Leading and managing are only as effective as your knowledge and understanding of the who, what, and why of your cafe. Sadly many people with the title of manager or in positions of leadership are going day-to-day putting out fires, chasing down tasks, but never getting ahead in developing and supporting their staff in meaningful ways. Today on Shift Break …
How we think determines how we act. This is especially true when it comes to pressurized situations like the kind that we find in a busy coffee shop environment. We talk a lot about leader, ship, tactics, and principles, and aspire to be better leaders, but if we don’t fix our thinking, our actions will not be effective in our …
It’s Founder Friday and I am so pleased to finally welcome the one an only Tim Wendelboe! Tim Wendelboe runs his own roastery and espresso bar in Oslo, Norway where he imports, roast and serve high quality coffees. Apart from winning 8 Nordic Roaster Competitions with his team, he was the 2004 World Barista Champion and the 2005 World Cup …
Seemingly in balance to our episode with Kwame Christian on big swings, we need to talk about small starts! Making decisions about size, scope, and scale of our cafes can set us up for success or it can set us up for disappointment. I see this play out time and time again where people over commit to something and bite …
Summer Webinar Series from Keys to the Shop®! Congratulations! You hired the right people! Now comes one of the most critical parts of the relationship between employee and employer, raining and onboarding. All too often we rush this process and engage in “trial by fire” training, we give people big manuals and handbooks and simply tell them “read this”. How’s …
There is wisdom in taking well considered steps in your life and business. The trouble is that sometimes, when the best move is a big one, we can write it off as unwise or reckless. How can we overcome what holds us back from making the right big moves? Well I am pleased to welcome back to the show someone …
I had a conversation with a successful cafe and roastery client recently. We talked about delegation and what was standing in the way of them giving tasks and authority to others. It came out that they were worried about relinquishing control and that they want things to be perfect. Of course this owner is in good company, we all have …
Boardgames and coffee! The two were meant for one another. Gathering around a table to share an experience with your friends and family is core to how community happens. In the last decade we have seen an explosion of gaming and coffee cafes meeting a need for connection over shared dice, boards, cards and cups. Todays guest has been a …
We serve 2 types of customers. External and internal. The external customer is the one that comes in for a coffee and spends money and time with us as guests in the cafe. The internal customer comes in for a job and spend their energy and time helping us serve the first customer well. In this environment, managers are critical …
In the world of specialty coffee, the relationship between roaster and cafe is one of the most vital. In a healthy relationship, there is a support for the client that mirrors the hospitality and quality that the roaster hopes the cafe produces using their coffee. There may be nobody more qualified to speak to both side of this relationship of …
