One module of a staff manual: the steps, why each matters, common mistakes and a self-check.
Shown at the counter, a task gets taught a little differently every time: it depends who's on shift and how long the line is. A written module gives every new starter the same lesson. This one is a made-up coffee shop's espresso module, the second of six. It lets a trainee test themselves, but it records nothing: you can't see who read it or who got a question right.
Who it's for
Shift leads, trainers and owners who teach the same task to every new starter: pulling a shot, taking a booking, closing the register. Send a module a day or two before the trainee practices it with you, so the session can start from their questions.
It won't do for training you have to prove someone completed, such as food safety. That needs a system that logs names and dates. And reading isn't practice: the sample's trainees still pass on the bar, with the trainer watching.
What a good one contains
- One task per module. Espresso is module 2 of 6, and milk gets its own. It takes about 15 minutes.
- The standard, in numbers. 18 g in, 36 g out, 25 to 30 seconds, headed "Our recipe" because another shop's numbers differ. With those, a trainee can judge a shot without asking anyone.
- What they'll be able to do. Three lines, each something you could watch, like fixing a shot by moving the grinder a single step.
- Steps in order, each with its reason. "Wipe the basket dry" gets skipped in a rush. "Water runs down a wet basket wall instead of through the coffee" is what stops that.
- What to do when it goes wrong. Under 25 seconds and sour, grind finer. Over 30 and bitter, grind coarser.
- The mistakes beginners make. Five, each with what it causes. Changing two things at once comes first.
- Self-check questions built on situations. "A shot reaches 36 g in 19 seconds and tastes sharp and sour" asks for a decision. A definition question only tests memory.
- How they get signed off. Three shots in a row inside the recipe, then one fault to diagnose, in person. Write this part first, and let every section above it prepare a trainee for it.
Reasons are what people remember
A bare list of steps works while someone is watching. The reason is what's left when the shop is busy and a step starts to look optional. If you can't say why a step is there, find out or cut it.
When the standard changes, change every copy of it, in the conversation where you made the page. The sample's 18 g dose appears in five places, from the recipe band to the pass test.
How to send it
As an open link. Trainees read it on their own phones, behind the counter, between customers. A house recipe isn't worth a sign-in, so leave it open and keep pay and rosters somewhere else.
Every page you publish gets one link that opens in any browser. You choose who can open it: anyone with the link, anyone with the password, or only the people and company domains you name, who sign in with Google or Microsoft. Change the page later and the link stays the same.
