It’s early. You haven’t had enough coffee. Everyone already knows what needs to be done. You don’t have time. The list of excuses goes on about why you don’t need to hold a morning meeting for your team.
But some leaders suggest rethinking that choice.
“You always have time to plan and get your staff ready for the day. If you don’t decide to plan your day out or how you’re going to use your resources, you are doomed to fail,” said Benjamin Stajkowski of Grand View Farms during the Carthage Veterinary Service Swine Health and Production Conference.
He believes morning meetings set the tone each day on the farm to be productive and just busy. Here are five things to consider doing at your next morning meeting, Stajkowski said.
1. Take attendance.
Who’s here? Who’s missing? Find ways you can lift and shift to cover for anyone who is not present.
2. Go over daily or routine tasks and assignments.
Discuss what you are going to do – it could be someone’s first day or their 10th year, reinforce key tasks. Don’t assume your employees know what to do.
3. Discuss weekly tasks.
We all know the weekly tasks, but when will they happen? Is today the day for a weekly task or is it only a priority if there is extra time in the day? Stajkowski said that’s why it’s so important to share the priorities of the weekly tasks.
4. Talk about the non-routine items that will happen.
What are special jobs we need to do this week? Things that aren’t routine? Keep repeating them, he added. You may think employees know, but the more who know, the better.
5. Keep the team informed about what’s going on.
Go over safety issues. We want to keep our people safe because they are the best asset on our farm, he said. Discuss production numbers. Are you winning or losing? Is there more work to be done? Provide positive feedback for an individual or a group, but only share constructive feedback as a group.
“All the plans in the world are great, but we all know something’s going to go wrong in the first 30 minutes in the day,” Stajkowski laughed.
That’s another reason why morning meetings can be so beneficial. They allow leaders to reconfigure how the day will go more easily because everyone has been informed about the bigger picture.
To keep things moving all day, he recommended conducting a mid-day check-in at lunch or at a mid-day break to see how progress is coming along.
At the end of the day, encourage all staff or at least farm leadership to review what was accomplished throughout the day, he said. Determine what still needs to be completed tomorrow and start planning other tasks and chores for the week ahead.
“Then ask yourselves the most important question, ‘What can we do better tomorrow?’” Stajkowski said. “There’s always opportunities every day for improvement, regardless of whether it’s the most perfect day on the farm or not.”
In the end, it comes down to planning, he said. Planning is the key to success in any endeavor.
“Are you going to use your most important asset to your advantage and get the most out of it?” Stajkowski said. “Having everyone on the same plan is even more critical when lacking labor, time or resources.”
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