Ask for their input when problem solving in your store. Change is always most effective and easiest when it’s a team effort and when people feel like an integral important part of that change. I’ve always appreciated when my manager let me try something out even if she was skeptical( for example I rearranged our cold beverage station) so that even if it didn’t end up being what we decided as a store to do I felt like I was given the opportunity to have a say in what happens and I felt valued.

The more my manager shared with us the reasons why things were happening or the decisions they were making the more a part of a team I felt instead of feeling like a pawn or a mindless worker drone.

The only time I saw a store really come together as a team, was when they all ganged up on the SM.

This SM was a SAINT. A child at heart. Extremely enthusiastic and down to earth. He was a genuine human being that I have a lot of respect for.

But, he was driven. He did a lot of work developing his team and his district. He was open and honest to a fault. He made mistakes. He gave good advice that was intuitive and knowledgeable. This gave off the impression that he knew more than he lead on, and that made the team distrustful, and we really bonded on this.

If you want to be a leader, focus on your team from the perspective of making your community better.

This guy would drive remakes to customers houses. I respected that, not everyone did though. That kind of dedication takes a lot of effort.

Oh and remember, make the moment right does not just apply to customers. It applies to partners too. be professional, and set good examples. Even if they seem like they don’t respect you, they do watch you, and scrutinize you. We know what a fake attitude is, because we do it too. Show them what to do, and have their backs. Don’t just tell your partners where to find the information for a solution is. Help them, and then let them know, indirectly, they won’t always have someone like you who will do this.

My sm works as a barista or ssv a lot too. It makes her feel like she is on our level and in the trenches with us. As a ssv, when she is on the floor as a barista, she takes our deployments and orders seriously. She doesn’t question or micromanage. And she is able to back up the other baristas or us when we have difficult customers. She is always on the side of the barista when customers are rude. It makes hearing about the bad news or the sm stuff easier to handle because she feels like “one of us”

personally i just like being talked to. like show me pictures of ur dog or something and act like u care about me beyond just being an employee. idk about other people but my store just got a new manager and she's the only manager i've ever actually like spoken to or been comfortable with because she makes a genuine effort to talk to all of us and is just super upbeat and happy all the time. i feel like when everyone likes each other as people it's easier to appreciate each other as coworkers :)

Communication is key. I want my SM to set clear expectations, and let the entire team know if they're being met, and when they're not give guidance on how to meet those expectations. On the flip side ask your SSVs what their expectations are of you. If there's some confusion about who's supposed to do what then refer to the ops field guide to help everyone understand their roles and job descriptions.

Have regularly scheduled time to meet with your SSVs. The best model for this I've seen is in a store I cover shifts in regularly. The SM has a 15 minute meeting every week with each SSV to review store goals and progress and personal goals and progress, and then set goals for the coming week.

Delegate clearly, and support those you delegate to. It's fine to give some extra responsibilities to SSVs, but you need to support them. Remember that most of your team has less tenure than you. Lots of starbucks internal resources are an alphabet soup of abbreviations. Lots of tools and resources are difficult to find if you don't already know where they are.

Participate in the coaching of baristas. Some SMs tend to let their SSVs do all the coaching, but if it never comes from the SM it makes you seem uninterested and disengaged from your store.

Don't micromanage. If you don't like the play your SSV has, or think it needs to change in the moment, you feel like you have to change it then and there, but in the long run you're better off connecting with your SSV using the what/what/why model help them understand your goals and expectations, or cues for them to notice to make better decisions.

Be present. I had one SM work from home about 40% of the time. The result was that many partners had issues they wanted to bring to him, and he wasn't there, so they said I'll catch him next time, but next time turned into never. When you are there, make it clear when you are available to talk to partners and when you can't be interrupted.

DMs usually want SMs to be present for peak, but every so often you have to work other hours. It took me months to convince an SM to work a closing shift to get her to understand what it was like to close and why I need a 3 person play for a few more hours. When she finally did she asked me why I didn't tell her about it sooner, and I was like I've been asking for this for months.

And avoid trivial gestures. Giving your SSVs a christmas present may seem like the right move, but if you're skipping out on other things then someone is going to say behind your back: The present I wanted is for my SM to do a better job.

[deleted]

Just ask how they are, seem actually considerate of what they're going through outside of work as well asinside

Work nights and be there for happy hours once in a while. I used to be a closer and I went months without seeing my sm. She only works in the store m-w from 5am-1pm so if you're scheduled outside of those hours, you never see her.

Also make sure your ssv are rotating people's roles. Shifts get into routines, and often there are partners that are forced into one role every single shift.

[deleted]