What your barista can teach you about team work (and the value of choreography)
Australians consume almost two kilograms of coffee each year, and while much of that is done at home, the takeaway variety is a staple of local coffee culture. Across the generations, more than half of Gen Z and Gen Y are likely to buy coffee from a cafe while about a third of Gen X prefer the practised hand of a barista over the home-made variety.
So whether you have time to sit down for service or you are pausing for a few minutes, it is worth taking a moment to observe the ebb and flow of the baristas' realm.
Indeed, it can sometimes feel like watching performance art. From the person who takes your order, to the baristas who prepare your brew and call your name, it's a practised sequence of events that seems at once effortless and highly skilled.
And if you have left the cafe with a smile on your face, that's no accident either. For the observant, those precious moments of interaction are a microcosm of good practice, from providing a mini boost to your mood to demonstrating the value of teamwork.
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Australian Specialty Coffee Association president Bruno Maiolo says baristas and the coffee culture they foster make an important contribution to workplaces around the country, without stepping a foot inside them. He says it has made Australia the envy of the coffee-loving world.
'We have the greatest coffee culture on Earth, and people want to be a part of it,' he says. 'We are the top of the tree. If you can make it in Australia, you are considered barista royalty.'
Take a minute to watch and learn from your barista. You'll take away more than a good flat white. Here's the five best lessons.
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