Tool 12.4 Management calendar
A management calendar is a dynamic resource which outlines key management dates, timings and things which are key operations for the business. They are usually marked on a calendar, wall planner or a digital planning tool.
Management calendars document key operations and the personnel required to perform these operations and provide the opportunity to easily see where any opportunities for undertaking improvement activities can be fit into the program.
Take the time to regularly review your management calendar, irrespective of how many people are involved with the running of the business. Check it for areas of overlap which may place stress on your labour units or other key deadlines (such as administrative deadlines).
Another benefit of a management calendar is that it allows those in the business to see what deadlines others have, and how these deadlines fit in with key operations throughout the year. Similarly, if your business is operated by one or two people, knowing the operational times that are busy on the calendar helps with further planning.
Here are some points to help you work through the process:
- Choose a point in time which is fairly fixed (e.g., time of feed growth) to work forwards and backwards from.
- Write down the dates which are the same year on year (such as shearing, joining, crutching, lambing, sale dates, etc.).
- Write down any administrative dates which you need to be mindful of as these are often inflexible (e.g., ATO BAS deadlines).
- Write on the calendar any family commitments that you know about as soon as you are advised of them – these are important to factor into your work program.
- If you have enterprises other than sheep, write the key operations on the calendar, perhaps in a different colour.
- Check for any significant overlaps in timing and labour requirements and discuss as a team how you may work around these choke points – it may be as simple as moving a few operational dates back or forward a little or organising contract labour to ease the pressure.
- Do you need to, or could you, move any of the timing of key operations for improved productivity or profitability?
There are a few options available for setting up your management calendar:
- A large whiteboard calendar is handy if you can purchase one, but you can always draw one on a blank whiteboard if you can’t find one to purchase. Whiteboards are good because you can erase any operations which you would like to change and they’re ideal for mounting on the wall of the office for all to see. Apart from on-farm operations, you can use it to schedule staff leave and your own holidays, times when contract staff are required, and help to identify any issues that may impede efficient operations of the business before they arise.
- If you prefer to plan on a computer, there are many tools and software packages which incorporate management calendars that may be used with the same effect as a wall planner.
- AWI has created a management calendar template that you can download as an Excel or PDF document.
