You don’t need to have a plan, you follow the training guide that your SM should have printed off, but if not it’s on the iPad as well.

Ask your barista how they learn best. Do they like to see something done before doing it themselves? What part are they most excited about/nervous about?

Follow the guide, be patient, encourage questions, and let them do things. Don’t have them just watch.

One of my coworkers made lil flash cards for the drinks on bar. Refreshers and Frappuccinos people pick up pretty quick. I think going over toppings for frappes would be helpful (the amount of times myself and the other newbies would ask if it did or didn’t get mocha drizzle was a lot lol) there’s also a cheat sheet that’s really popular on here. I have it saved in my photos and frequently use the recipe page (frap roast, mocha sauce, lemonade, etc).

You’ll do better than your trainer and that’ll help the team in the long run. Good luck!

If you know how the barista role is supposed to work and you know how badly you were trained, your job is to bridge that gap.

i make green bean starter kits which come with pocket notebooks for notes & referencing, index cards, sticky note pads, extra pens, etc. and i'll throw all of it in one of those reusable cold cups that come in packs.

but your trainer training gives you some good ideas too, like asking them how they learn best and modifying your approach. being vulnerable and letting them know about your own mistakes and learning timeline can help to normalize their experiences while training too.

if they like gamifying their learning, turn the modules into mini quests that earn XP for following routines and crafting drinks correctly. the prizes they earn can be up to you, but i like offering sticker packs for insulated water bottles or i'll offer to buy them one of the pricier reusable cups we have in store as the final loot prize. lol

i think half of training is just getting people feeling confident that they have the resources and support they need to be successful, even if they don't have everything memorized yet. knowing where to find the ipads, recipe cards, CSR cards, cycle task list, etc. as well as knowing they can lean on their store partners helps a lot too.

I made a cheat sheet for my green beans, print it on water-resistant paper and it'll last them at least a year or more!

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AUkL3rPv-HRWQi-X4TMQuoIrPrxcJLAC

Otherwise, just be a person and treat them like a person. Admit the parts you struggled to learn, let them know that it's going to be at least a month or two before they really feel solid on everything and that everyone else will be there to help with questions.

So, I've spent a lot of time training at my old job and I'm currently in training at starbucks. The most helpful thing I've found when training is the tell show do method. Try to have them do their my learning section on the tablet right before you go to do that position, then tell them what they are going to do, then do it yourself showing them what to do and talk through it as you do it and have them talk through what they are doing/what they will do, then let them do it. Talking out loud is one of the best ways to memorize things. This method has been very effective for me in the past and I don't know why it wouldn't work here. There are different learning styles, and if I remember correctly this covers most if not all of them if you have them do their stuff on the tablet right before.

It's unfortunate there isn't a system of some sort to remember shots and pumps for drinks. It seems like each drink is it's own completely unique thing, but then there will also be modifications (at least that's how my trainer makes it seem), so focus on the (I think it was 4 for hot) base drinks they teach on the my learning and build from there. If you are going to quiz them on stuff, as you should, quiz those base drinks. I really wish I could pull up the mylearning stuff at home as I feel like if I just memorize those 4 it would help me a lot, giving me a foundation to build off of, but as of right now, right after my shift, I don't feel confident in making anything on hot bar. I went over those 4 drinks once on the tablet, then she never talked about them again. I don't think she has even seen what is on the training on the mylearning thing.

My trainer is super nice, but they legit don't know what they are doing. She made one drink on cold bar then just had me try to do it all by myself and I hadn't even done the my learning so I legit had no idea what I was doing. She just told me no every time I guessed what I should do, which was constantly because she hadn't shown or told me anything, but she wouldn't tell me what I should do. The whole time I was just guessing on what to do until I got it right and that is NOT how you learn so don't do that. She did the exact same thing on hot bar today and it was VERY frustrating. When I started the shift I remembered the basics for how many shots and pumps in a few drinks, but at the end of the shift I had just forgotten it all. What I'm trying to say in all my complaining is reassure them that it's ok if they don't get it all right away and don't show how annoyed you are when they ask a million questions as you are literally there to do just that. Tell Show Do over and over and step in if there gets to be any significant queue. Let them learn to make a few individual drinks for a couple hours before you start asking them to do sequence stuff properly, although it does seem like that pretty important.

All that being said, maybe I'm just a moron who can't remember anything.

Apparently there is a training guide, so I guess just follow that to the T.