S.W.O.T. ting Your way to Meaningful Goals

Setting the Strategy – II S.W.O.T.tingYour way to Meaningful Goals John Conway – PRO-DAIRY

Problem Solving Cycle Define Control You are here (but at a strategic level) Measure Improve Analyze

The “Big Rocks” of Business Management Accurate Assessment of Business’ Resources plus Financial and Production Condition

“Foundation” View of Planning Tactics SMART Goals (Short Term) DRIVE Goals (Long Term) Accurate Assessment of Business’ Resources plus Financial and Production Condition Compelling Vision (Purpose, Success Picture, Values)

Principle in Play: • Goal Setting is a Particularly Motivating Tool as it can: • Focus energy and attention on the target • Increase the effort and intensity • Encourage persistence and practice over time • Promote the development of problem solving skills • Drastically increase the probability of reaching what you seek!

Compelling Vision – “the Rudder” Goals Refine Direction – “the Compass” Long Term (DRIVE) Goals – “Northwest” Short Term (SMART) Goals – 3150

… but before setting goals, you’ve got to know where you’re at! S.W.O.T. Analysis Strengths – General farm resource assessment – PA Dairy, DFBS, DHIA Weaknesses – General farm resource assessment – PA Dairy, DFBS, DHIA Opportunities – Yourview of Industry direction (in light of strengths/weaknesses) Threats – What you see looming in the industry/world likely to impact your business

Our Case Farm is bundled in a separate packet. While there is a lot of information in the bundle, you may find everything you need in the first and second sections. Accordingly we have put it into sections, each with a cover page. They run from the most general to the most detailed. • You are free to speculate and draw conclusions. Intent is to give you something real to work with, but without squelching your imagination. You can work the farm as is in the short run, jump ahead a year with the son and daughter-in-law in the picture, or both (may consume a lot of time, though). • Sections •  General Description • SWOT Analysis • PA Dairy Tool Analysis (PA’s financial/production “expert” system) • DFBS Financial Comparison (NY’s Dairy Farm Business Summary) • Dairy Production Records/Analysis (PCDART here or could be DairyComp 305)

Be the Case Farm You are in the frustrating position of using facts and data to set some goals without the benefit of a sense of vision. Things get increasingly more concrete as we look at the current situation and come up with longer term DRIVE Goals which will create the bridge to the future. They are supported by shorter term SMART goals which puts the stamp of specificity and due dates on strategy. You can dig as deeply in the supporting information as you’d like to determine which strengths can be further exploited and which weaknesses are critical to success and need to be shored up, maintained and continually improved. Let’s get to work! Other option: if you have accurate financial and production information on your farm go right ahead and work on your farm’s goals.

Based upon what you’ve learned about the Case Farm and your best objective assessment of where the business is currently at, set:

Case Farm or Your Farm Long Range DRIVE Goals Directional, Reasonable, Inspirational, Visible, Eventual - Goals

Some Production “Knowns” About the Case Farm: Herd’s Genetic Potential 90 lbs. -1 -11.3 -2.6 47 -12.8 -4

Based upon Case Farm’s vision and objective assessment of where the business is currently at, and for each DRIVE goal set:

Case Farm or Your Farm Shorter Term Supporting “SMART” Goals Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Rewarding, Timed - Goals DRIVE Goal # 1: Supporting SMART Goal: Supporting SMART Goal: Supporting SMART Goal: Supporting SMART Goal: DRIVE Goal # 2: Supporting SMART Goal: Supporting SMART Goal: Supporting SMART Goal: Supporting SMART Goal:

A Dollars and Sensible Offer… Some Managing for Success Workshop Participants have excellent information (Dairy Farm Business Summary (DFBS) or Farm Credit Financial Summary and either Dairy Comp 305 or PCDART Dairy Production Analysis). These are essential to conduct a meaningful SWOT analysis of the business as a prelude to setting long and short term goals. If you don’t have the information you would like to have and gearing up for a DFBS run is too big of a step at once, we will soon have financial and production information consultants available to get you started with the monthly Dairy Profit Monitor (see handout description) Please let us know if this is something you’re interested in. We will know by mid- May if we can provide this service free of charge!

The Dairy Profit Monitor is an outreach project that aims to provide dairy producers with a tool that allows them to track key parameters that are impacted by management decisions on a monthly basis while providing the opportunity to track these benchmarks against themselves and other farms in the system from around the country. We aimed to do this in a way that was simple, fast, and convenient for the producer yet flexible and valuable for their business at the same time. The information provided for the Dairy Profit Monitor is intended for use in business analysis, monthly/quarterly management meetings, and to serve as a guide to make operational decisions in the business that will impact profitability. The program was designed for easy use with consultants to facilitate a stronger producer-consultant relationship, as the DPM is a value-added service they can provide their clients with. The benchmarking capabilities will be very informative to dairy producers as they will be able to compare their business with businesses from different parts of the country, sorting by certain business characteristics like herd size, location, housing type, and milking system type. Although the program is in its early stages, we plan to expand to nationwide usage in the next three years. New features will be added in the future that are helpful and relevant to the end users, with feedback from users and industry trends driving additions to the program.

Further Reading: The Six Sigma Way, How GE, Motorola, and Other Top Companies Are Honing Their Performance. 2000 Peter Pande, Robert Neuman, Roland Cavanagh Dairy OnTime -- Getting Work Done on Your Dairy On Time All of the Time. Dairy Strategies, LLC. 2000 John Young ISO 9000 Implementation for Small Business. 1996 James Lamprecht The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement. 1992 Eliyahu Goldratt, Jeff Cox The Dancing Wu-Li Masters -- An Overview of the New Physics. 1984 Gary Zukav

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S.W.O.T. ting Your way to Meaningful Goals