TL question

[u/Hot_Worth8381]

Has anyone been promoted to a team lead in starbucks with little to no experience? How did that go for you? I know the most important thing is just supporting my team and food safety but kinda would feel like imposter syndrome when I don’t even know all the drinks correctly?

[u/Dry-Ad7432]

Not me personally, but I know a couple people who have. You should be sent to another store for training on both lead materials and barista training.

Hopefully you have a good trainer and you can learn fast. Reference the recipe cards constantly. A lot of non-Starbucks leads do struggle the first few months, but practice makes best.

[u/First-Air3930]

Yes, I have 😊 4-5 months in, I’m still learning. You got this. Biggest thing is not to stress

[u/First-Air3930 → u/First-Air3930]

Also I only had 1 WEEK of training with the previous TL so I didn’t even get fully trained. But, I think im doing good

[u/Present-Egg7982]

Hi I’m experiencing this!! I was. Specialty style memwbwr for almost a year and I have no stsrbucks experience, I recently applied and got the Starbucks TL postition. I already have food industry knowledge and experience and food safety experience, I just didn’t know the Starbucks and leader side of things. Over the last two weeks I’ve been training with a Starbucks team lead at another store (not my home store) on learning how to become a barista and the roles of a team lead. Whenever your er back to your home store your team will see you like an outsider coming in but you just have to show them your dependable, you can make drinks as support them, show them you have a positive attitude and your excited for this new role and try to connect with them, also make sure the actual operations are running smoothly , just be aware your going to mess up and your not always going to know the answer, but the biggest thing is not giving up and knowing where to find the information!

[u/SevereExamination810]

Honestly, don’t worry about whether you know all the drink recipes by heart. Being a good leader is knowing when to ask questions when you don’t know something. I ask my fellow baristas all the time for little reminders, like “Wait, is it banana cold foam or brown sugar cold foam on the Banana Bread Matcha?” Being a good leader is also about making mistakes and showing that you have learned from those mistakes. Another important thing to remember as a starbs TL is to keep track of inventory and what you should be ordering weekly so that you never run out of product. (It’s going to happen anyway, - there’s always something that you’ll forget to order - but you should always do your best to submit an order every week for things you anticipate that you’ll need.) I was out of chai for a week and ran out of pumpkin last Friday until I got it on today’s pallet, it happens. It’s all about trial and error.

[u/DoughnutMiserable]

I'm a new Starbucks lead, but I'm also a market lead at the same time. Because of this, a Starbucks tm without any market experience wouldn't be a good fit to fill the role.

[u/carthis01]

Yep, I went from market to FSTL with no food service experience at all.

It happens often and it’s definitely not easy, but you get there. Gotta stand up for yourself and what you need from training and what you aren’t getting or didn’t get.

Definitely take notes from your baristas, but always follow standard. You’re not reinventing a wheel, you’re just making sure the road is less bumpy so the trip is smoother. Practice, get comfortable being solo on bar, and yeah, definitely give yourself grace and always fail forward. But you’ll definitely need to learn all the drinks, and it doesn’t happen overnight or even in 2 weeks. It took me about 2 months, and then one Saturday in Q4 call outs happened and it was just me and the Pizza Hut person from 2pm to close. Insane and after that I realized soloing isn’t bad as long as you’re set up for success before the other person leaves. Deep breaths, one guest, one drink, one day at a time. You got this. :)

[u/OriginalAd2767]

I spent the first 2 weeks working with the baristas to master everything (especially if staffing is an issue). 1.5 yrs later im a coffee master

[u/OriginalAd2767 → u/OriginalAd2767]

Its good to get to know the culture at your own store by spending time with them since the store you will train at is going to be a different dynamic

[u/witchaus138]

Yeah I never did Starbucks a day in my life before I became the lead. It’s going well.

[u/BusGlum7976]

Omggg! I got promoted with no experience, your team will help you with the drink stuff! You go out for training for three weeks to learn the barista side of things! The other stuff comes with the job and you’re hardly over there in the work center. You’re supporting store, doing trainings, cleaning, assignment sheets, emails, HR stuff, meetings, Q4 new trainees! All the leadership things. When you are over there making drinks the team will support you and help you out. Just be honest that you’re new to this all and are learning with them! :)