Using task clarification, graphic feedback, and verbal feedback to increase closing-task completion in a privately owned restaurant.

The authors worked with a privately owned restaurant. Staff were not completing closing tasks such as wiping tables or locking doors.

The team first clarified each task. Then they taped a small graph near the time clock. After each shift the manager added a dot and gave a quick verbal comment. They used a multiple-baseline design across two groups of workers.

Closing-task scores rose 15% in the first group and 38% in the second group once the package started. Gains held while the graph stayed on the wall.

Reetz et al. (2016) ran a near-copy of the idea. They skipped the posted graph and used only verbal shift-by-shift feedback. Task completion still jumped from 36% to almost 100%. Together the two papers show the core is feedback, not the graph itself.

Gil et al. (2016) moved the same graphic-feedback piece to a residential facility. Staff data-collection compliance climbed steeply and stayed there. The design and the visual display were identical; only the job setting changed.

Luna et al. (2019) looks like a clash but is not. They gave special-ed staff a checklist plus feedback to improve session notes. Some note parts got better while problem-behavior accuracy dropped. The mixed result likely comes from the harder cognitive task of describing behavior in words. Restaurant closing tasks are simpler, so feedback there helps every part.

You can lift routine staff performance with a sheet of paper and thirty seconds of talk. No money, no apps, no extra training. Pin a graph, say "Good job hitting 90%," and watch the numbers rise. Try it on Monday for data sheets, cleaning checklists, or client file audits.