I love being a ssv. I like organizing the plays, taking care of my baristas, and getting shit done. I am the only ssv who is an opener and a closer and I love being able to work with the whole team and also work on having closers and openers work together.

Responsibilities are more, but not difficult once you get used to expectations. I honestly think barista work is more exhausting. I think the hardest part is balancing personalities and work tasks sometimes. I try really hard to find what positions work best for each barista and that can be challenging if you have conflicting personalities or expectations within your team.

Overall I absolutely love being an ssv over a barista. I get to mama bear for them and be a buffer when customers cross a line, I get to flex plays and make sure everyone is taken care of, and I get to do what I think is the best option to keep the store functioning and promoting customer connections.

I promoted to SSV recently, and so far I think it’s worth it! obviously there’s the increase in pay alongside the increase in responsibilities, which does lead to an increase in stress lol. especially when your store has a shortage of SSVs - that means you’ll probably be working a lot more hours and potentially get asked to cover more (and longer) shifts.

as a (more experienced) barista, you go where the SSV places you, take your breaks when they tell you, maybe take some initiative on cleaning/tasking, maybe coach green beans if you notice mistakes, maybe jump in to deal with some difficult customers. as an SSV, you’re responsible for planning the play: figuring out where to place people, when to give breaks, when to do tasking; plus there’s extra SSV duties (like cash management, the pull, placing/verifying the order, inventory counts, store walks), and when customers demand to speak to the manager? that’s you. it’s a totally different mindset, and it’s almost like being a new hire again - but if you’re up to the challenge, it’s a great growth opportunity.

as for developing into the role: I’d highly recommend talking to your SM about becoming a barista trainer if you aren’t already, since that training specifically covers coaching, and you’ll get a review on standards. if there are positions you’re weaker/less confident on (customer support, warming, whatever) ask to be put there to get more practice. if you notice things not being done to standard, coach the person - even if they’re an SSV or even the SM. also talk to your SSVs, and pay attention to how they run the floor (setting up the play, supporting partners, coaching, etc).

finally, there’s no shame in trying it out even if you end up deciding it’s not for you! our store has partners who voluntarily demoted from SSV but are fantastic baristas (and barista trainers); it’s totally a personal decision.

[removed]

The pay is definitely more. And the responsibilities are higher. The consequences are unequivocally higher. Basically every write up becomes a 'final write-up'. So two screwups and you are fired. One screw up and you can't leave for 6 months sincs a write up stops you from promotions or transfers. If you are staying at the same store for the next year or so and you like the sword of demacles swinging over your head, yeah, go for it. I got tired of being blamed for everything on both sides and left. Baristas blaming you for enforcing sm rules. Sm blaming you for any task unfinished, even if you are short handed. I had a bad time, but maybe that's just me?