Your Coffee Shop Is Only as Good as Your Workflow

coffee bar workflow

A coffee shop can have beautiful furniture, fantastic coffee and brilliant staff.

And still feel chaotic.

Usually, the problem is somewhere in the workflow.

Workflow sounds like a boring business word.

But behind the bar, it can be the difference between a calm morning and absolute mayhem.

Think about every movement

A barista makes an espresso.

Where do they get the cup?

Where is the grinder?

Where is the milk?

Where is the fridge?

Where is the steam wand?

Where does the finished drink go?

Now imagine doing all of that fifty times an hour.

Suddenly the location of a milk fridge becomes surprisingly important.

The bar should make sense

The things you use constantly should be close.

The things you use occasionally can be further away.

Cleaning equipment shouldn't be hidden somewhere behind three boxes of cups.

Milk shouldn't require a small expedition.

And your staff shouldn't have to walk across the entire café every time someone orders a cappuccino.

Good workflow saves seconds.

Seconds become minutes.

Minutes become hours.

And hours become a much less stressful working day.

Watch your busy periods

Your quiet Tuesday afternoon isn't the best time to judge your workflow.

Watch what happens on Saturday morning.

That's when you'll discover the problems.

Maybe two people keep getting in each other's way.

Maybe the dishwasher can't keep up.

Maybe takeaway orders block the normal coffee service.

Maybe the person making food needs access to the same fridge as the barista.

These are useful problems to discover.

Because you can fix them.

Ask your staff

Your staff probably know where the problems are.

They experience them every day.

Ask them.

“What slows you down?”

You may get some surprisingly useful answers.

And occasionally you may hear:

“That thing you've been telling us to do for six months doesn't actually work.”

That can be useful information too.

A good workflow isn't about making your staff work faster.

It's about making the work easier.

When the bar works well, everyone feels it.

The barista.

The kitchen.

The customer.

And, eventually, the person paying the electricity bill.

coffee bar workflow

— Henning  Al-Gharb Coffee Roasters, Algarve

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