In team building, Q is for.... ? (our competition continues)

Quite honestly,  we struggled initially with this letter.

It transpires however that there's one or two really good topics from which to draw insights.

In this series, the A-Z of team building was inspired by the many lessons learned by our clients following their experience of Raising the Baa. And we punctuate it with a few insights of our own too. 

Expect plenty of analogies from the world of sheep and dogs from Head Shepherd & Founder of Raising the Baa, Chris Farnsworth, in these short and lively conversations with Paul Warriner, our Lead Facilitator.

Enjoy - and thank ewe for listening :-)

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COMPETITION TIME!
In the November draw, the prize is a portable Bluetooth Speaker, perfect for podcasts and all other listening of course! 

To enter simply answer this question:

Which 'yin and yang' Qs are discussed in this episode?

Email your response to baa@raisingthebaa.com, with Sheep Dip in the subject box please.

The draw closes at 23.59 on the last day of each month (Oct - Dec 2022) and we'll email the winners the following working day.  One entry per episode. Open to UK residents only.

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FREE resource:
Sheep, Shepherd or Dog - which one are ewe? Take our personality quiz and find out.

Connect with the Speakers via LinkedIn:
Paul Warriner - The Recognition Coach and Lead Facilitator, Raising the Baa
Chris Farnsworth - Head Shepherd and Co-Founder, Raising the Baa

What are your main team challenges and desires? Maybe we can help?
Book in a 15-minute Exploratory Call now and let's see.

Transcript

Caroline (00:03):

Hello and welcome to Sheep Dip, the podcast from Raising the Baa. We're global leaders in team building with sheep at its core. I'm Caroline, and together with my partner Chris, we co-founded this completely unique business. In this series of podcasts, we are bringing you the complete A to Z of team building. It picks up on all the themes that have been fed back to us by our clients in their reviewing sessions, following their Raising the Baa programmes, and a few more topics of our own too. Expect plenty of shepherding references from Chris and he is in lively conversations with Paul Warriner our lead facilitator. In this series, at the end of each episode, we are going to ask you a question. It'll be related to something discussed in the show. Keep your answers handy because each and every month we're giving away some Raising the Baa prizes. So whenever you're listening, you can enter.

Chris (00:57):

Hi Paul, how are things?

Paul (00:59):

Good morning, Chris. Very well, thank you. And yourself?

Chris (01:03):

Oh, great. Actually, it's pouring with rain outside, so it's very welcome to be in the office and doing this podcast with you.

Paul (01:10):

And do you have many sheep with you?

Chris (01:12):

I have my fluffy ones round my desk. Well, just to make me feel at home really, give me inspiration.

Paul (01:19):

I think you should leave that there.

Chris (01:20):

So Q... I immediately think of quality. I mean, at this time of year we're looking at the quality of the ram. We're looking to make sure that it's the future going on, and it's all about the quality. What does Q mean to you?

Paul (01:39):

Ah, you quickly passed the buck there, didn't you? Ahh, in and around team leading, team building, team development, sometimes it's not just about being busy, it's about doing the right work. So we've seen it many times in the exercises that we do. Lots of energy, lots of enthusiasm, but really without direction, without that quality of control, of vision. I think if you put quality in front of everything that we've ever spoken about in these podcasts, so leadership, development, planning, communications, it's not just about the thing, it's about the quality of the communication, quality of the planning. So for me, quality is irreplaceable. That it goes a lot further than just the understanding of quality. Great quality will endure, great planning will be able to be executed time and time again. Great communications can be replicated. Quality relationships could be built on and expanded and will endure the test of time. So we know that quality is super important in team building, in the workplace. The quality of the work that you do is so important. So many people now are just ticking boxes, maybe just going through the motions, the classic picking up the pay cheque. But the reality is that it's the quality of the work that people do within the workplace, within the team that makes the difference at the end of the day.

Chris (03:12):

Quality for me is, I mean, aside from the quality of the ram, because obviously that's 50% of the flock, the quality of shearing is really important because actually to get the fleece off in one piece is great, but what you want to do is keep the blade against the skin so that you don't leave any wool on the sheep. And the reason why that's important is because actually fly strike is one of the issues with sheep, which means that that longer piece of wool, the untidiness, that doesn't look good. If it's not all tidy, then it gets dirty and then the flies come along. That's why we always want a quality job. And actually when you're shearing it always looks incredibly easy until you try to have a go at it. And actually it's that ability to keep your feet in the right place is everything when you're shearing a sheep and it's hard work to get that quality shearer without that repetition, without that determination, without all those qualities, we need to actually get that over the line.

Paul (04:33):

So you're talking there about sheer quality.

Chris (04:36):

Very good. Yes.

Paul (04:38):

I think we're saying the same thing.

Chris (04:40):

Absolutely.

Paul (04:41):

In different ways. But that consistency that you just talked about of the quality of the shear, when you see the masters do it, it looks so easy and they're just doing them very, very quickly. They all look the same. That quality is always good. That's what you can rely on. You can rely on quality, you spend less time inspecting, less time doing the rework, etcetera. So again, quality. But I have another word for you. And I think this one really sort of encapsulates what Raising the Baa brings to the party, and that is quirky.

Chris (05:18):

Yeah, I notice that in the farming world, there's obviously different sorts of farmers. You can get sheep farmers, beef farmers, dairymen, pigmen, and they all have their quirkiness of how they do their job. And that invariably comes from a frugal mindset. And so therefore they're going: oh no, no, what you need to do is this, that and the other. And you go, gosh, yes, it's very quirky, but it works incredibly well.

Paul (05:46):

I think you can observe that in your community. And I think it's the same with personalities and teams, with team leaders, with team members, every single person can bring something different. I mean, if you interpret quirky as being different, that individuality that makes it a joy to work in a team. If everybody was the same, it's not going to be as enjoyable or maybe not even as successful. And I think those different quirks that people bring, their personalities, their style, their character, I think that adds to the fun of a team, adds to the diversity and ultimately to the performance because people see things differently. And that quirkiness you're talking about with farmers, for example, coming from being frugal, maybe wanting to cut time, save money, do things that's relevant to their terrain, to their farm, which is slightly different for the next one. That's exactly what happens in teams. No project is the same, even in the same company. In different departments, things vary. Teams are different. Teams are made up of different people, they have different objectives. And I think you really need that different perspective, that quirkiness of people's views and experience that can bring much more to the table. So quirky is a great word.

Caroline (07:06):

If you're enjoying listening to this podcast, we'd really appreciate your following us and rating Sheep Dip wherever it is that you tune in. And if you've got a burning question arising from today's show or you have a topic that you'd like to discuss in a bit more detail, then please email me Caroline@raisingthebaa.com.

Chris (07:27):

When you see people setting out in the farming world, in my case, which sheep you want, it's the ones which appeal to you that you always go for because you get the most enjoyment out there. And if you've got some quirky people which are fun to be around, then that's exactly the team which you want to work with, isn't it?

Paul (07:48):

I couldn't agree more, couldn't agree more. If everybody was the same, as I said, it would be incredibly boring and it would feel good for a while maybe, but you would have no real growth. And when you move on to the next team, when you move into another project, you want to bring some variety back into the mix because every situation is different. And people look to other people, not just themselves, to bring some dynamic that makes a difference in the moment. And quirky people, provided they're not too extreme.

Chris (08:23):

Well too disruptive, isn't it? The disruptiveness of a quirky person can be good and also bad.

Paul (08:33):

I think so, yeah. If it's monitored and policed well. I mean the team polices itself at the end of the day. And sometimes quirky can be dangerous if it goes off piste down the wrong track. But generally as a contribution, it's invaluable.

Chris (08:49):

I mean, we see that all the time don't we, where this quirky person has this crazy idea and runs with it?

Paul (08:57):

How many times have you seen crazy ideas succeed?

Chris (09:01):

I've seen some really crazy ideas that, as a shepherd would not work, but does work for the team because they all get behind it.

Paul (09:09):

And I think success looks different. And it doesn't necessarily mean the immediate, the long term objective. If you inject a little bit of difference and quirkiness into a process or a day or an activity, it lifts morale. And that's success. People are feeling despondent and then they have an upturn that can pay dividends that you would never have realised. All because somebody had a crazy idea.

Chris (09:37):

Yeah, I still think it's got to be quantitative. I mean, as in the shepherding you want to see that progression in the lamb. So quantitative accumulation of growth for us is really important. And that can be very visual. We can just look at them and go, oh yeah, they're growing well. Or the quantitative is they're not really blooming. I mean, I've got some sheep at the moment just aren't really doing that for whatever reason. So I'm looking at them very critically and getting that quantitative assessment every week. I'd like to see them moving forward.

Paul (10:18):

That word quantitative and qualitative like ying and yang. And I think it's the same in the team world, you're always measuring. I don't think people measure their progress enough sometimes in the activities that we do, they don't take and give themselves credit for what they have achieved. And they don't really dissect the exercises into stages. So they don't really review each stage and say look, we know we're good at this one, let's just work on the ones we're not good at. And so they don't have that quantitative view of the progress that they're making. And the qualitative thing is once you've mastered something and you're weaker at something else, but it's vital to the success of the objective, that's where the focus can go. I mean, when you're practising the guitar, if you can do a particular chord progression with your eyes closed and you're struggling with another one, you don't need to practise the one you can do as much as focus on the ones that you need to practise on to be able to stitch them together so you get flow. Otherwise your progress stalls because you never get past the hump.

Chris (11:29):

Hmm, yeah.

Paul (11:31):

And that's quantitative analysis and that gives you feedback and that feedback can motivate you if you structure that right.

Chris (11:41):

Well, that's it for me with Qs I'm afraid.

Paul (11:46):

Considering that we had nothing to talk about, I think we've done pretty well.

Chris (11:50):

We'll leave Q there then, shall we Paul?

Paul (11:52):

Good idea. See you later.

Caroline (11:56):

Well, I hope you've enjoyed the show. Thank you so much for listening. Did you get the answer to the question? Keep it handy because at the end of each calendar month, we will be doing a draw of all the correct entries. Full details of how to enter are in the show notes. Till next time, have a baa-rilliant week. Bye.