Be better organised
With calving starting in the Southern Hemisphere this week, it becomes busier for farmers. It is important to be well organised, for the team to know exactly what they are responsible for, when tasks need to be complete and that critical path tasks are synchronised correctly between people.
Eliminate chaos and inefficiency
I remember clearly our first few calving when one person would be bringing new calves in, while a second person was still trying to feed them, all while a third person was waiting around for something else to do. It was mayhem, unbalanced and just plenty of inefficiencies, waste and non value added time. Yet everyone was extremely busy, stressed and exhausted, and we were working 6 or 7 days a week. I even have a video I use in my training from these old days of calving showing the waste!
Make things simple – standard work weeks
These days each person has a standard work week. This is essentially a day by day, and hour by hour schedule of tasks for each person. We review our calving standard work weeks every season and continue to refine them based on our team and skills. It means we can synchronise tasks correctly, ensure things are getting done on time, when required, work is balanced across the team, we are working efficiently and there is no waiting, everyone knows exactly what is expected of them and when, everyone is accountable to their role and we can continue a 5 on 2 off roster all calving.
Less time, less stress
The result is we get more done in less time and with less stress. Here is a snapshot of a few of our standard work weeks. We always leave some gaps in the work schedule to allow for variations and for training. I will post a video on this also. Remember it is not what you do that is stressful, it is how you do it that makes is stressful or not. We also have just one person that “fills” in for others. This means that only 1 role is varied and everyone else has just the same role everyday all calving. This keeps consistency, simplicity and reduces stress and chaos.
s not what you do that is stressful, it is how you do it that makes is stressful or not.