Never willingly surrender your department hours, stay on top of your pars and orders, set a standard for how you handle difficult situations with customers and stay consistent; undermining your employees when they’re just doing what they’re told is a terrible move.

Suck up to the health inspector that visits your store; it can be the difference between a good or bad score.

Obviously read the weekly updates, but also have your team read it too. An informed team is an efficient team.

If you’re inheriting an old team, go over drink standards, drink sequencing, mastrena calibration, the cleaning tasks that need to be done throughout the day, etc. Essentially, make sure everyone is on the same page from the get-go. Don’t let more tenured baristas do their own thing. Have your whole team be consistent.

Make friends with other Starbucks leads at other stores within your company. They will be your saving grace when you inevitably forget something crucial like lids or spoons or lunch bags.

Try to help out on the floor when you can, and remember that as the play-caller, you should be in the last role in the designated play you’re running. If you don’t know what a play is, I suggest asking your DM for the playbook.

Keep your coffee beans display full, but not too full. Be mindful of the dates. I’ve seen some stores fully fill their display and they end up having to toss a lot of beans because they didn’t realize that beans aren’t that great of a seller.

Other than that, don’t stress too much. Negativity breeds negativity. Use positive reinforcement on your team; small acknowledgements here and there can go a long way. Lead by example.

I’m sure there’s more advice I can give, but I can’t think of it right now.

Good luck! It’s not an easy job, but with the right team, it isn’t too difficult either.