Buy-In

Yesterday, I went to a seminar with a few of my managers put on by Zoetis titled "Connecting with your Caregiver."  Some of you may have gone to this program, or similar programs, which focus on communication styles and adaptations you can make to better communicate with different people or in different situations.  It's the type of program that people in business attend regularly, but isn't always that common in agriculture, particularly with front line managers, who generally prefer pigs and crops to people. 

The training started off by having each of us take a DiSC assessment, or basically a behavior test.  The assessment categorizes you two ways- people or task oriented, and fast or moderately paced.   Looking around the room, I wasn't really surprised how any of my collegues or myself came out in the assessment.  Like most farmers, we were mainly task oriented, the pace varying here and there, but generally we worked towards accomplishments, not relationships.  We are people that have a plan, and tend to be skeptical of anything that wants us to take time away from the plan to foster connections. 

As the class started, I knew it would be an uphill battle for the presenters to create buy-in with my group of skeptics.  To start, our presenter, we will call him Ernie, used academic style language and explantations.  The slides and topics were generated by Zoetis, the material in the class is the same no matter where you take it.  To my fellow skeptics, the academic language immediately signalled that Zoetis has no front line experience, nor do they understand the people with which my managers are dealing. Even though a few of us tried to lead by example with participation, buy-in was lost immediately for this group- with the exception of  the two people who were people oriented; they actually could buy-in rather easily, since they saw value in the learning from a relationship building standpoint. 

My least receptive manager, we will call him Reggie, didn't just hate the presention, he took everything that was said as an attack on his ability to successfully perform his job.  By reading body language, I could see well before it happened that he was going to storm out in a huff, give everyone the silent treatment on the way home, and slam the door in everyone's face as he left.  This guy isn't someone that generally has a bad attitude, and he definitely has buy-in at the farm level, working long hours, and going above what is required for his job.  But he couldn't see the training as an opportunity- it was just a waste of time. 

After Reggie's attitude, I wondered what I could have done to change the situation.  I feel like I let him down by not explaining that he was chosen for the training because he is successful in his job both with pigs and with people.  This course wasn't meant to make him feel like he was doing it all wrong. It was meant to invest in his future with the company. The presenters could have done a little more to foster buy-in as well.  They could have brought it down to a bare-bones practical level, letting us think through and dialogue different problems we have with coworkers and suggesting solutions to each other, instead of lecturing about the different types of personalities. I think the program was wanting to go towards group participation, but there was nothing that really broke down the teacher- student barrier, nothing that made us equals. 

The thing about buy-in is that it is something you have to work at.  There are a lot of books and programs teaching managers how to foster it, and ingratiating your culture with it.  At the end of the day, we just have to be geniunine and open with our goals for each person in the organization.  We need to communicate growth, either through relationships or tasks.  Every effort won't be successful, and we will all make mistakes.  This time I let my team down, but I hopeful that I have learned from my blunder. 

Storyteller

Last night, I was up working on a presentation about how farmers can use the internet to connect with consumers.  It is I believe strongly in, and although it is awkward to start putting yourself out there for the world to see and judge, it has been a completely positive experience for me.  It allows me to tell my side of the story to a broad audience, not just the people I see every day.  On top of that, I have the opportunity to gain confidence and learn about what people from different backgrounds think about farming.  Some is negative, and some is positive, but people generally like farmers and generally mistrust the industry.  

When I was writing the presentation, the real goal is to get people to educate about agriculture.  To have understanding between those who produce and those who consume.  Farmers often shy away from the public relations side of their businesses because it is a soft skill, not something that can really be added to the net income, although it does seem more than happy subtract. As an individual person, a farmer doesn't realize how far their voice can reach.  And we need to take the initiative to do it.  

Only about 2% of the US workforce is in agriculture.  That means at least 98% of the population does not have hands on experience of what it is like to be on a farm.  But 100% of the people have an opinion about it.  The first place they look for information is the internet.  And the first articles that come up on the search engine about "Where my food comes from?"  aren't always the ones that contain the most factual information.  Basically, if we aren't telling our story, someone else is more than happy to do it for us.  We won't have a say in how it unfolds, who are the heroes, and who are the villains.

We need to be honest about our position, and our shortcomings.  I don't think anyone would say farming is perfect, all technology is good, and that there is no room for improvement.  But as farmers, we do the best we can with the information we have.  A lot of good has come from changes we have made to satisfy consumers in the past, and we must be willing to make more changes in the future.  We aren't necessarily farming like our grandparents did, "uphill in the snow, both ways" but sure aren't farming like our children will be either.  We can't get too attached to present situations and prevent our story from moving forward.  We have made so much progress in production, and we are capable of making similar progress in public relations.  All we need to do is get started.