At the start of busy services, great care should be taken in seating early arrivals.
On no account should early arrivals simply be seated at any empty table as this can “throw out” a well-planned service / running order. Booked parties should be seated at the allocated tables, our system having taken into account the manner and order in which management has requested the tables be ranked. If you do seat guests at tables other than those for which they were booked you must alter the booking to show this appropriately on the system – again to ensure true real time availability is maintained and so staff and management know exactly what is happening at every table.
If early or late shows are high during busy services, it may be worth considering using ONE table as a “holding table” near the door until their table is free. This should only be used until the last turn begins in the restaurant, at which point it should be sold to maximise occupancy.