b'Start preparing. Preparation is the mother of successbecause there are ebbs and flows to the industry, its important to use the off time to help the business succeed during busy times. Plan ahead and include key employees to ensure all priori-ties are addressed.Many employees are looking for someone to help prioritize the workload and someone who can help simplify it, says Norm Many employees are looking for someone to helpDreger, principal at Osborne Interim Management. For me, it was always prioritization, whats important or not right now or prioritize the workload and someone who can helpthis week or next week. What can wait until later and what is simplify it,urgentwhat requires todays focus.In the off seasons, budget not only how were going to useNorm Dreger resources including time. Then establish how youre going to measure [success] during the busy season so you dont get over-whelmed by the busyness of running around and get off track from the goal, he adds.Make sure to establish trust. There are going to be times you or your team feels overwhelmed. Trust needs to be built so if problems arisepersonal or professionalthey can be addressed.When were asking a lot of employees, were also asking a lot of their families, Durst says. That employee might not be able to pick the kids up from school because theyre in the field, they might miss some mealtimes. What can we do to prepare families during these times of stress because families are the reason our employees go to work and they dont want to sacrifice family When It Gets Busy, Stay Productive for workthey want to have both and its important that we Seed production and agriculture at large is an industry thatdo things to help manage expectations and needs of the family relies on timing. The crop must be planted by a certain time,during these high-stress times.sprayed before pests overtake fields, harvested before stalksRecognize that stress doesnt always impact only the and shanks weakenall of these time constraints put immenseemployees.pressure on people in the industry. The working life and the personal life arent so easy to sepa-When those busy seasons inevitably come, there are stepsrate sometimes, Dreger says. Its important to recognize that it you can take personally and as a manager to enable your team.doesnt matter what job youre in or what industry, youre always Busy seasons take their toll mentally and physically but withgoing to have busy times whether youre in corporate roles or proper care there are ways to lighten the load. [crop] production. We cant just shut off the work side, we have Take time to communicate. The adage about assuming holdsto manage it with family and that takes a lot of planning.truetake the time to communicate with employers or employ-ees effectively. This avoids disappointment if certain tasks arentHelp Team Members Learn and Understand Your addressed, confusion about what is a priority and helps all mem- Audiencebers of the business to understand how their role impacts theTheres plenty of ways to make a game-changing product that bigger picture. changes the course of business. For new varieties, in a nutshell, We recognize that in agriculture we do face busy timesthey need to eclipse the currently grown varieties either by yield, and ask more of people in those busy times, says Phil Durst,disease resistance or some other trait to fill a market need.Michigan State University Extension educator. Maybe in man- If you think about growers, a lot of them have their tried-agement we sometimes make assumptions about the workloadand-true variety that they like to grow, and you need to have and expectations aheadthe question is how did we communi- enough advantage over other varieties to draw them away from cate those and are people prepared for those busy times? that old favorite and try out the new one, says Tom Smith, a Its important for people to prepare mentally and physicallyretired Canadian plant breeder who co-created the Dynasty dark in regard to expectations because, in general, employees are will- red kidney bean along with fellow breeder Peter Pauls at the ing to work longer hours and at a faster pace for a period of timeUniversity of Guelph. but only if they believe in the goal. They want to see theyreThere are lots of steps in between the release of a new helping reach those goals and they dont want to feel used, hevariety and its registration and its availability to the farmer, Pauls continues. says. In particular, you need to increase the seed from a few 108/ SEEDWORLD.COMDECEMBER 2022'