I Simply Do Not Have Enough Time

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”   Aristotle

Too often, we make a beneficial recommendation and hear the response, “I do not have the time.” Therefore, we started reading 2 books, “The Toyota Way” by Jeffrey K. Liker, a book about the Toyota business model that exemplifies “lean production” and “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey. “But Doc, Toyota makes cars, not milk.” Just like Toyota, your dairy is a business. Toyota utilizes efficient business principles with an emphasis on product quality that can be easily applied to your business. Focus on eliminating “non-value added” work and allow time for more “value-added” work. Changing workplace orientation (feed storage, feed bunks, calf housing, etc) can save time and money (Draw a map). Prevent downtime by keeping equipment properly maintained. Analyze every process/protocol to make changes that can save you time and energy. Actually writing protocols on paper will allow you to see where you are wasting time. Ask for feedback from your employees, in essence, turning them into on-site quality-control inspectors. Take time to develop your employees which will increase their work efficiency. Develop SOP’s to decrease variability/provide consistency and to increase quality and performance.  Improving management efficiency and quality will reduce costs and improve profitability.

Another time management technique is to habitually prioritize your daily activities, a true exercise in discipline.  Take some time to study The Time Management Matrix, by Stephen Covey. 

The Time Management Matrix—Stephen Covey

Looking at the matrix, ask yourself which quadrant contains activities that, if done on a regular basis, would have the most positive impact on your life, professionally and personally. I think the answer is simple—Quadrant II. So, the key is to be proactive and devote more time to QII activities. This can be accomplished by decreasing QIII and IV activities. You need to prioritize the activities (to-do lists) that are important to achieving your objectives or goals, organize priorities according to importance, and have the discipline and focus to execute a plan according to priority. Finally, learn to say “NO.” Devoting more time to Q II activities will automatically reduce QI activities. Put “First things First” and “Work smarter, not harder.”

“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.”   Goethe

When You Feel All Hope Is Lost

Dairy cattle veterinarians have a tendency to develop friendships and bonds with many of our clients, perhaps over-stepping the bounds of professionalism.  Due to our close relationships, we have significant empathy for the psychological and financial plight our clients are facing during this period of economic difficulty, greater consumer scrutiny, and increased governmental regulation.  The emotional despair we see on a daily basis is, in many instances, overwhelming, to the point where we find difficulty maintaining our professional persona. 

We are servants by nature, serving our clients by finding - and in some ways instituting - solutions to problems.  However, in many circumstances, the solution is not easy to institute resulting in frustration and depression.  When we are faced with crisis, how can we overcome the burden and focus on developing solutions?

COMMUNICATE!!!!  When you are feeling lost and experiencing a crisis, open up to your trusted advisors.  Ask for help and try to work as a team.  Do not try to solve your problems alone.  That can lead to greater stress and frustration.  Many times, your advisors are not privy to a developing problem.  We can not help when we are kept in the dark

Take the time to educate yourself by utilizing your advisors and resources that are available to you.  A wealth of information is at your fingertips online and is a phone call away with advisors and other industry organizations.  As veterinarians, we can help you in the management decision-making process

·       Determine need/problem area or opportunities.

·       Determine whether you are motivated to institute a change.

·       Provide accurate, up-to-date information.

·       Identify management bottlenecks that will impact implementation and profitability.

·       Champion and understand the vision/mission of the dairy when talking with other consultants.

·       Understand the level of management required to implement change.

·       Understand the financial feasibility of implementation.  Accurately predicting costs of implementation and production responses reduces risk.

·       Understand Risk Analysis.  Positive performance and profitability are not guaranteed

Practice time management and focus on priorities.  Do not burden yourself with the little things that add to the stress of management and take your attention away from what is truly important. 

Develop an organized management plan in order to prevent chaos and misunderstanding.  All members of the team need to understand their role and recognize accountability.  First, push the team, which should include you, to understand the Basics.  Second, design and formulate an implementation plan.  Using your team, develop protocols and SOP’s, establish goals, and set deadlines.  Third, implement the plan after careful deliberation.  During the implementation phase, monitor performance by utilizing data (DHIA, PCDART, DC305, etc) and Kep Performance Indicators (KPI’s).  The team should evaluate impacts, whether they were positive, negative, or no change and determine whether expectations met.  Finally, use the team to decipher whether the plan should continue.  

To maintain positive mental health during crisis, look at your dairy and pinpoint what is going right.  Additionally, do not forget to enjoy your interests in order to find an escape from your troubles.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, leave work at the door so your work burdens do not negatively impact your family.  Our own wives would say an “Amen!” to that statement.   (Should we practice what we preach?) 

We are working in difficult times.  Utilize your team to take some of the burden off your shoulders.  Finally, make management decisions after a carefully thought-out process.

Dairymen Working Together

In today’s competitive business environment, the smaller dairy farms lose out to the larger dairies in terms of modern facilities, efficiency, and economies of scale. In particular, modern dairy facilities improve cow comfort and labor efficiency giving them a more competitive advantage over the smaller dairy farms, many of which have older facilities. When cows are more comfortable, cow health and cow productivity automatically improve meaning less time is needed to treat sick cows which improves labor efficiency. As a result of the large dairy management and financial advantages, the dairy industry has undergone a rapid consolidation moving from smaller more inefficient dairy farms to larger, modern and more efficient dairies. We are witnessing the loss of the small dairy from the national landscape. Therefore, in order for the smaller dairies to compete and survive, we must develop a strategy to modernize facilities.

I think part of that strategy lies in the community spirit of the neighborhood small dairy farms. Nowhere else in America is the community spirit more personified than in rural regions. Dairymen need to work together to modernize dairies through cost-effective means. What constitutes the farming community spirit and why do I think this strategy could work?

An interesting irony exists in a dairy community. Dairymen are very independent individuals. They chose this profession because they can be their own boss while remaining in close proximity to their family. But during times of crisis, of need and hardship, those independent individuals make a choice to help a neighbor in need, the Samaritan ideal, or to submit and accept desperately needed assistance from another. As a community, dairymen depend on each other.

Two examples of the Samaritan ideal are vivid in my memory. In September 2004, remnants of Hurricane Ivan came roaring through Franklin County, Pennsylvania sparking a tornado that tore a path through the back door of my family’s dairy farm. Three dairy farms were torn apart. By the time I reached the area, scores of farmers were already hard at work, rescuing animals and starting the clean-up process. I went to my father’s best friend’s dairy to tend to the injured cattle, staying till well after 1 am sewing up severe lacerations with the aid of many dedicated dairymen. Men and women provided assistance from clean-up to food preparation. In less than 2 weeks, the barn was reconstructed and the community came closer together.

Death also brings people together. In a previous post, I discussed the passing of Rodney Hawbaker. Volunteers from around the community poured in their support to keep the dairy running while the family was mourning his loss. Over 20 Samaritans volunteered their valuable time towards this effort. Construction projects, with donated labor and supplies, were initiated around the farm, to make the everyday chores easier on Rodney’s wife and herdsman. Without the valuable assistance of neighbors and friends, the life transition would have been significantly more difficult.

We need to treat the present state of the dairy industry like a crisis. A “call-to-action” is needed to maintain the viability of the small dairy. We do not need a big government bailout. We need each other. “Dairymen Working Together” sounds catchy. What we need is to utilize the community spirit as described in the examples to bring one dairy out of the abyss; one dairy at a time focusing on cow comfort and feed-bunk and water-trough space. The “Dairymen Working Together” strategy requires that the individual swallows his pride and recognizes the need for change, to move out of the status quo mentality and accept that without change, the farm’s fate has been sealed.