Your Profit Team A Guide to Getting Started

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Your Profit TeamA Guide to Getting Started
Slide Source Lisa Holden Penn State Dairy
Alliance [phone] lah7_at_psu.edu
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A Guide to Getting Started

• How a team works?
• Phases of Team Development
• Role of the Facilitator
• Monitoring data for the team
• Questions
• Mini-Team Meeting

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Good Teams Have

• 4-8 core team members
• Regular, scheduled meetings
• 1 to 1.5 hours in length
• Written, shared agenda
• Structured format for operation
• Focused, productive discussion
• Systems for monitoring progress/performance

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Stages of Team Development

• Forming
• Storming
• Norming
• Performing
• Ending

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Stages of Teams, cont

• Forming Anticipation, commitment, positive
  feelings
• Storming Disagreement, uncertainty, negative
  feelings
• Norming Some level of accomplishment,, positive
  feelings sometimes stop here.
• Performing Positive challenge, learn, grow,
  achieve.
• End When team is no longer needed.

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Storm to Norm to Perform

• Lack of progress ---WHY???
• Too much info overwhelming
• Refocus, prioritize, accomplish, celebrate.
• Dragging our feet (accountability)
• Clarity and consequences.
• Think we know, but . . .
• Use outside experts, review data, reset goals.
• Dairy producer wont change.
• Discuss. Direct. Disband team.

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Ending the team

• Reasons to disband a team
• Purpose completed (no new purpose).
• Team is not functioning (and cant be fixed).
• Team members no longer committed.
• Dairy producer does not value.
• New team needs to be formed
• Different issues
• New members

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Questions??
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Phases for Team Development

• Phase I Planning for Success
• Phase II Starting Strong
• Phase III Keeping the Pace
• Phase IV Cycling Out (Ending)

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Phase I Planning for Success

• I-1. Decide to use a Profit Team
• I-2. Select of team members
• I-3. Choose a facilitator
• I-4. Organize first team meeting

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Phase I-1. Decide to use a team.

• Why is the Profit Team Needed?
• ALL team members take an index card.
• Think about WHY this team is needed.

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Phase I-1. Why use a Team?

• Why is the Profit Team Needed?
• Improve dairy profitability
• Improve communication and work together
• Correct a specific problem low milk production,
  poor reproduction, low cash flow, others.
• Plan for a significant change herd expansion,
  management succession, etc.
• Make a good business better.

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Phase I-2 Selecting Team Members

• Has an interest in being on a team
• Willing to listen and learn
• Willing to put own interests second to team
• Committed to attending meetings
• Usually, some area of technical expertise

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Phase I-3 Choosing a Good Facilitator

• Someone who can guide the team
• Both the People and the Process
• Someone who can be organized
• Someone who is a good communicator
• Someone who is able to change hats
• Technical specialist vs. facilitator
• Asks tough questions, summarize data, manage time
• Remember ALL team members are responsible for
  outcomes of the team.

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Phase I-4 Organize the first team meeting

• Mini-meeting today
• Set date and time
• Exchange contact info
• Use your cards to get started on purpose for team
• On-farm
• Walk through and review data
• Analyze information, determine what else is
  needed.
• Set goals, ground rules, structure.
• Be clear about expectations!

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Phase I-4 Planning for SuccessFirst On-farm
Team Meeting

• Allow at least 90 minutes
• Walk through farm operation at beginning
• Evaluate data, trends, share thoughts
• Identify strengths and areas for improvement
• Ask producer to share expectations
• Develop ground rules, communication,
  expectations, questions.
• Assign roles to team members.
• Begin to develop goals and monitoring systems
• Identify key items that need to be worked on by
  next meeting.
• Set meeting dates for next 6-12 months.

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Phase II Starting Strong

• II-1. Defining the purpose of the team
• II-2. Setting Goals
• II-3. Building a Framework

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Phase II-1. Finding a common purpose for the team

• Clear, common goal or purpose
• Will NOT work well without this!
• Think Sports home run, touchdown, win the
  game.
• Use cards to write down what YOU think the teams
  purpose is What should be accomplished? Why is
  the team needed?
• Share ideas and develop a common purpose. Start
  this during your mini-team meeting and finish at
  first meeting.

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Phase II-2. SMART and DRIVE Goals

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Result oriented
• Time bounded
• Attain pregnancy rate of 20 by June 30, 2008.

• Directional
• Reasonable
• Inspirational
• Visible
• Eventual
• Improve reproduction in the herd

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Phase II-2. Setting Team Goals

• All teams need to have a shared vision or common
  purpose.
• Write down and gain agreement on 2-4 shorter term
  (first two months) and 2-4 longer term(6 months
  to 3 years) goals.
• Dont set too many goals
• It is overwhelming.
• Set stretch goals that challenge a bit.

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PhaseII-3. Building a framework

• Choose core team
• May need temporary team members
• May need additional outside expertise
• Establish communication expectations
• Both within and outside the team
• Establish ground rules
• Set GOALS
• Set meeting dates/times

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PhaseII-3. Building a framework Analyze the
Dairy Operation

• Gather Information
• Monthly Monitor Sheet
• Profit Team Data
• Production information DHIA (1 yr), on farm
  records
• Financial information balance sheet, income
  statement
• SWOT Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities,
  Threats
• Access to key information
• Must share data that will be monitored
• Must have good tracking system in place
• Must have common understanding

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Phase III Keeping the Pace

• Continue to celebrate successes
• Seek new challenges to incorporate
• Move from more tactical issues to more
  strategic issues as appropriate
• Refine communication
• Can meetings be shorter?
• Can meetings be less frequent?

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Phase III Keeping the Pace

• Manage the information
• Analyze the data
• Remember Not everyone has the same
  understanding.
• Use benchmarks internal and external
• Agree on key areas that are targeted for
  improvement
• Monitor the data
• One page monthly monitor
• Charts, graphs
• Goal lines
• Change or variation
• Use time wisely

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Phase III Keeping the PaceManage through the
Storming Stage

• Conflict occurs
• Recognize and respond to it
• Disagreements or Disengaging
• Interpreting information
• Next steps of action
• Conflict offers opportunity for the team to grow
• Avoid it.
• Accommodate people.
• Competing Majority vote.
• Compromise Best solution?
• Collaborate Spend time on the most important
  items

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Phase III Keeping the Pace

• Some teams get too comfortable, need new
  challenges.
• Some teams get stuck in the mud or slow down
  and need to refocus.
• Some teams accomplish goals and are no longer
  needed.

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Phase III Keeping the PaceTop Performing Teams

• Challenge and move to next level
• Strategic issues
• More complex decisions
• Some of the original Dairy Advisory Teams in
  Pennsylvania disbanded in their first year. Some
  continue to operate and excel more than 10 years
  later.
• Expect more!!

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Phase IV Cycling out (ending the team)

• Met purpose, no longer reason for team.
• Team not functioning, cant be fixed.
• Social event, rather than real work.
• Significant change in farm.
• Not the right time for the dairy.
• Other reasons?

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Teams

• "There are no problems we cannot solve together,
  and very few that we can solve by
  ourselves."--Lyndon Baines Johnson    

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Questions?