In terms of your specific concerns (cc score, dealing with your SM and Sm) they will probably become the least of your worries. At least at my store we don’t have that much personal contact with out DM beyond getting relayed information from them or just your general citrons interactions when they do come into the store.

The only thing that’s made the SSV position worth it for me is the pay increase. It’s not much and it’s more work but it makes a difference for me and makes it worth it. As for issues during covid and being an SSV i have found the extra measures being taken at work a lot more work on our shoulders. Trying to do your regular duties, deal with a super busy DT all day, and now somehow find a partner or myself be in the position to interact and serve the customers walking in the cafe. At times we don’t even have enough staff to just serve our DT and now we have people walking in and I panic because my hands are full and I legitimately don’t know how I’m going to serve that customer. Also just the overal emotions and stress of the staff from being so busy is hard to deal with as a ssv. Trying to be positive when I’m the farthest thing from it has been the most challenging.

Being an SSV during covid has been a terrible experience. I had to cut two of my baristas last night and send a third home early and all of them thought they were in trouble and it was just a really hard conversation to have that sbux wants them to suffer hour cuts. Additionally, customers are raging. I had to give out a lot of recovery cards the last few days to angry customers bc they didn’t want to wait for their 6 drink order with their 10 food items, and then the person behind them was bad because they only ordered a pike and ugh .

Customer connection is always in the back of my mind even though I don’t pay much attention to it, I mostly just try to take care of the baristas first and then the customers second.

Anyways yeah it’s a tough one

Specifically, for COVID-19, I have the extreme privilege of working at a cafe only store that has NOT opened up our lobby yet. We’re MOP only. So in terms of SSV duties, my work is cut down in half or even third. Not having to count money and deal with cash is AMAZING.

On the other side of the coin, it’s more my duty than ever to ‘protect’ my partners from harm and customers. That means backing them and becoming stricter with customers to the point of confrontation to ensure safety measures are being followed.

Lastly, if there’s ONE advice I can give to new shifts. FUCK THE CUSTOMER CONNECTIONS! If you do your jobs and do it well in service of customers, you know it for yourself and your teams. In some cases, customers will vocalize that to you personally. The scoring system is fickle and that score is a grading system for SMs to keep their jobs. Would you rather focus on your customers and deliver a good experience to them or be completely detached bc you’re always worrying about some stupid score that doesn’t affect your job?

I don't see Why you want to be a shift. It's worth it for very specific reasons, and extremely not worth it for some reasons. What do you want out of it?

It’s rough right now with the covid situation.

Benefits of being a shift right now are the small pay bump to what Baristas get and Finding out what the latest changes are faster than the Baristas.

Negatives to being a shift bright now-

We have to deal with a lot of unhappy customers acting like children.

If your in a cafe store you are always the first to deal with the customers and putting yourself at risk. We can’t put any Baristas that are uncomfortable up front on the hand off area. At my store we are still taking cash / card/ orders.

You still have all the work of a barista plus shift work.

Baristas get a larger pool of hours then shift hours.

You have more responsibility which means more pressure to make sure things are right.

We are responsible for making sure no one is coming to work sick, drinks are made right, customers are happy, sales are up so we remain profitable etc

We have to be the positive influence on the floor while dealing with all of the stress and anxiety this situation is bringing.

You will most likely need to be more flexible with your availability unless you have a solid reason your not available.

Bottom line-
If your emotionally stable and deal with stress the small pay bump is worth it. If you deal poorly with stress , are not a team player, are not willing to put the baristas before you then don’t become a shift.

Things to remember, in the United States the 3 dollar pay bump ends June 1st , cat pay ends June 1st, all the extras end June 1st. Our hours are going to start being tied to the profitability of our stores starting June 1st. Most cafe and some drive through stores will be opening to Togo starting June 1st. Things are going to get harder.

Right now as an SSV the most stressful is being staffed properly, and having other stores around you close due to illness in the store, and other stores not having a dt or enough partners to staff. Also the extra weight we have in us right now. Idk how it is in other stores, but every single barista has come to me telling me their fears and anxiety with covid and being in close contact with customers. It’s hard but I’m hoping and praying it gets easier soon.

If this is something you want, to for it. There has to be an end in sight, like we can’t keep working like this, I hope.