The COVID-19 pandemic has changed your farm. Some changes may be subtle, while others are drastic.
For most small- and mid-sized companies, around 25% of their business has changed, cites Sarah Beth Aubrey, founder of A.C.T., Aubrey Coaching & Training, a performance-based leadership training and executive coaching firm.
“The shifts you’re seeing in your business now may always be there,” she says. “Now, flexibility is the name of the game.”
What has changed? Aubrey says examples include:
- Personnel
- Remote work
- Absenteeism
- Labor cycling
- New technology use
Now you must decide, gave these changes been pluses or minuses to your business? In a bonus session for Top Producer Summit, Aubrey detailed how farm owners can recognize and adjust to these shifts:
“You will have to break new ground this year,” she says. “As you look at how your business has changed, make sure your expectations, measurements and metrics are in place. If those have slid off the map, you may need to revise them this year.”
Aubrey suggests farmers take these steps in 2021:
- Use change to better understand people. Read more: The 4 Crisis Management Types
- Use change to shove off things you don’t need to do. Read more: Organize the Essentials in Your Business
- Use the change to improve your culture. Read more: Build a Company Where People Love to Work
“Don’t look at all these changes as a negative,” she says. “Are some of these changes a savings for your farm? Open your mind up to the benefits these changes have brought us.”
To learn more from Aubrey, attend the Top Producer Summit, which includes an in-person event in Nashville, Tenn., from Feb. 15-17, and an online program Feb. 23-25. She will be presenting during both sessions.
Her online session “How to Own 2021, Your No-Overwhelm Plan to a Successful Next Year,” will take place Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 9:15 a.m. CDT.
