Discover the role of Morning Coffee Bar Manager

Morning Coffee Bar project manager, what's that all about?

At Morning, one of the main features of our teams is their ability to grow within the company, to move their work forward in line with everyone's wishes, needs and aspirations. Vertical moves, but above all horizontal ones, are legion. Chloé is a perfect example. She was first a Morning Manager, running the Poissonniers and Stalingrad spaces. Then she became a trainer of Morning Managers by creating the "Morning School". Today she runs the Morning Coffees while waiting to find a worthy heir. The Morning Coffees are a sort of reception desk reimagined the Morning way. You come for a coffee while picking up a parcel or getting your brand-new badge made. They are something of a shop window for Morning Coworking, for coworkers and visitors of all kinds. So how are these hybrid spaces run? We put a few questions to Chloé to find out how things stood.

Can you introduce yourself?

Chloé: "I'm Chloé, I'm 28, I've been working at Morning Coworking for 3½ years now. For two years I ran our Morning Coworking Poissonniers and Morning Coworking Stalingrad spaces. I then took charge of training the space managers. And for the past few months, I've taken back the running of our 'Morning Coffees', while we wait to recruit the future Morning Coffee Project Manager."

What does your role involve?

C.: "At Morning Coworking, we set out to reinvent work: so we created warm, welcoming coworking spaces where companies can settle in and share premises, to replace the traditional, rather cold and austere office blocks we all know. With that in mind, we wanted to rethink the reception of our spaces: rather than a receptionist in a suit with a tight bun whose head barely shows above the counter, we created the Morning Coffees. The Morning Coffees are reception spaces with an offer of hot drinks, delicious pastries, fresh juices and so on, run by a team of dynamic, smiling baristas."

We now have 7 Morning spaces with a Morning Coffee. My role is to steer this whole operation, across the strategic side, team management and the day-to-day running.

What does a typical day look like for you?

C.: "The day-to-day of the Morning Coffee project manager is really varied! In practice, right now, I organise myself so I can regularly visit each Coffee in turn. I'll be at our space on Rue d'Amsterdam on Monday, Rue de Courcelles on Tuesday, at Clichy on Wednesday, and so on.After that, my days are a mix of:

• Operational management: following up orders, supporting the teams in the field, and so on.
• Setting up new processes / new tools: the business is young, we rolled it out very fast, so there is quite a lot to structure and build
• Recruiting and training new hires: our company is growing, we opened 6 Coffees in six months, and it's set to continue, so we have plenty of new people joining us; we introduce them to the role and our ambition, and we follow their progress
• Managing the rotas
• Managing a team of around fifteen people
• Meeting new suppliers to broaden our offer

No chance of getting bored! It's a real joy to be able to touch on so many subjects, some very hands-on, but others long-term and challenging too."

Do you tend to work in a team or on your own?

C.: "Both! Day to day I obviously work with the whole team of baristas: each barista is fairly independent in how they manage things, but we are constantly talking about the little everyday issues, and about putting in place practices common to all our Coffees. We meet up, we call each other, we write by email, on Slack, on WhatsApp… I also work with the space managers (Morning Managers) and, whenever we open a new Morning Coffee, with my colleagues on the Works team, who handle the fit-out, the decoration and the site management of our spaces.And there is also a part of my job that stands on its own: I am 'solely' in charge of our Morning Coffees; I can always go and consult my colleagues when I have decisions to make, but you have to be able to work independently in this role, in order to grow a major project within Morning."

Talk me through how you got here?

C.: "Originally, my background has little to do with the world of coworking... I went to an engineering school! Then again, there are no studies to learn how to run a coworking space. I grew within Morning Coworking, step by step: first running spaces, then structuring this new role and creating a training programme for the Morning Managers. Putting common practices in place then reached a certain maturity, and I fancied taking on some fieldwork again. So I took over the running of our Morning Coffees while we recruit the future project manager."

What are the great things about this job?

C.: "All of it! Who hasn't dreamed of having their own cafe? With 7 Morning Coffees already up and running, there's the challenge of structuring a sizeable operation, of being able to take it even further, in a lovely world (we sell coffee and cookies, muffins, brownies, the dream!), with lots of interaction with people (with the teams but also with suppliers)."

What obstacles can you run into?

C.: "The brownies we serve are so good that I must have put on 3 kilos at the start...On a more serious note, there are lots of very different things to manage: admin, people, small issues that can take up a lot of time, more big-picture thinking about the business; in short, it's rich, but you can quickly get lost in it! You have to know how to organise yourself, prioritise, be patient…"

What qualities / skills do you need to have or develop to do this job?

C.: "The Morning Coffee is first and foremost a space created to welcome coworkers, their meetings and curious visitors. It is the first image of Morning Coworking that a person gets when they walk into one of our spaces. So you have to be able to pass on Morning's DNA to this team, which plays a vital role. You have to know how to give everyone some independence while coordinating the overall operation, to support and delegate, to be demanding and caring, to trust… We've also already talked about organisation, rigour, an ability to build, to put in place practices and tools that save time and structure the business."

Do you have any advice for someone who wants to take the plunge?

Go for it! You have nothing to lose by applying.If you want to apply on Chloé's good advice, you can come here ! And you can click right here to discover the Morning Manager role !