I just did this today and it actually provided a lot of insight for me and now I’m going to try to do it with every partner. It’s not exactly an activity but I feel it will boost morale. When someone is off after I ask how there day went today I also asked “hey is there anything I could have done or done differently that would have helped you today”. A partner shared with me that for them it bothers them if I ask how they are doing when it’s really busy and I never would have known without asking!! For some partners I know it’s really nice to be asked how they are doing but I totally get how it can also be a stressful question! It also creates an opportunity for open honest communication at a time when they have the time to do it!

not a shift, but one of my favorite shifts will have us take 'team building' nitro cold brew shots every few hours. if we've just gone through a rush or a difficult situation. its very fun, and we all say cheers and clink our sample cups haha. its definitely a big morale booster for us at my store, makes busy mids more fun

i know these are simple small things but if we have the time for it and i notice someone’s really putting 150% in that day like they’re sweating they’re moving i’ll tell them to take a 15 instead of a 10 or let them leave a little early if they want to. i like to decorate the store for holidays and encourage everyone to help decorate too. after a rough peak or just a bad day i’ll occasionally order pizza (with sm approval)

I love to spoil my team. Whether its with compliments or actual goodies. I tell everyone personally and as a group how amazing they are and what a good job they are doing every shift. This especially to the people who are struggling. Sometimes you just need a positive push in the right direction. I try to treat spills or the occasional oven fire like a minor inconvenience. Everyone makes mistakes and there is literally no use in crying over spilt milk. I make a point to get to know people and ask them questions with general interest. Like I just brought treats yesterday and one of the girls was so grateful I remembered what she likes. I genuinely like the people I work with. Sometimes I am taken advantage of but not often. When it comes down to it, I appreciate them and in return we have really fun shifts. I give options instead of telling you what you are doing. If they are struggling, they know I will move them under the guise of some other task to keep them busy and still feel appreciated. I am also a little goofy and try not to take everything so seriously. It is only coffee at the end of the day.

We say “who drivin this bus” when things get crazy lol

This is so stupid hahah. If any of my current/previous partners see this they’ll immediately know it’s me. But I started this thing called Chicken Kisses. I just pinch my fingers together in this shape 🤏 and give people little “kisses” on their shoulders. The shape of the hand looks like a chicken to me, so Chicken Kisses. I started it at my old store to let people know I was thinking about them, or to let them know they were doing a great job or just check in with them.

green apron cards! we didn’t have any at my store and i made a board. i also love giving people shout outs in our group chat, it just makes everyone feel good and like they’re appreciated

At my store my SM lets us play our own music as long as it’s appropriate so I’ll usually let people queue up songs they like or have them play music from their own device. We dance and sing, its helpful during peak to just groove to our own music.

With every partner I work with I do a "mental health" check in to see how they're doing with life and I ask what they want to work on for the day. It helps build the connections with the whole team.

Every so often I use one of my markouts to cut up and sample food amongst my baristas. I like to do a cheese danish with caramel drizzle and cinnamon dolce topping. It’s a little special treat for everyone lol

i always say my plans out loud to baristas so they are all included in when breaks are being taken, and where people are being placed etc! we are a team so having everyone on the right page and having some say in the shift let’s people get more comfortable!

When we some pastries going out during the night shift, i cut them in half and bag them and let the baristas out together a list of trivia questions for customers to win the pastries as prizes. We call it trivia night, the baristas love it and the customers do too.

I’m not a shift but I have a couple of favorite shifts I work with sometimes. They both are very good about relaxing/not letting the stress get to them and keeping a cool atmosphere. They’re also always telling us how great of a job we’re doing which I personally really appreciate.

Saving this to give as suggestions to my own SSVs and SM❤️

- Today was rough as hell so I gave out 15s instead of 10s

- I've gotten pissed for the store before

- 'Drink testing' weird or drinks that we like

- Turning Ubers off at the drop of a dime (those numbers really don't matter, and it's the one thing we can control without DM or SM)

- My store is close so hanging out outside work. (Shifts only for Sbux reasons)

- I let my people know that I care about each of them individually, even if we are more distant more than all of the customers combined. We are a team and we need each other.

- Cracking jokes or shitty dad jokes, and then jokes about other jokes not landing.

- Little screams if we almost run into each other or pass by each other.

- Shitty British accents on DTO

- I made myself the wallpaper and lock screen on all the ipads

I'm a firm believer in just following up with my team regarding their lives. I had one who is going on vaca this week and I'll ask how that went. I have one who is engaged and getting married soon. I have one who LOVES dogs and we talk dogs. I love communication with my team.




If we meet a particular goal that's set for the day I will buy my team donuts or pizza or something from the grocery next door. I just listen and like to positively motivate. We work hard and I firmly believe if you take care of your team they'll take care of you (including the connection scores and prep work).

I help. That’s the main complaint my baristas have about other shifts. I will do a oven, pastry case even dishes whatever I can do to help. I also help them with drinks without them asking. Idk I’m the favorite shift at my store. I joke when I need to but we get the job done. I also have serious talks when needed but I try to see how they are doing. I hate confrontation but I’m working on it.

This is really weird, but I pronounce a bunch of words wrong on my shift. I say cheesy dans, caramel Maseratis, egg bits, croissants with the worst French accent ever (I challenge people to say it with the least number of syllables). It makes people laugh and it’s kinda my “thing” now and it’s caught on among the baristas! It’s a nice way to break up tension whenever we’re busy

sometimes we’ll speed run a close so we have time to do a tasting. its been well enjoyed so far and everyone works fast to get to it. AND its improved everyones tasting and coffee knowledge! it made me sad night crew never got to do tastings

Making sure breaks are taken care of no matter what

If you are hungry or thirsty you drink or eat it doesn’t matter if we are busy it’s more important to take care of yourself. (So I’ll just kinda throw a bagel at them or get them a trenta water)

Competition with rewards even if it’s with yourself, get those times down 5 seconds, that’s two lil ceazars pizzas

Challenge other stores to races and the looser buys ice cream for the other crew (or just knowing who is the victor may fuel consistent results or fuel improvements)

Get to know your crew and I am a big fan of random scenarios or fun facts, “what would you do if I turned into a walrus on the floor right now?” “Did you that make seahorses get pregnant instead of the female?” You know whatever works

Flat white, cappuccino competitions, latte art, showcase a drink or do a what is it called the thing where you sit down with your crew when
It’s slow and try a coffee (I do that a fair bit anytime we get new beans or new baristas just can’t remember the name)

I have also theorized bringing in headbands the game but that’s a bit tooooow lenient and laid back and as such it’s a theory but many of these improve moral ^~^

Oh and make sure they get their pins, year pins partner of the quarter, advancement pins, they are all important

Sorry it’s so long but hope this helps

The huge thing that boost morale for me as a Barista is when my SSV's send me on my break, and let me know to leave on time without me having to remind them.

I just let them all make fun of me all day. I shamelessly make a lot of bad jokes. I try to give them little things when I can, like letting them leave early or not noticing when it’s not busy and they take a longer break. Be relaxed. Idk.

team undertoes, green apron cards, putting on our music after we close the lobby, one time i did a “red bull party” ive also brought pizza but thats just me being extra, also making sure partners know you actually care about them

i am not a shift but i will list a few things my shifts do that make them the best people to work with ever;
-we play our own music along w the stores playlist and we dance and sing to our favorite songs when we need a minute to breathe and at night
-my shifts are so nice and so funny. great personalities on all of them. they keep everyone in check, ask how everyone’s doing and how we’re doing today, etc.
-if a partner looks stressed or overwhelmed, they will see that and immediately take action and tell us to go to the back to take a minute and breathe and they will offer comfort.
-super chill about being late, dress code, we won’t get written up for stupid stuff
-my favorite part: every single time i clock out (and when 99% of partners clock out) shift will say good job today! thank you so much ___! you did great! and during shifts they will hype us up😂
can u tell i love my managers? i feel i got so lucky at my store, everyone who’s there and new who comes in is great.
some other people, not so lucky. and I feel for you.

Things my team loves that our shifts do:

Asking them (when it's slow enough) if there's any positions they want more practice on. This is GREAT for newer partners but also folks that just never got the chance to try working on bar or anything because it was always going to the veteran baristas.

Also, just asking people where they'd prefer instead of always deciding ahead of time. Gives people ownership and makes them feel a little better!

Snacks! One of our ASM‘s made us a little snack wall, just using a shoe organizer, and everyone takes turns filling it and getting reimbursed. Dollar store snacks are easy wins, especially like fruit snacks. It just helps to have a little something we can nibble on and it’s always a fun surprise when they keep changing.

I usually work nights, so this may not be helpful to morning shift leads, but when it’s a little slower will kind of get a poll question going around the store. Right now we’re trying to figure out which Pokémon each barista is most like, and decide as a group. It’s a lot of fun and makes the time go by faster. We also sometimes put out doodled poll questions for our drive thru customers, it's pumped up our tip rate for sure 👍🏻

Another fun thing is if we have several preps that need doing, letting people call dibs on doing them. Sometimes there are certain preps that people enjoy more than others, and this also gives them another chance to have more ownership over what we’re asking them to do.

I give out stickers. Sometimes it's "Wow, that rush sucked, but you get a sticker for surviving!" or when someone did a smallwares swap without being reminded she got a sticker, or sometimes we'll do trivia and you get a sticker if you're right. It's small, it's kind of stupid, but in my experience, it works great with baristas up to age 23 or so.

Be fun to work with. Don't be unnecessarily strict and don't be bad at your job. Let baristas know you have their backs at all times no matter what unless you are doing cash handling.

Listen to your own music in the boh and share what makes you tick.

nitro shots before/after/during peak (any time you want to celebrate!), and give each person specific goals for their shift - remind them they're in that position because they're great at it!

Just be very open always check in w them and ask about their day or something they’re interested in, for me I’m able to talk to them like a friend but still be able to be stern to get the things done we need to

Small, meaningful things: checking in with workers at the beginning and end, taking the time if needed to really let them connect with you. Validating their concerns or problems even if it's not something you share as a concern.

Massive organized thing: being unafraid to lead a team effort to make it clear there's a specific issue that hasn't been addressed and it must be ASAP. My team knows if there's an issue, I will talk to everyone who could potentially fix it. I'll sit in with a coworker who needs to have a hard conversation with someone else, especially management. I'll "yes, and" or "no, but" to help make a collective solution to our problem.

Tbh I think the union has been the biggest morale boost recently tho. Knowing we can actually tangibly affect our workplace issues in a way that we never could before, not without months of corporate approved fuss.

I’m not a shift but My favorite shifts always ask us how we’re feeling, and usually when everyone is down we do a “Chinese fire drill” type thing where we all just go to the position we want to
Then when we’re all hitting kind of a wall we take undertows together
Also just interacting with us like we’re people… I’ve had shifts in the past who just told us where to go and told us when we had a break and that was it there was no connection there

I get pins from five below and give them out to my baristas for working extra hard or "making the moment right"

Who’s your partners, laugh with them, switch up tasks, so they’re not always doing the same thing. Ask them what they learned, or want to learn, ask them what they hate. Be honest with them.

I know this wont sound like it, but doing casual quizzing on drinks if theres down time especially with a newer crew seems to work for me. As long as you keep it chill and allow them to mess up theyll gain a trust in you. Asking people how they are when you see them. Being goofy. Being open, yourself.

One of my shifts loves to make things for us. She put up a board for name tag design requests, we all wrote our name and desired design! She often brings in cupcakes or other homemade goodies :) All my shifts are very supportive and are genuine. They ask how our day is going and always tell us we’re doing well

One of the biggest things for me is giving the barista a choice when you’re able to: e.g “Do you feel like covering bar or warning for the next half hour” or “Would you rather go on your break now or later”. Obviously those things aren’t always possible, as sometimes you need someone at a specific position or need them to take their break at a specific time, but I always felt good when given that choice as a barista.

Similarly, learning about what tasks/positions your baristas enjoy, when in the shift they usually prefer to take their breaks/lunch, etc. helps you to call plays in which your baristas will be happiest.

Another thing is being willing to jump in and help with “barista” tasks. I always felt extra respect towards the shifts who were willing to jump in and do floors or bathrooms from time to time, for example.

Other than that, I always liked coming up with new drink combinations that I put into sample cups for my partners to try — that was a fun way of connecting with them. Finally, just be kind to your baristas, check-in with them and give them encouragement, and talk with them if there’s ever a little down time.

Dance breaks!

To start, I love this thread. I've read through every comment in here and the overwhelming excitement and positivity and genuine caring make me light up inside.

I can't add much to the "fun" part that hasn't already been said. For that matter, a lot of the more basic suggestions (like proper check-ins and outs, rotating positions, asking partners if there is a position they would like/not like/want practice on, etc.) have pretty much been covered.

But one thing I would like to share that I'm doing is partner evaluations of myself.

I was asked to be in this year's IPLD by my manager, and after my first few classes, I told her that something I would love to do is have some scheduled face-to-face time with all my partners for them to share their feelings on my performance in the store. I have a list of 9 questions that I'm asking each of them, such as:

* How are you feeling at work lately? How's the morale around you?
* Do you feel supported by your partners and supervisory team?
* In what ways have I or have I not been meeting your needs?
* What do you feel I can work on developing more, as a partner and a supervisor?

I truly value my team, and want to deliver the best possible experience for them every day. And not just on my shift. Several of my questions are used to also indirectly evaluate their experiences outside of shifts that I lead.

Hopefully this was of some use to you!

Nitro cold brew shots. Not a shift but shift started it. (Just nitro in the pup cup sized cup lmao)

I'm not a shift at this job, but I'd have to say that being positive and bubbly (but serious when you really need to be) worked like a charm for me - being too bubbly but flakey is always a bad look - but so is being overtly serious.

Sometimes.... It's just really bad to be uptight and precise and clinging stringently to the rules - yeah, we're supposed to follow the rules, but we're human. You can communicate in a fun way, or do a quick fix that lies in the gray area of the rules, and you can be friends and supportive with your coworkers.

People desire people. Don't be a robot, and don't only have negative feedback... Give out compliments at least twice as much as you do corrections.

(And let people feel like they are trusted to do their job correctly. Asking and "making sure" something was done right all the time is... It makes you lose confidence.)


If your store is doing those commitments (on the tablets when you sign in to work), ask if your partners want to join in on a selfie - maybe just one other person. That moment of closeness really forms a bond with your partners, and it only takes a second or two.

When my ssv sees I’m a little down he’ll put me on window with a box of pastries going out that night and will let me give them away (with sm approval of course) or another one does undertoes with us during peak when we have a spare moment to shoot back some shots. It’s also mandatory at my store that if there’s a dog at the window everyone must come see the dog

I’m described more on the stricter side I suppose, but my way of improving moral is by bringing snacks for the baristas to have in the break room. A lot of our younger crew tends to skip meals, so I try to make sure there’s something they can munch on, even if it’s not the most healthy thing lol. I also try to verbally express gratitude, and specifically use ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ when asking them to do something.

Every now and then on my day off I bring enough treats like donuts or boba for the entire crew to share. I write a note letting them know that I appreciate them for making my job a bit easier despite how busy we get. Throughout all of my shifts I'm usually just stating quiet and doing my job, but I always let my team know that if they need to talk to me then they can. But first and foremost we here to work and trying to have fun in the process. So, they are usually rowdy but nothing too disruptive and they are always working and being respectful when it's my floor. I honestly just have a great crew that I get along with.

I ask them what’s the last thing they want to do and what’s something they would like to do

One of my shifts makes nicknames for us and sometimes they draw faces on the stickers for us to put on our hats for funsies.

I loved checking in with my baristas to ask how they were feeling, if they had any position preferences for the day (which 90% of the time I had everyone wanting different things so theyd all get what they wanted), having them switch out positions throughout the day so they didn’t get too fatigued on one spot (especially bar and DT), doing undertow shots with everyone after peak, doing full coffee tastings with a food pairing during slower evenings, and a few times I used the store credit card to order some food for everyone on days we were way over goal. Once we got a huuuuge bag of red lobster cheddar biscuits, once was pizza from the place next door that gave us a huge discount, and once I brought in a case of Red Bull from Sams club when we had an earlier than usual morning (1am instead of the usual 4am) doing a holiday set.

I always ask if there’s any place a person DOESNT want to be on their shift and do my best to avoid putting them there. Always lots of pleases and thank yous and green apron cards !!

I used to run closing shifts, we made a cooperative Spotify playlist, I invited everyone who. closed and we all out a few songs on there and plug it into the store audio, good times

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