Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
↑
16
↓
How do I respectfully let my shift know they are supposed to help me with customers during opening? (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by dontcry2022
Before the next barista comes in, I do my morning set up tasks with the pastry case and so on, and after that I begin my restock. I am soloing the whole time. My shift is under the impression I am supposed to ask for support if we get busy. My SM has told me the way mornings work is that shift managers are supposed to be helping on the floor. This is consistent with my experience opening with my SM and with other shift managers.
This one shift gets frustrated with how slowly I do the restock, reminding me every 20 minutes or so "have you started?", "have you finished?", "we need to get this done". And saying things like "I'm going to take my 10 now since you're not done with your stuff" making it feel like I get my 10 second as a sort of punishment.
They have no awareness of how busy I keep with customers and keeping the coffee fresh, because they're in back of house working on an order etc. It makes me feel like I have done something wrong, when I know it's not wrong to put customers first, and I can only accomplish other tasks in between so quickly. I don't know if they expect me to ask them to come on the floor so I can do my tasks. They have made me feel like they think it is my responsibility to solo and restock between customers.
This one shift gets frustrated with how slowly I do the restock, reminding me every 20 minutes or so "have you started?", "have you finished?", "we need to get this done". And saying things like "I'm going to take my 10 now since you're not done with your stuff" making it feel like I get my 10 second as a sort of punishment.
They have no awareness of how busy I keep with customers and keeping the coffee fresh, because they're in back of house working on an order etc. It makes me feel like I have done something wrong, when I know it's not wrong to put customers first, and I can only accomplish other tasks in between so quickly. I don't know if they expect me to ask them to come on the floor so I can do my tasks. They have made me feel like they think it is my responsibility to solo and restock between customers.
RosieHarlan 11 points 7m ago
At my store the openers get to the store at 5am and the shifts are off the floor doing their opening tasks until at least 7am. I work at a drive thru store and the opening shift tasks take 1.5-2 hours depending on the day. The order also needs to be placed before a deadline which is usually around 11am and if it doesn’t get completed before peak then it might not get done at all.
When does the next barista come in? Your SM should be scheduling one to come in when the store actually opens because both shifts and baristas have a lot of opening tasks. The shifts are counting the safe and tills, counting and confirming the milk delivery, counting and confirming the sandwich and pastry delivery, counting and confirming the daily delivery, morning temp log, putting away the order, counting more inventory for the order, calculating the pars and actually placing the order, counting more stuff for the morning pull, then doing the morning pull.
When does the next barista come in? Your SM should be scheduling one to come in when the store actually opens because both shifts and baristas have a lot of opening tasks. The shifts are counting the safe and tills, counting and confirming the milk delivery, counting and confirming the sandwich and pastry delivery, counting and confirming the daily delivery, morning temp log, putting away the order, counting more inventory for the order, calculating the pars and actually placing the order, counting more stuff for the morning pull, then doing the morning pull.
dontcry2022 [OP] 4 points 7m ago
Thanks for giving me some insight into the shift manager opening tasks! I know this shift is working hard, not being lazy and letting me struggle lol. It sounds like they have a lot to manage.
I am not sure then how my SM and my other shift managers prioritize their tasks, because they all have the approach of soloing after official opening until I finish my last main task on the register/warming/pastry case side of things, which is counting and dating sandwiches. This approach helps me get those tasks knocked out much more quickly than if I had to work on it between customers. Then, they let me solo and restock between customers until the next barista gets in. The restock still needs to get done relatively quickly, but they don't get frustrated with me if there have been customers coming in. This one shift seems to always think I could be working faster, even if I am doing what I can with the only 2 hands I have :-) lol.
We start working at 4, we open at 4:30. The next barista doesn't come in until 6 or 6:30 (can't remember exactly lol). So I have a couple hours to knock out what all I can before I get some support.
I am not sure then how my SM and my other shift managers prioritize their tasks, because they all have the approach of soloing after official opening until I finish my last main task on the register/warming/pastry case side of things, which is counting and dating sandwiches. This approach helps me get those tasks knocked out much more quickly than if I had to work on it between customers. Then, they let me solo and restock between customers until the next barista gets in. The restock still needs to get done relatively quickly, but they don't get frustrated with me if there have been customers coming in. This one shift seems to always think I could be working faster, even if I am doing what I can with the only 2 hands I have :-) lol.
We start working at 4, we open at 4:30. The next barista doesn't come in until 6 or 6:30 (can't remember exactly lol). So I have a couple hours to knock out what all I can before I get some support.
RosieHarlan 8 points 7m ago
Yeah the shift you’re working with could ease up and keep an eye on the floor to see whats going on.
But your SMs scheduling is pretty ridiculous. 2-2.5 is an absurdly long gap to schedule the next barista to come in. Idk how you’re expected to do the opening tasks, the shift do their off the floor tasks, deal with the early morning crowd, and prepare for peak with only two people.
But your SMs scheduling is pretty ridiculous. 2-2.5 is an absurdly long gap to schedule the next barista to come in. Idk how you’re expected to do the opening tasks, the shift do their off the floor tasks, deal with the early morning crowd, and prepare for peak with only two people.
salaciainthedepths 3 points 7m ago
At least in my region, order cut offs are on different days, and some SSVs take on more responsibility when it comes to orders, than others. This could be why some seem to get through it faster or not do it. I’m an SSV at a store which is pretty SSV heavy and I will often open as the solo barista instead of doing the shift tasks. I know it’s tough on your own but it would be tougher in two days when you have no stock to sell because you had your shift helping you on bar so the order wasn’t done. It could be that some of your shifts are just copying previous orders without checking which is faster but likely to be inappropriate for your current needs and when the order arrives you could be missing stock or have too much.
You are supposed to ask for support if it gets busy. Your SM is telling you this but if the SSV misses anything because they were helping you, SMs will ignore that and hold them accountable for it anyway. The reason the SM is telling you your SSV can just be on the floor AND get all of their shift tasks done, is because they should have another barista on shift and are trying to keep labour percentage low. The answer to this is to take your time serving, get restocks done, let the SSV get their stuff done & if anyone complains, tell them you are understaffed and they should tell corporate about it.
Tips: restock as you’re serving and making drinks. I will write date labels while talking to customers, fill cups and lids while milk is steaming or blenders are on etc. If you don’t get something done, you might get your SSV a bit stressed. If they miss a shift task, they could be fired. It is important that they get their stuff done.
You are supposed to ask for support if it gets busy. Your SM is telling you this but if the SSV misses anything because they were helping you, SMs will ignore that and hold them accountable for it anyway. The reason the SM is telling you your SSV can just be on the floor AND get all of their shift tasks done, is because they should have another barista on shift and are trying to keep labour percentage low. The answer to this is to take your time serving, get restocks done, let the SSV get their stuff done & if anyone complains, tell them you are understaffed and they should tell corporate about it.
Tips: restock as you’re serving and making drinks. I will write date labels while talking to customers, fill cups and lids while milk is steaming or blenders are on etc. If you don’t get something done, you might get your SSV a bit stressed. If they miss a shift task, they could be fired. It is important that they get their stuff done.
dontcry2022 [OP] 1 points 7m ago
Thanks! Yes I understand their tasks are super important for the store running day to day. Thanks for clarifying how things should be going.
With the restocking, it's not so much cups and lids type stuff as it is prepping cold brew kegs, making whipped creams, making sweet cream, chai, mocha, frap roast, caramel drizzles. Just a whole lot of stuff that requires bringing out a bunch of dishes, retrieving different ingredients, doing the actual prep, then dating and storing. They're all "easy" tasks but it's a lot of movement, being careful not to make messes, etc. The floor of my store is pretty wide too so if I'm not strategic or even if I am, a lot of time is lost to walking back and forth or to the back. And I don't have an issue with doing any of this between customers, it is just that my shift manager has what I think are unreasonable expectations for how quickly I can get everything done when also doing a lot of walking back and forth to make drinks, make food, brew coffee, and take orders on register. I wish they would support me w/ customers or stop making me feel bad for not having it all done before we even get another barista in.
With the restocking, it's not so much cups and lids type stuff as it is prepping cold brew kegs, making whipped creams, making sweet cream, chai, mocha, frap roast, caramel drizzles. Just a whole lot of stuff that requires bringing out a bunch of dishes, retrieving different ingredients, doing the actual prep, then dating and storing. They're all "easy" tasks but it's a lot of movement, being careful not to make messes, etc. The floor of my store is pretty wide too so if I'm not strategic or even if I am, a lot of time is lost to walking back and forth or to the back. And I don't have an issue with doing any of this between customers, it is just that my shift manager has what I think are unreasonable expectations for how quickly I can get everything done when also doing a lot of walking back and forth to make drinks, make food, brew coffee, and take orders on register. I wish they would support me w/ customers or stop making me feel bad for not having it all done before we even get another barista in.
salaciainthedepths 1 points 7m ago
I know, I do all of this myself solo too - I will fully walk off in the middle of a latte to dart and grab what I need. If there’s two SSVs opening, I will fully volunteer myself to do barista tasks because all of that is still way easier than shift stuff. It sounds like you might have difficulty with task switching, maybe you could ask the people on the close before you to try get more backups made or leave stuff out for you ready to make in the morning without having to go in the back? Or maybe ask your SM not to schedule you for opens?
Shellbean00 2 points 7m ago
As an opening SSV, they need to be on the floor helping you. The 30 minutes while you set up the pastry case and bar are their time to set up the tills, do their milk count, get the ball rolling. Until more people start to show up. They have time to help out TRUST ME. It should only take them 30minutes altogether to do the order and food pull, depending on how long they’ve been a supervisor. But even then so, all that can be done AFTER PEAK. As long as it’s done before 11am (this time may have even been extended to 12 I can’t remember). But their priority all morning before peak should be getting ready for peak. Writing out the okay for peak, finishing up prep. They should be in front register and helping keep the coffee fresh, grab you what you need while you’re on drive thru or bar. Their position is to support you amongst other things. But they have enough experience to know that baristas should always feel supported.
This nonprofit website is run by volunteers.
Please contribute if you can. Thank you!
Our mission is to provide everyone with access to large-
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
©2023 HumbleCat Inc • HumbleCat is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Michigan, USA.