Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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New SSV Looking For Pointers (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by RyusuiJL
Hey all!
I'm brand new to the company, and food service in general. I have had management/supervisory positions before, but over employees in defined positions as opposed to delegating those positions daily.
I wanted to reach out to the community here for feedback on what you like or dislike about SSVs you've worked with. Is there anything they do that you appreciate, or don't do that you wish they would?
As I was working along side my partners on the floor during my training, I made sure to note who did well in which positions. And one of the first things I did when I transitioned from trainee to SSV was to speak to each one and ask them about what positions they liked in particular, which ones they felt were their strengths, and which ones were their weaknesses.
My store has such incredible partners in it - every one of them has been very welcoming, supportive, and helpful, so I want to be sure to do right by them. Thanks in advance to anyone who can throw any tips my way!
I'm brand new to the company, and food service in general. I have had management/supervisory positions before, but over employees in defined positions as opposed to delegating those positions daily.
I wanted to reach out to the community here for feedback on what you like or dislike about SSVs you've worked with. Is there anything they do that you appreciate, or don't do that you wish they would?
As I was working along side my partners on the floor during my training, I made sure to note who did well in which positions. And one of the first things I did when I transitioned from trainee to SSV was to speak to each one and ask them about what positions they liked in particular, which ones they felt were their strengths, and which ones were their weaknesses.
My store has such incredible partners in it - every one of them has been very welcoming, supportive, and helpful, so I want to be sure to do right by them. Thanks in advance to anyone who can throw any tips my way!
esaeklsg 4 points 1y ago
Be prepared for people who aren’t the biggest fan of outside hire supervisors / management. I’m personally not. Outside hire supervisors have to learn how to be a barista and a shift at the same time - and just being a good-not-veteran-level barista by itself can take 3 months. So for >half of your job duties, most of your staff will likely be better at them than you are, for quite a while. Not to say that you can’t be succesful and flourish, but just a heads up you might run into some frustration. It sounds like you’re making a lot of steps to build a good rapport though, which is great.
Lowkey there are so many things I could say but I don’t know what the priority points would be. Coming in as an outside hire shift just… sounds like A Lot.
Make sure you pay attention to your resources (ipad, boh computer, facilities phone number.) You’re gonna have to be looking a lot of stuff up. Even as a 3yr-barista-into-shift the resources were very important to me.
Something rarely said: Don’t underestimate the need to swap positions etc. Technical advice is rotate baristas every 2 hrs but I don’t think stores always do that. I know two-and-a-half baristas who got long term wrist damage from repetitive motion being stuck on bar. (half because one had an underlying medical condition iirc)
Safety is always most important. Safety rules often only exist to begin with because someone got badly hurt.
Lowkey there are so many things I could say but I don’t know what the priority points would be. Coming in as an outside hire shift just… sounds like A Lot.
Make sure you pay attention to your resources (ipad, boh computer, facilities phone number.) You’re gonna have to be looking a lot of stuff up. Even as a 3yr-barista-into-shift the resources were very important to me.
Something rarely said: Don’t underestimate the need to swap positions etc. Technical advice is rotate baristas every 2 hrs but I don’t think stores always do that. I know two-and-a-half baristas who got long term wrist damage from repetitive motion being stuck on bar. (half because one had an underlying medical condition iirc)
Safety is always most important. Safety rules often only exist to begin with because someone got badly hurt.
RyusuiJL [OP] 3 points 1y ago
Thank you for all that info! I only this week started as a shift on my own. We had an odd situation when I came on. The SM that hired me transitioned back down to barista and moved to another store, and the SM who came up to take her place had previously scheduled her vacation for this week. So I had about 2 weeks of training before being on my own this week. My first 2 alone shifts went fairly well. One close and one open. The SSVs opposite my shift helped me on things I missed/forgot/did wrong, but thankfully there wasn't many of them, nor were they big things.
And yea, the other baristas definitely do much better at the bat than I do, especially the hot bar. I have been seriously struggling with that one. As I said though, my partners have all been incredibly helpful and always help me with drinks or answer questions without any kind of resentment or annoyance I can pick up on.
Again, thank you for your input!
And yea, the other baristas definitely do much better at the bat than I do, especially the hot bar. I have been seriously struggling with that one. As I said though, my partners have all been incredibly helpful and always help me with drinks or answer questions without any kind of resentment or annoyance I can pick up on.
Again, thank you for your input!
darthtinmay 1 points 1y ago
A very important thing (at least imo) is to make sure that your team knows you’ll be there for them and will do anything in your power to help them out. Like they need to know this without any doubt in their soul. Lol I know that sounds melodramatic, but I found that with outside hire SSVs, this was really the make or break for their success. If you’re team knows you’re sincerely trying, they’ll work really hard for you, because they know you’ll do the same.
But it sounds like you got that down! You’re sincerely trying and I know your team greatly appreciates that.
Now as for the things that baristas hate, pretty much across the board, is when the shift does little to nothing. Absolutely nothing. I have a shift like that. He just changes till and that’s about it. I had to change my availability because I was getting so pissed lol
But it sounds like you got that down! You’re sincerely trying and I know your team greatly appreciates that.
Now as for the things that baristas hate, pretty much across the board, is when the shift does little to nothing. Absolutely nothing. I have a shift like that. He just changes till and that’s about it. I had to change my availability because I was getting so pissed lol
RyusuiJL [OP] 2 points 1y ago
I appreciate the response! I most definitely agree with you on all points. I've had managers like that - who do little to no real grunt work, or really any work outside of micromanaging. Although I'm not the best on hot bar like I mentioned in my other reply, I've been trying my best to learn by studying the beverage recpies on the iPad before my shifts. And unless I have a task that needs to be done like pulls or ordering, I'm just on the floor working any of the stations. My 2 other shifts are the exact same way, which is why I feel our store has a great chemistry between us all and awesome teamwork.
darthtinmay 2 points 1y ago
You sound like an amazing shift! Your team is really lucky to have you. You’re putting in the work and I’m positive that you’ll see the fruits of your labor!
RyusuiJL [OP] 1 points 1y ago
I appreciate the kind words! Frankly, I feel lucky to have the team that I do. They have been really stepping up while I deal with my learning curve.
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