Lakota Training:
From Front to Back!

This section of our Training Guide takes a Front to Back view of Lakota with guidelines on how we would like things to be. It's a very important section because knowing and following these guidelines will make everyone's life so much better around here. This section is also a solution to a list of ongoing pet-peeves that everyone would like to clean up. Ready?

Our Front Porch

We want it to look nice.

Sweeping and de-cluttering the front porch of trash and cigarette butts should be one of the first few things on the check list everyday. This routine also includes putting our A-frame sign out and cleaning the glass and hardware on the front door. It's also possible that the front sidewalk will need some spot cleaning from the previous nights festivities.

The way our entryway looks speaks volumes about our company. Please make sure the rugs are positioned neatly. There is a horse-hair mat just inside the front door that creates a bit of a dip. That's okay when you can see it but it should never be covered up by one of our rugs. It creates an unnecessary hazard. We know that there are a lot of details here but seriously, it only takes a few minutes to get it all dialed in!

We are not ready for guests until these details are handled.

Maintaining our porch, entryway, and front window seats is also on our list of things to do throughout the day when you have a moment.

The better everyone gets at this, the less there will be for any one person to do.

NOTE: Please don't put the A-frame chalk board out in windy or rainy weather and you may have to run out and rescue it if a thunderstorm blows in.

Window Seating

Also, give the plants a quick look. Remove dry leaves, dust, and water as needed. The windows here need regular attention as well.

Also, please do your best to monitor our window seats and other hot spots such as in front of the coffee wall, and most of the wall seating to make sure they are being used by paying customers. We especially discourage "camping" in these areas. The idea is to consistently turn these tables all day long.

All seating should be monitored before you take that cigarette break or go for lunch. Please do your best to keep our tables and chairs clean and orderly so we can get the most out of our overhead.

If everyone does this it will seldom get out of hand.

From the Book Case to the Coffee Bar

We'd like to see the bookcase get some regular attention. Arrange everything on the shelves nicely and dust to suit.

Roll down the edges of coffee bags tight, nice and neat.

Sweep and bus tables and floors as needed, and if our walk way rugs are out, please remember to clean them as needed.

Light fixtures dusted...?

Regularly work our tables and chairs back to their normal positions according to our seating chart.

The coffee wall needs regular attention: coffee jars organized, shelves cleaned, coffee bins wiped clean and shiny, and restocking done according to daily checklists.

Note: We are always looking for extra attention to be given to busing tables and sweeping up under them. Sweeping under the tables can be kind of annoying but it's a necessary task that needs very consistent attention.

Stocking the Coffee Wall

Rotating our coffee is of extreme importance. When you restock the glass jars, empty the remaining beans into a clean container and wipe the coffee oils out of the jar with a clean cloth. Then pour the fresh roasted coffee into the jar and top it with the older coffee. Please make this a habit.

The coffee bins feed from the bottom and load at the top so rotation is not an issue, however the coffee oils that accumulate need to be wiped out on occasion.

When you go into the roasting area to pull coffee for stocking, please make sure to do the following:

1. Please be careful with our product. Don't spill the beans! If you do, clean up after yourself. If it's a big spill, discreetly salvage what you can and throw the rest away. There is a vacuum cleaner on the wall right next to the roaster.

2. When you use the last of something, wipe the oils out of the bucket with a towel. (You should have one with you anytime you are handling coffee) Use up every last coffee bean. The idea here is to leave clean and ready to use empties against the short wall next to the roaster for me to refill.

3. Please be extremely careful when restocking coffee. For instance, if you're not paying attention when you pull coffee for stocking the Sumatra, you could accidentally top the Sumatra bin with Sumatra French Roast. This has happened several times before and guess what? When they are mixed together, we have neither! I have to find a way to use all that coffee in a blend. Not Good! So please pay attention to what you do!

4. When you return coffee buckets to the roasting area or coffee closet, please, please put them back where they belong. The buckets are ordered by row with labels on the walls. If you got it off an unlabeled shelf then put it back in the same place. If you pull a varietal from the roasting area against the wall, put it back in the same spot. Put the lids on nice and tight to keep the coffee fresh. Leave our coffee closet nice and neat!

5. We ask the same with flavored coffee on the back landing. When you finish a bucket, wipe it out with a cloth that will go straight to the wash when you're done so that we don't get flavorings all over everything in the building. Leave the empties in the corner on the landing, not in the roasting area!

6. When pulling coffee from back up bags behind the roaster, please put the empty bags away. The fourth drawer down in the plastic rolling chest next to my desk is usually full of rolled up five pound coffee bags.

NOTE: Do not save any coffee bags that have had coffee grounds in them. (at ANY location!) They are troublesome to us because the old stale coffee grounds get everywhere they shouldn't be, like all over the fresh whole bean coffee, mixed in with freshly ground coffee, or being run back through the grinder. Please, do not reuse them anywhere in the store. I've tried a number of different ways and it just isn't worth it! They should be recycled with the newspaper or thrown out.

7. If you've done all this correctly, I won't even know you were in the roasting area, coffee closet, or flavored coffee area, except for all of the nice clean buckets that I'm going to fill with fresh roasted coffee the next day!

I clean up after myself. Please do not make me clean up after you! Thank you.

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