I always get put onto dto/ window and sometimes I’m there my entire shift. I get really annoyed because I also have noticed some people who are never put into those positions. I think it’s unfair. I think I’m good at making connections and am able to take peoples orders really well but I just hate being in the same position all day.

i get put on bar my entire shift and honestly i wish i could get some time on cs or pos bc being on bar for 8 hours in a row 5 days a week causes rlly bad wrist pain. i definitely agree that they should switch ppls positions more and give everyone equal opportunity to be on bar.

As a partner that is usually on bar, I ALSO WOULD LIKE A BREAK FROM BAR. My elbows can’t handle it anymore 🥲

Bar is fun for an hour or two but not when your SM plants you on there for the entirety of your shift, it literally causes my entire body to hurt from constantly having to reach in the coolers for milk and it pisses me off even more when other partners stand around just watching you and on their phones . I recently was vocal about it to my SM and they definitely accommodated but they also reduced my hours by half 😔

yeah i’m a constant bar partner, i don’t love it bc it just gets so exhausting. i prefer bar, but after a few hours of it i get tired and most of the time we are so busy that i can’t be put on anything else cause, not sound too cocky, but i’m the best at bar (been with the company for 5 years). it stinks but if you work a lot of mornings then it’s really hard to put someone who isn’t fast on bar. really you just have to speak up and say you want to be on bar to your shift

from a shift’s perspective:
i always prioritize skill during peak versus getting everyone practice. however, once peak is done i like to switch people around.

i worked at bux for 10 months. my total bar time for my entire starbucks career is estimated to be a whopping 15 hours. i would genuinely BEG to be put on bar and given more practice, but i was always always put on drive thru. ALWAYS. if you’re the designated drive thru monkey, you know how draining and horrendous it is to be placed on drive thru for your entire shift, every shift. big reason why i quit.

i personally believe my superiors thought i was too dumb and aloof to handle bar. i’m autistic and while i never talked about my diagnosis, people *knew*. i’d be talked down to and the moment i showed an inkling of struggle, they’d swoop in and take over for me. it was so so insulting to see green beans get more bar time in one week than i did the entire time i worked there.

sorry for the rant, i resonate with this so so hard and it makes me so mad.

They are supposed to be rotating positions but I will say at my store it's kinda hard to have new people on bar because of short store hours and insane business. I would just ask and see if they'll at least let you do cold bar drinks for bar person if your store is busy or make a point to ask. The only reason I got put on bar as quickly as I did is because of my Barnes and Noble experience

i'm one of those constant bar partners and cs/pos both have their pros and cons. i just wish my coworkers on cs/pos would have at least a few turns on bar if only so they wouldn't ring drinks up incorrectly leading to me having to do way too many unnecessary remakes.

but also op, turnover at sbux is so high that soon you'll probably be one of the more veteran partners and you'll be spending all your time on bar!

As a shift, I try to accommodate requests, but I also need strong bar and register partners for peak. That said, I also try to make sure to vary up a person’s shift throughout the day. Unless someone asks to stay there, I don’t put anyone on bar for more than half their time.

Communicate with your shifts, it always depends on the crew you've got on hand, but there’s always a way to move people around through the positions.

At least at my store, our mobile orders are more than half of our business. Since there’s no controlling how fast they come in, having the wrong partner on bar can cause us to fall behind very quickly. If you want to be on bar more, show your shifts that you can move quickly. Practice sequencing as much as you can and don’t let tickets sit in the machine.

I know Starbucks can be a fun job but it’s primarily a business. And trust, the partners that are always on bar are not thrilled about it.

At my store it’s annoying because all of the boys that work there only like bar and will basically clock in and be like “I’ll be on bar” or they will just walk over and start making drinks without being told by the shifts to go there. And none of them can do anything else like cs or window bc they suck at it or they will mope and complain until the shifts move them back on bar. My SM wants at least 1 boy closing every night because my job is in a sketchy area, but as a regular closer it annoys the crap out of me that none of the boys (at my store) want to do anything other than bar. I know I’m a pretty good bar because in the mornings and mids that I do work, I’ll usually be on bar but it literally drives me insane that 90% of my shifts are closing shifts so I never get to touch bar more than the 10 minutes the boys go on their breaks.

I hate bar. Put me on register. I can do that all day.

Ooof thats rough, I would blame something like them not knowing how to grind or do a cs task on your barista trainer/shift/manager. Like that would just enrage me to no end and I’m sorry you are dealing with that.

Did you ask your shift or manager?
Shift supervisors have a million things to juggle if they know someone's good on bar, they'll put you on bar. Also, they may have just come in and not know you have been on bar for 5 hours straight. When I came in I would say "hey, I'd really like some time on bar, if possible" I was terribly slow and would ask a million questions and our store is one of the busiest. So if usually get kicked off within a half hour. But those half hours helped and added up.
Communication is key.

Im a 320 partner which means i am always at warming. Its gotten so bad that now im getting physically sick being by the ovens due to the heat. I am having to argue and figjt with shift leads to put me on bar for at least mornings since i open at 3:30 yet barely touch a bar. Me and my coworker who started around tbe same time rarely see bar time. Its gotten so bad that our barista trainer went to our sm to get us more. Im sure shell take if higher. I asked my cousin about this since they started about 2-3 years ago and was told this was normal and they didn't touch bar for 8 months! Its INSANE. Im watching bar coworkers start to complain about always being on bar and how they wish they had a less stressful shift at dto. Maybe if you go to management they will be able to help? Schedule you for a morning or closing where its not so busy and you can get some practice in?

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I’m an opening ssv and I’m running peak most of the time. If I have people I’m pretty consistent places, then it’s because I k ow that they can run that position fast and efficiently, and it doesn’t mean they aren’t good at anything else, but I’ve got to play to peoples strengths to make everything run smoothly

Luckily at my store, everyone has the understanding that it’s important to be able to flex. Our SSVs make sure that everyone knows how to do all the roles & would make new partners practice on bar whenever it’s not busy. Everyone switches around during their shift.

Coming from someone who is mainly bar, I feel like it is my best spot besides warming. But if someone wants to practice I’ll go to warming.

I keep getting put on bar because I'm fast and really good at it, but I'm getting burnt out on it. Can I go do dishes PLEASE?!

okay ngl i’m almost always on bar and i’ve worked here since september. idk how to brew pike and im not sure on what to do for pre close. it’s a huge issue but i just go where my shifts put me bc we’re always so busy

I wish I could be pos instead of bar... my shifts thinking giving me a "break" from drive thru bar is putting me on mobile bar that's just as busy.

The best way to run a shift is to have everyone rotate through each role after each break. It makes the day just fly if you do 2 hours on cash, two hours on bar, two hours support, 2 hours back of house cleaning/stocking. Boom done.

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bro those baristas on bar all the time probably wish they could do anything else once in a while. ask ur shifts :)

The grass is always greener. I've been the main drive bar partner during peak at all the stores I've worked at and I HATE it. In 4 years I have only been DTO 3 times, i'm never on warming either it SUCKS. I'm drive bar during peak and after when bars are combined I'm moved to cold bar >:/. Never a breather

im a bar partner. honestly im super awkward and alwyas have other stuff on my mind and thats how i work best so i hate being put on pos. idk

Also a constant bar partner. The first hour or so is fine but the next several hours are agony and I’d love to switch

I get put on bar almost everyday for the last year and trust me, I don’t wanna be on it everyday either. Except I do know how to do other things cause I’m been with the BUX for 3 years 2 as an SSV and 1 as a barista

just ask your ssv if you want practice! i have a DTO queen who kills ordering & connecting w customers but when she needs a change of pace, she lets me know and we flex the play (:

i live on bar at this point; i don’t super mind it, but it gets irritating when all i do is bar and can’t hop onto other spots ‘cause i naturally like to flex/cs. i came on as an evening shift person so shifts were a lot slower and less frantic than mornings, and i would always just kinda go wherever i was closest to if a small rush came in. now all i work are mornings and i’m constantly on bar, we’ve been getting new partners in as other partners up and leave, so now i’m more likely to stay put on bar because the two green beans on shift with me and my store manager are only capable of oven and pos. and even though i’m one of the faster bar baristas in our store as far as morning people go (since i’m the longest lasting mostly-morning-shift person other than my manager and one shift supervisor at my location), my manager constantly gets onto me for not working fast enough even though we’re getting like 20 tickets a minute in our small ass no drive-thru store with 10-12 partners total and only 4 people working MAXIMUM at any given moment.

this is partially why i quit :))

I ask not to be on bar unless I'm working a night shift which is only on weekends. Any bar time in the morning or early afternoon gives me a panic attack.