee that hits the spot, happy cats, and a team that clearly cares about the work they do. This all starts with Maggie’s leadership. Go Maggie!

Just Beans Cafe – leadership gone wrong

Meanwhile, over at Just Beans Cafe, Doug (the owner) is barely involved and assumes the cafe will just…run itself. Well, Doug, hate to break it to you, but it won’t. 

No clear leadership or accountability

• Doug isn’t present, leaving the team directionless.
• No one knows who’s responsible for what, so things get missed.

No Quality Policy, no structure

• Some baristas make coffee strong, others make it weak - customers never know what they’re getting. 
• The pastries? Half the time, they’re burnt. The other half, they taste like they’ve been sitting on the shelf for 3 weeks (not ideal). 

No team culture or improvement

• Customer complaints go ignored.
• Staff don’t feel valued - no feedback, no check-ins, just chaos.
• When things go wrong, everyone blames someone else.

Customers stop coming because they can’t trust the quality. Staff quit because they feel frustrated and unsupported. And poor Doug becomes…well poor! 

So the point is that great leadership sets the tone for a quality business. It starts from the top and trickles down. Maggie empowered her team, whereas Doug well…left them high and dry. 

When we break this down, we identify three key things: 

• Leaders must take accountability for the QMS.
• It’s important to define a Quality Policy (a simple document stating your commitment to quality).
• Assign roles, responsibilities, and authorities - who does what in maintaining quality?

P.s. In the spirit of a cat cafe, here's a photo of our cats. Because, well, we LOVE cats!