“TEAM
TALK….I believe this on-farm staff/team communication system to be the most
innovative development I’ve seen in Farm Business Management for decades”
TEAM TALK is a
very exciting new on-farm computer communication system that is simple to use
and empowers all staff members to take responsibility for their individual
roles on the farm. It permanently records what has previously been keep on
hundreds of bits of paper, whiteboards and shed notice boards.
TEAM TALK does
not replace good person to person communication on a farm but enhances it
significantly. I see it as being like a computerised template that with Ginny
Neal’s help you can create a unique system tailor made for your farm & your
team of staff. I imagine that each farm will develop a personalised or custom
made TEAM TALK system for their own farm.
I’m very impressed!
“TEAM
TALK” has been created by Ginny & Stu Neal (Farm Manager at Castlepoint
Station, a large sheep & beef station on the South Wairarapa coast of New
Zealand). Stu was
a participant in the Rabobank Farm Managers Course where they had to do an
individual project as part of the course. http://www.rabobank.co.nz/Rural/Education/Pages/FMP.aspx
They
are in celebration mode as Stu has been notified that he was one of the 3
finalists from last year’s Rabobank Farm Managers’ Course in Brisbane chosen to
go back this year to present their project……..his of course being the TEAM TALK
now implemented at Castlepoint Station. Castlepoint Station owned by Anders
& Emily Crofoot, who recently won the Wairarapa Hill Country Farm Business
Award, in part due to the excellent staff communication system. Ginny Neal was
until very recently a local country school teacher, now she has set up her own
company AgRecord, to help other farmers to use & implement TEAM TALK on
their farms & with their teams of staff.
AgRecord's
flagship system is called TEAM TALK. It can be best described as an on-line
internal communication system which assists with the efficient and effective
day to day running of agri-businesses.
TEAM TALK is completely individualised for each business and can either
be started from scratch or include existing documentation. The concept itself is completely new to the
agri-business industry and has already revolutionised the businesses it is
being used by.
TEAM TALK encourages staff
members to be a part of the business by ensuring accountability for pasture measuring, tallies,
quantities, weights etc that they add.
One of its main features is the ability to store all information in one
place thus replacing the 'bits of paper'
that never actually end up being recorded or they get lost.
Users access TEAM TALK by logging in via the
internet – this means it is accessible from any mobile or wi-fi capable device
such as a phone, ipad, laptop etc and from anywhere in the world.
It is a powerful tool for absentee owners or
those that spend a lot of time away from the farm/office. Staff/members can also access it 24 hours a
day 7 days a week allowing them to enter information when and where it suits
them. Clients can contact AgRecord via
Skype meetings and have their tailor-made system designed for them without even
having to meet. This is a huge saving on
time and travel for both Client and AgRecord and allows you to spend this time
actually creating the system for your farm team.
AgRecord
provide the client with regular updates
on their system build and can even share what it is looking like during the
design process ensuring it meets the clients requirements.
The
TEAM TALK concept was adapted by Ginny Neal from a platform she has been using
in schools for a number of years. Ginny
has grown up farming and has a background in educational management and many
years of experience in IT.
Clients
so far have included the following on their TEAM TALK system:
Work schedules
Stock rotations
Key events &
activities
Current hazards list
Animal Health Plan
Maps of the property
Repairs and maintenance
schedule
Plant and machinery
maintenance schedule
Movements of team
members over the week (leave, off- farm activities etc)
Health and safety
programme
Inventory of sundries
etc quad tyres, workshop supplies
Chemical inventories and
spray records
Staff leave form
HR policies etc Health
and safety videos
Live calendar
Stud stock information
Milking information
Rainfall
Videos/photos
The list is
limitless.....each system is completely different depending on the needs or
requirements of each agribusiness.
Pasture wedge graphs can/could be entered by one staff member & shared with everyone. Your "Team" might include the Farm Consultant or Vet. If a staff member leaves your team they can no longer participate in TEAM TALK.
All
this information is ordered chronologically and all past records are stored on
the system, thus building up 'history'.
The functionality of TEAM TALK is very straightforward: -
The person designated as
the system manager has ultimate control over what goes on and stays on the
information system.
The platform is only
accessible by those the system manager has invited to 'belong'.
Team members can
contribute information (e.g. stock weights, tallies) and any entry sends an
alert to the system manager.
Maps, spreadsheets and
pictures, videos, live calendars can be readily imported into the platform.
It has safety features
that make it 'Herd Manager/shepherd/staff proof'.
It is accessible from
anywhere in the world as it is stored on the web. Users can access it from any mobile Smart Phone or wi-fi
device if not in front of their desktop.
What I really like about TEAM TALK is that it has
been created in the farm kitchen, by a Farm Manager, his very creative wife &
a real life farm team, on an innovative award winning farm.
It’s an extra
ordinary new Farm Business Management tool which I think you should investigate.
Contact
details
Skype ginny.neal
