March 2010 Management Minute
by Chris Reinhardt, feedlot specialist
A friend of mine was once the assistant manager of a large ranching corporation. He enjoyed the outside work and was very good at it. But his job as a manager required mountains of paper work to be completed on a daily basis. When the heavy work seasons of calving and weaning came around, his extra pair of skilled hands was always needed outside: by the chute, on a horse, in a feed truck, in the shop, etc.
The problem is that the paper work didn’t complete itself, and there was no “day-worker” for hire who could complete federal permits or tax ID statements. So when my friend came back into the office at 5 p.m. after an already long day, not only was his work not done, but it was piling up and getting away from him. This led to a great deal of stress and tension between himself and the general manager, not to mention a fair bit of confusion, frustration, and burnout.
As we head into the busy spring season, there may be a need to be exceptionally intentional about delineating job duties and priorities. In small businesses, everyone wears several hats, and that is especially true in agriculture. There will be opportunities for inside folks to get their hands dirty. The thinking is that the paper work will get done when the outside work slows down, and that may be true enough.
The question is, “What toll is that accumulating pile of inside work taking on those whose responsibility it will be to complete it?” Every properly designed job description will have duties clearly stated, and the duties will be clearly prioritized. If it is someone’s priority to complete payroll before Friday, then there shouldn’t be a ‘temporary’ priority change until after the field work is completed. That’s not to say emergencies don’t happen and flexibility isn’t required, but there may be unintended consequences. After the emergency is alleviated, what steps can be taken to assist the person who wasn’t permitted to complete their priority duties? Simply asking them to “go get your work done” is a good recipe for burnout and failed morale.
As we all get busy this spring, take time to discuss any potential deviations from “business as usual” ahead of time with all the affected parties, and then discuss ways to keep these deviations from settling around the shoulders of a few, key, individuals. They may be committed to the organization and may be able to deal with the stress for a short while, but concessions should be made to ensure their long-term satisfaction by rewarding their short-term sacrifices.
For more information, contact Chris at 785-532-1672 or cdr3@ksu.edu.
