My best practice is lists. Write down everything you need to accomplish on your shift. Often when your trying to keep track of time and get everyone their breaks the things you need to personally accomplish get put on the back burner. Don’t be afraid to make time for you and your responsibilities.

Yes I agree with all of this above!!!!

also something was very hard for me to learn is delegating oh my god i would always rather do stuff myself because it’s easier or i know it’ll get done right etc but learning to let baristas do tasks so that you can get your tasks done is so much easier than struggling to try to do everything yourself

Outside hire night shift here (2 years) immediately figure out breaks, write in the dcr or a paper if you must. Maximize partners on the floor at each time. (If you have 4 ppl until 4pm and 3 until close I would take the lunch at 330 so that it's not 2 partners on the floor-reason being that drinks will add up you'll come back to it being busy that way anyways and no significant task can really be done with 2 pol on the floor assuming your store is a DT store, personally I skip both of my 10s every shift. It's really about prioritizing tasks. We usually start closing tasks by 2pm ish. First thing is ovens (oven hack here-- when u are done cleaning one and turn it on and it warms up it will start a countdown, click off button and click on button when countdown starts, it will reappear without the countdown, saving you about 7 minutes. Flip DT trashcan flip another non essential trash can. Floors at 4-530pm. We usually start sweeping at 4pm but wait to mop. DT person/support person/register person can do that if you have dishes etc you have to do. At 4 I always go to do the pastry pull and write down what I enter so I can go pull it at a later time (Im always customer support n I highly recommend to do it if ur running the shift. At around 530-6 a lunch of need be. Then cold bar. Cold bar is often overcomplicated by baristas/shifts trying to do too much at once. Section by section cycle it as if it were multiple beverages. Should take 30 mins absolute max. Melt any other ice bins other than main bin. Have register do any prep if not busy. Do one big trash run (I do it at 6:30+) another lunch if need be at 630, do cafe floors after 7. (Do not start these early, work with a now am shift that would try to do this at 4pm, its problematic.) Pull pastries from earlier now. Count 4 tills if ur district allows you to before close (my district does) afterwards do any inventory count, probably be done w these by 830 ish. Prep should be all complete by 730. If you are running out of time w counting tills dont change out the 20s/10s/50s/100s and do the cash pulls with them left in drawers, you can change later from the safe at close or near before. 830ish do pastry case if you are required. Emphasize to yourself or a delegated barista this is not a task that takes 45 minutes. It takes me no less than 15 minutes to do w wrapping dating and cleaning. After that fridge temps. While you are doing all these things baristas can be breaking down bar(s) (recommend breaking down one espresso bar after 530pm) constantly be checking to make sure baristas are on task. If baristas are going to use the bathroom for 10+ minutes, that is their 10. My store closes at 930, we are said to have the highest expectations of a store in the district and have the highest customer connection score month over month. If you are having trouble completing tasks, either start them a little earlier (floors can be swept any time) or pause them. Essential tasks in my mind in order (time) go 1)floors 2)cold bar 3)lobby 4)tills/count[if allowed] 5)pastry case [if required]. Have one coffee urn already done and clean before close. Dump any excess tea / iced coffee. Cube espresso beans before close if required. Almost all of these tasks CAN be done at any time earlier or later, just some are best to wait bc of business flow. Hold am shifts accountable for how they turn the store over. There should not be a pile of dishes or insane amount of trash. Open tills if till counting b4 close is allowed. If they do not leave the store in shape for you they should not expect you to leave the store in shape for them. Lunches/10s can also be done at any time, in any orded. You choose lunch and break times, not baristas. Baristas should be returning back from breaks with aprons on hands washed if necessary. Those things are included in their breaks. You dont have to be a dick though, just know that you are in charge. The biggest problem I had when I started was I would let baristas not really work that hard, and tasks would not get completed. Each person ideally should be doing the same amount of work and cleaning except for maybe you should be doing most of it. So basically, prioritizing tasks and breaks, and keeping in mind there arent very many set times for many things. (Pastry pull at 4pm is company wide tho I think). Take advantage of slow times. Do not forget to always put customers first though, because if you dont you will lose customer connection score points and business, leading to losing floor coverage.

I agree with the first commenter. Lists help you remember what to execute. However some days don't go as planned. I always make sure everyone has a break. If I have a major issue such as Cant run trash because of breaks. I consult the next shift and the SM. You can only do what you can in such a short time. So if you can't run trash because of a break tell your manager that and also that if you were allotted an extra 20min to run trash the transition will run smoothly. Use the play building tool for assigned stations that helps!