Can you give your employees two minutes? Sometimes it’s the small things during a herd check that you notice. The quantity and quality of the TMR. The cleanliness of the stalls. How calm or agitated the cows are that day.
On this day it was the herdsman’s actions that stood out. As we walked down the front of the first lactation pen to begin a herd check, it became obvious we had one of the dreaded “bottom feeders” closing and locking several headlocks. Resulting in 10 to 15 of the 100+ locks being locked and empty.
Rather than ignoring these and continuing our conversation, my herdsmen calmly used his RFID wand to flip each locked tab open as we walked by. Such a simple action with a profound result. A herd check where our routine is to check half a pen, run them to the back of the freestall and then allow the loose cattle to lock up.
This small action allowed another 10 to 15 cattle to lock, which resulted in more room for us to work in the back and fewer cattle to sort, saving time and money for the dairy.
A little action with profound effects on the herd workers and myself.
This defines this particular operation’s view on leadership. They have established a culture of sustainable management that would make “Getting Things Done” author David Allen proud.
Allen speaks of the importance of establishing a sustainable management system for individuals as well as organizations. Seeking to prevent organizational procrastination or the collective delay of work by individuals within an organization that results from unclear priorities, insufficient resources and a lack of motivation for organizational development.
On display on this day was the foundational principle of Allen’s “Two Minute Rule.” Allen argues that something that can be done in under two minutes should be done now. This “Do it Now” mentality encourages and rewards employee autonomy for correcting issues before they become issues management needs to handle. Taking small tasks and preventing them from accumulating into large problems results in empowered employees who feel they are better at their job.
In this case it was the simple act of opening the headlocks. Other examples could be finding a new clasp for a gate chain, greasing a bearing, entering a treatment or marking a cow to find later. We need to encourage employees to be unafraid to slow down and perform and be happy to compensate them for doing so. As James Clear says: “The point is not to do one thing. The point is to master the habit of showing up.”
To do this we must profusely reward (verbal rewards are best) when these small two-minute behaviors are noticed and avoid punishing employees who are slowed or delayed because of doing these tasks.
As Clear goes on to say: “What is rewarded is repeated. What is punished is avoided.”
If we as managers can empower our employees to show up on these little tasks, our job will become easier. These actions will mean fewer tasks are delegated to management and fewer delays in operational efficiency. We can then capture a better bottom line resulting in less stress in the management tree.
Your Next Read:
Data: The New Dairy Gold
