CoCo Reflections from Silken Buska:
This Week’s CoCo: Prepare For Your Work
I can’t think of anything witty to say to start this one… So let’s go for some practical tips and habits! Something that makes preparing for work super simple is planning what you’re gonna wear the night before. Especially for those early morning shifts, or if it’s been a long week, using brain power at 4:30am can be hard. SO! I personally have a stone creek work skirt. Most people who know me know this skirt because I wear it basically every week (excluding Dressember). I then pair that with a stone creek shirt and BOOM! I’m dressed and didn’t even need to think about it. When I’m really prepared I get it out the night before and lay it on the futon so I can be half asleep when I put it on and know I’ll still show up work ready! But some weeks are better than others. Another great way to prepare for work is checking the schedule the day before. It’s a great way to know who you’re working with and when your replacement comes in, or if you have a later shift, who you’re taking over for; this helps to a) know what time you have to arrive lol and b) create a smoother transition making sure you’re ready to start when your shift begins. It’s also a nice little way to double check the schedule and make sure it’s fully covered before an oh crap moment hits when you realize there’s a gap. It’s so much easier to catch those gaps ahead of time when we #prepareforourwork.
Next Week’s CoCo: Speak Up
For someone who talks a lot, this commitment is actually hard for me sometimes LOL who woulda thunk! I’ve had some less than stellar experiences speaking up which made it hard to speak up at other times. Thankfully we have so many wonderful cafe coaches that I’ve been fortunate to work under who have really helped me look at speaking up in a new way. Sometimes it’s intimidating to think about having a grand idea to speak up about and that is what can be hard to process. But when we think about it on a smaller scale such as making hand offs easier or a good flow to have during a shift, this coco becomes easier to grasp. If there’s a process we have that could provide a benefit, a quick team update or a text to your boss could be all it takes. Thankfully, we have so many avenues to speak up for the items that are on a bigger scale. I also love how this can be a collaborative effort! I was chatting with some team members about the app and how I was going to email to ask a question to get something added and then my coworker got to pipe in with something else and we sent the questions on the same email. Our positive, proactive speakups with each other got to save time for both of us, save time for teams working on the issue and allowed us to work together. May these positive tones lead us to #speakup.
CoCo Heroes:
- Prepare For Your Work: This Core Commitment Hero comes from the Whitefish Bay Kitchen Team – Stuart R! Stuart comes in early and prepared with a plan for his shift. He comes in knowing who he’s working with for that day and has been training with new team members lately! Coming in rested and ready to attack the day with a plan and ready to help our new team members learn and get the most out of their shift each day.
- Speak Up: This Core Commitment Hero comes from the Whitefish Bay Cafe Team – Matthew Wilkins! His speak-ups are related to different operational aspects around the cafe. He has also gone the extra mile by researching new processes and parts we could use, which takes it beyond a normal speak up.
Going-Ons:
February NSL Workshops: Our next round of NSL Workshops are quickly approaching, as they do! Our February NSL Workshops will be hosted in cafes and lead by your team leader and a member or two of Teams & People! Attendance will be required. Please take a look at your team’s NSL Workshop time and closing details below. Closing signage will be delivered to applicable cafes(*) ahead of time and should be hung up by the appropriate date below. (Whitefish Bay, Downer, Shorewood, and Glendale to close early on respective workshop dates at 5pm. Oconomowoc & Wauwatosa Bluemound to close early on respective dates at 4:30pm). In lieu of food provided during the workshop, each team is encouraged to use a portion of their Team Celebrations budget (e.g. Team Leaders order pizza) to enjoy food & hangs afterwards. Team Leaders, see “Celebrate with Your Team” in the Weekly Ops Recap for more details. Please reach out to your Team Leader, Karen Strange, or Teams & People if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you all soon!
Monday, February 12th
- Downer Cafe & Kitchen – 5:30-7pm at Downer Cafe & Kitchen*
- Shorewood – 5:30-7pm at Shorewood Cafe *
- Wauwatosa Bluemound* & Harwood – 5:30-7pm at Harwood Cafe
Tuesday, February 13th
- Bakery – 4-5:30pm at Factory
- Whitefish Bay Cafe & Kitchen – 5:30-7pm at Whitefish Bay Cafe & Kitchen*
Wednesday, February 14th
- Production – 10:30am-12pm at Factory
Thursday, February 15th
- Delafield & Oconomowoc* – 5:30-7pm at Delafield Cafe
- Glendale – 5:30-7pm at Glendale Cafe*
Tuesday, February 20th
- Factory Cafe – 5:30-7pm at Factory Cafe
Professional Development Opportunity – Specialty Coffee Association Event: This spring, the Speciality Coffee Association (SCA) Expo will be coming to Chicago and Stone Creek Coffee is looking to sponsor a group of up to 10 team members to attend on Friday, 4/12! If you’re not familiar, the SCA is a non-profit that represents thousands of coffee professionals, from producers to baristas, all across the world. The SCA Expo is one of the largest coffee events in North America and gives insight to what’s new in the coffee industry with cuppings, lectures, and product showcasing.
- What does sponsorship include? If selected, Stone Creek Coffee will provide transportation to and from the event, meals for the day, and cover the cost of entry to the event. Paid Professional Development will be entered for the employee covering the duration of the event.
- How do I apply for sponsorship? All team members are welcome to apply to attend and are invited to do so by emailing Teams & People (teams@stonecreekcoffee.com) with a brief summary of why they would like to attend. Following the event, attendees will commit to sending a summary of their learning at the event or aspects that they found remarkable to Teams & People. Sponsorship requests are due to Teams & People by the end of the day on Friday, February 23rd.
- Questions are welcomed to Teams & People (teams@stonecreekcoffee.com). We look forward to spending the day geeking out over coffee together!
Job Openings:
Join the Tech Team: Our incredible Tech Team that we all know and love is hiring! We are seeking a talented and dedicated individual to work alongside the team as the Tech Ops Manager. This role will support the team in areas such as team workflow, scheduling, equipment and inventory management, ordering processes, error tracking, and team development. If you or a friend are interested, visit our website to learn more about the position and apply!
view all current openingsWins & Shout-outs:
Brett Lyons – Line Cook at WFB
Brett got two shout outs from team members. Brett has an amazing attitude at work. WFB has been crazy busy, but he has been absolutely CRUSHING prep for us with a smile and some killer music in the back . He is always cheering everyone on and creating beautiful food for us to share with our customers. Thank you for all you do!
All Bakery Team
The Bakery has been crushing it with learning all the new equipment with the expansion and producing delicious pastries for team members and customers! You do a wonderful job and really are an integral part of the SCC team! We could not create remarkable care without you all. Thank you for creating all the yumminess!
If you’d like to recognize or celebrate a teammate, we would love to hear about it! By clicking here, you can fill out a form to nominate a hero and choose how you would like them to be celebrated.
Birthdays:
- 2/12 – Theresa Toms
- 2/17 – Megan Willborn
- 2/18 – Zipporah Caspers
- 2/23 – Vanessa Van Den Elzen
- 2/23 – Max Mantych
- 2/28 – Christopher Tammes
Anniversaries:
- Makayla Drutowski – 2 years!
- Tony Johnson – 2 years!
- Maddy Meyer – 1 year!
- Drew Pond – 10 years!
- Killian Steiner – 2 years!
- Chase Sullivan – 2 years!
- Alexis Westhoff – 4 years!
- Stacey Ziebart – 1 year!
Welcomes:
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Chase Barthel – Line Cook WFB
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Caelan Doherty – PM Driver
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Christopher Berry – Harwood
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Claire Bjorgo – Line Cook WFB
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Josh Brown – Fulfillment Specialist
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Clara Madley – Delafield
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Miguel Zamora – Barista WFB
Looking for volunteer opportunities? Click here to see our Volunteer Opportunity Index.
Employee Discount Codes:
Please don’t share these with non-employees
- 20% Employee-Only Website Coupon Code
- February: SCCEMPFEB24
- 40% Employee-Only Mobile App Coupon Code
- February: SCCEMPFEB24
Catch up on all of our newsletters, company updates, recipes, and more in our Employee Blog here.
Ways to Speak Up:
Do you want to speak up about ideas, thoughts, and more? Send an email to Teams & People (teams@stonecreekcoffee.com) or use the button below to send a note anonymously.