Why training is an important tool for keeping consistency between your baristas?
Training is an important tool to maintain consistency between your baristas.
But why?
A barista is key to the success of your business as they are producing the coffee for customers. Although there are various types of baristas within the industry, training needs to be a key focus in developing consistency amongst staff to ensure that no matter who makes the coffee, customers are satisfied with their coffee made by any barista on shift.
Why train baristas together?
Whilst in your business, you may have anywhere from 2- 10 baristas – depending on the size and staff turn-over there won’t be two baristas that make coffee the same. This is where training comes in, whether from yourself as the owner, a senior barista or your coffee company. Every barista I have worked with or trained has always had a different style to myself, but it’s important to train as a group every 3-6 months to ensure that all baristas know the parameters of the coffee and to keep up the standards that are required. Otherwise, issues may arise when customers come to order coffee and see that they don’t like the barista on shift because he/she made the coffee different to the barista yesterday.
How does it improve consistency? Why do we need consistency?
Consistency is defined as “the quality or condition of being consistent”. There are various factors when it comes to making coffee as a barista that need to be accounted for; such as grinder adjustment, grind weighing, distribution, tamping, extraction, frothing of the milk and pouring/ serving of the coffee. No one barista is the same in any of these aspects, but by training your baristas together this allows for all of them to come together and collaborate, share and learn. This will help improve consistency between all, as the techniques learnt will allow the formation of a cohesive unit of baristas that are always willing to learn and develop as a group due to having a common goal.
Without the consistency between the baristas, customers will be able to tell the difference on certain barista’s coffee and may in turn not like how that barista made the coffee. Therefore favouring a certain barista to another. This will affect your business in the sense that the customer may only come in on select days due to the variation in the consistency.
In Summary
By training the baristas in your business frequently this will allow for an overall improvement of quality of the coffee being served. This will also help in reducing favourability to baristas from customers due to the variations on their skills in making coffee, this is always a crucial factor when maintaining customer bases and important staff all follow the same parameters and training methods set. A focus on training always allows for growth of staff and helps keep them informed in how their skills are going and what could be improved on, whilst also creating a cohesive team environment. Never be afraid to train your staff as they will help improve your business.
