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Management

A lack of communication can be a serious barrier in how to transition farms from one generation to the next.
Guide Business, Management

Continuous communication

There are three simple steps to establish a family business code of conduct

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Reading Time: 4 minutes There is a change in how families communicate today. I see the evidence in my daily work. You probably see it around the farm tables, in the barn, or with your accountant. Different discussions are happening now. Discussions are being driven by different players — sons-in-law, spouses, children — people coming into a farm family […] Read more
Friend calming distressed guy at home table
Guide Business, Management

How to argue, intelligently

It's the Old Brain vs. the New Brain

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Reading Time: 4 minutes In an increasingly polarized world, arguing seems to be a favourite pastime. Trolls (those delightful online creatures who start quarrels and sow discord for fun) treat the internet like a no-holds-barred Wild West. Others get lost in detailed rants and forget to listen — or forget what they were arguing about in the first place. […] Read more
Successful leadership means not only managing day-to-day work on the farm, it’s also being accountable for long- and short-term business results as well.
Guide Business, Management

Leader effectiveness deconstructed

Leadership matters most in tough times ... Will we have what it takes when we need it most?

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Reading Time: 3 minutes In my last article I explored the important components of leader development that can improve leader effectiveness. Some who read that article might have thought, “I’m already a good leader.” Or, “I don’t have many employees — it’s mostly family, so leadership doesn’t really apply.” Wrong. Studies have consistently found that leaders who think they […] Read more
Bev Shewchuk with her daughter Stacey and granddaughter, Georgia.
Guide Business, Management

Turning girls into farmers

Should you raise daughters differently to succeed at farming? This mother, daughter and granddaughter know their answer

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Reading Time: 9 minutes No matter how progressive we think agriculture is becoming for ourselves, for our wives and for our daughters, there’s still a prevalent attitude that farming is “men’s work.” Now a new ethos is gaining ground, and anyone who subscribes to the men’s-work way of thinking is being asked — well, ordered really — to get […] Read more
When people know how to lead better, they likely will.
Guide Business, Management

Leader development explained

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Reading Time: 3 minutes In my last article I reported that leadership has been shown to account for 37.6 per cent of the variability in business performance. I commented that small business leaders haven’t tapped this personal competitive advantage to achieve more with the resources they already have. But as we know, it is one thing to champion the […] Read more
Farm cows indoor in the shed
Guide Business, Management

Improving your farm today for tomorrow’s growth

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Reading Time: 5 minutes When I am working with the most successful farm business families, there are some clear areas where they seem to focus their efforts. They understand the critical balance of work “on” the business and “in” the business. In preparing for this five-part series on how farmers today are continuously improving, one area that I kept […] Read more
Are you wagging your finger? Are you defensively crossing your arms? Are you avoiding eye contact? These set off a fight-or-flight response in the other person.
Guide Business, Management

Tough talk

How to respond to questions you don’t want to answer

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Reading Time: 3 minutes In the age of social media, consumers are feeling empowered to ask more and more questions, which means that answering questions about farm practices has become another “to-do” on your already supercharged list. Farmers not only play an important role in the food conversation, they can be said to have a duty to participate in […] Read more
Farmers using digital tablet on potato farm
Guide Business, Management

Assertive, or co-operative?

A better way to drive business success on your family farm with effective communication and conflict resolution

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Reading Time: 4 minutes I have taught in the CTEAM program for 20-plus years. During sessions on strategic human resource management, participants routinely say that communication — particularly when dealing with conflict — is something they struggle with. Early participants questioned the benefits of formal communication approaches, such as information sharing and decision-making meetings. They were also hesitant to […] Read more
"It was a learning process of how we could take the business to the next level,” says Sara Wood.
Guide Business, Management

More together

Taking a group and multi-generational approach to upgrading their skills is paying off on the Woods farm

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Reading Time: 5 minutes More farmers agree that the old saying has it about right: Failing to plan is planning to fail. It’s too easy to get off-course if you haven’t set your intentions and goals to paper. Besides, how do you track your success if you don’t have goals? Having completed a succession plan that lays the groundwork […] Read more
Only 49 per cent of the study’s surveyed producers were committed to lifelong learning.
Guide Business, Management, Marketing

Is the class half full or half empty?

Just under half of Canada’s farmers are committed to lifelong learning. Here’s how it makes a difference

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Reading Time: 5 minutes “When the human mind is stretched, it never returns to its original size — similar to most new underpants.” That’s a quote from the International Farm Management Congress in Scotland last year, and it’s one that Farm Management Canada (FMC) executive director Heather Watson uses to stress the enduring impact of continuous lifelong learning. “The […] Read more

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