If we follow the team we see it doesn’t just happen – there are hours, months and even years of dedication as all in the team strive towards their ultimate goal.
Within great teams there’s invariably a great team culture.
Farming human resource specialist Sarah Watson from PeopleMAD says the same can be said for great teams onfarm.
Building a good team culture onfarm requires many of the same factors found on the court or field and takes time.
“Building a team isn’t a five-minute exercise. You have to build trust through communication, you have to lead by example and engage staff so they agree they’re striving towards a common purpose.
“Good team culture is about having common values, being valued and feeling valuable. It’s also about having that common sense of purpose.”
That’s why it’s so important to firstly know what your vision or purpose is within your business.
“Once that’s clear in your own mind then you can share that with your team.”
If people clearly understand the vision it, in effect, becomes the boss.
People become better decision makers because they can assess their actions against that vision and purpose.
Defining your values is integral too because once people understand which are non-negotiable they can again assess their own actions against them and think ‘does doing this fit with the values and purpose?’
Watson says leaders in the business can only expect others to be aligned to the values and be on board with the vision if they firstly share them but secondly live them too.
If they don’t it can destroy rather than build team culture and team engagement.
If honesty is a stated value, for example, and the manager constantly stretches the truth to paint him or herself in a better light, then farm team members are less likely to believe honesty really is a high priority. They’ll either disengage and lose a degree of respect for the manager or at worst believe honesty isn’t important at all.
Managers might be senior staff in a larger business or they might be the farm owner, contract milker or sharemilker. They’re the leaders and need to lead by example, Watson says.
The old adage “do as I do not as I say” is apt when it comes to building the team’s culture.
Recruitment is also an opportunity to align people with the values in the business.
If they’re stated in the ad you’re more likely to weed out some of those who won’t be a good fit, with the interview and referee checks the next place to assess candidates’ values.
While you might successfully have a wide variety of personality types within your team they’ll be much less likely to work in harmony with each other if they don’t have a common set of values or understand which values are non-negotiable in the work environment.
Watson says team culture is also about being valued in the business.
“People need to feel valued within the team and that they can contribute to the team’s success,” she says.
Lean management principles include a strong team culture component in that the team members are the ones who look for the waste and efficiencies within work processes – they are asked to contribute to making their work day better.
Watson has led DairyNZ’s pilot FarmTune programme, which is now being rolled out more widely across the country.
It has adapted the Lean principles for dairy farming businesses.
“There’s a real sense of common purpose when the team comes together to find better ways of doing things.
“Within that Lean approach everyone gets the opportunity to identify where their frustrations are within a process, and then how those processes can be improved, so the frustrations are eliminated.”
It’s a structured, well-documented and well-studied approach that provides a proven pathway to enable continuous improvement.
There are simple tools to use but the team also gets to invent its own tools and answers for its specific situation.
“Right at the start of the Lean process people are asked to come together and are coached into working as a team to make the improvements.
“Those improvements can be small incremental changes that are practical and achievable for everyone in the team.”
The Lean process is also about continuous improvement so structured, regular meetings are designed to encourage participation and suggestions from everyone on the team to give the on-going improvement everyone wants.
That means people are coached into listening, accepting people’s differences and being respectful so all suggestions get a good airing and people feel confident and safe in speaking up.
Valuing people also means taking the time to know your team members individually – what they want to achieve, what they aspire to and then looking at what you can do to help them get there.
Engaged staff members are more likely to be progressing in their jobs, and feel like they’re learning and growing.
Training, through industry training courses, discussion groups, field days, conferences and working alongside proficient people onfarm, will both help people feel valued and make them feel they can be of more value.
Structured one-on-one time and performance reviews that seek to improve performance rather than simply criticise poor performance also build team culture.
Watson says managers often need training in people management and coaching.
“Some of them have never had a good role model to learn from themselves. They’ve been great cow-and-grass managers but suddenly they have staff looking to them to lead and that takes a whole set of new skills.”
Giving feedback in a constructive way can be a challenge for some but coaching people to simply change the way they phrase what they’re saying can make a huge difference to how a team member receives that feedback.
Give managers the tools and training to manage people well and if you’re the manager seek out that training, she says.
Managing people isn’t about giving them a list of jobs.
“Giving people responsibilities rather than tasks means they can have some say in how the tasks within those responsibilities are carried out. It empowers them and increases their sense of value.”
Of course there have to be checks and balances, targets and accountability to ensure people are clear on what they have to achieve and the standards they are expected to work to.
Working together using Lean principles helps create a sense of common purpose and team ethos.
“If people are on board with your purpose and values and know the expected outcomes they’re more likely to be willing to work hard and strive to meet the standards.”
Watson says common sources of frustration for team members is unstructured meetings, and meetings where things are discussed but then not implemented.
Having agendas, an opportunity for team members to bring up issues, and documented points for action where a specific person is given responsibility for the action all help to get things done.
Checking back at the next meeting on whether the actions were completed provides a level of accountability.
Ultimately a great team knows where they’re going and they’re all excited and motivated about doing what needs to be done to get there.
“Importantly they have fun along the way and enjoy what they’re doing.
“They look out for each other. They don’t leave a mate struggling. A great team is a great place to be.”
Why team culture is important
A great team culture means staff are fully engaged. While that means the workplace is a much more pleasant place to be and people are happier it also means the business is more likely to be more profitable.
Research shows employees’ contributions to the business vary with their level of engagement.
- Fully engaged employees return 120% of their salary in value
- Engaged employees return 100% of their salary in value
- Somewhat disengaged employees return 80% of their salary in value
- Disengaged employees return 60% of their salary in value
Sarah Watson from PeopleMAD says a strong team culture ensures people want to come to work and are engaged in being there.
They’re adding value and are more likely to want to stay reducing the direct and indirect costs of high staff turnover.
“A good team culture supports full staff engagement and is a bit like 1+1=3,” she says.
Top tips from Sarah Watson
• Have a common sense of purpose.
• Share your vision and values.
• Do as you say.
• Allow people to contribute.
• Give responsibilities not just tasks.
• Understand team members’ goals and aspirations.
• Provide training.
• Train managers in people management.
• Have structured meetings.
• Give feedback in a positive, constructive way.
• Be respectful.
• Have fun.
