Farm Reboot

“To ensure a thriving community of independent practices which are achieving greatness by working together.”

Suggested Action Plan from meeting at Birmingham Hippodrome 5th June 2019

Following the meeting these items are put forward as suggestions only. Please edit and amend as you wish.

• Start with the members: Regional activity is critical as a means of supporting members to feel able to take control and ensure that the community is achieving what they need it to do.

ACTION 1: Arrange a “regional practice day” hosted at one member practice in each region. Suggest that Roger starts the process with a day at SMA, Hexham. XLVet UK team to support. CPD and social agenda to be agreed.

ACTION 2: Colm to arrange five regional meeting on vet impress / using farm data

• It would help members to take ownership of their community by knowing that XLVet UK Ltd is not a business that will tell them what to do , but is a business that serves and supports their community, in which they can make things happen.

ACTON 3: Andrew and Susan to prepare a communication (newsletter / short video?) to increase a shared understanding of how XLVet works - with clear aim to encourage and support members to be able to take the imitative and get involved.

• Provide a forum in which members can take the lead: The Farm Executive is the central leadership team for all farm activity within the community. It is supported by XLVet UK Ltd directors and led by the member-elected Chairs and Vice-Chairs.

ACTION 4: Andrew Davies and Phil Alcock to be invited to the Farm Leadership team that meets once a month by telephone / skype (First Monday on the month)

ACTION 5: The Farm leadership team to ask the BBS Board how we can ensure a more joined up way of working.

Nich Roper comments: For information, there has been some discussion outside the meeting whether the users of Broomhall should have shares in Broomhall. The concept being that those who use it most will have most say in how it runs/works and gives some degree of control vs the risk of capital held within the company. The challenges / potentially divisive nature of that process was also recognised.

ACTION 6: Farm Leadership team to be asked to create a set of goals (is it helpful to think about some five year goals?)

ACTION 7: Ask the farm Leadership team to define what level of budget control / responsibility they wish to have, and make sure that the Farm Executive members have visibility of the budgets.

ACTION 8: To ensure that both an established owner and also a younger farm vet from each practice to the next Farm Exec - ensure that the agenda creates enough value and interest for them to find it easy to say ‘yes’ to attend.

• We need to make sure that members who step up to serve (especially in roles that are delivering leadership) are properly remunerated for their time. The figure of £500 per day is agreed. The challenge is which days should be paid and which would be carried out “as a participating member of the community”

ACTION 9: To ask Andrew, Nich and Bruce to consider drafting a remuneration protocol that answers the question: “As a member this is what I would be happy to pay for….”

Nich Roper comments: The remuneration proposal is being drafted. The biggest change in reality is determining who should be funded to do what. It is acknowledged this was a point already made at the meeting. There is a feeling that the Directors should be "required" and therefore funded to attend the Executive meetings. The effect would be to give them some degree of responsibility to ensure a sensible number of appropriate actions come out of the meetings and facilitate the movement of those ideas into concrete action points. It is already recognised that the role of buying is integral to the way FA business operates so even though it should not drive what we do there should be the awareness and linkage. This had already been largely agreed at BBS agm.

There is a view that BBS should hold a budget that funds appropriate meetings etc with manufacturers with some of that funding the work of Andrew and Phil as well as a pot for other investigation taken on behalf of the group. This then give the emphasis on driving XL members initiative rather than risk the accusation of tagging onto practice initiatives.

Clearly more work needs to be done to budget this and then put it to the members to explain the benefit of this work done on behalf of all.

• There needs to be a joined up plan to ensure that the XLVet community continues to be seen as a positive force within the farming industry and veterinary marketplace.

ACTION 10: To ask the Farm leadership team to lead (consider involving as many members as possible) a process to create a list of all industry stakeholders, with a who knows who. To then write down who from the XLVet community will meet with each and every stakeholder over the course of the next year. As a part of this exercice to ask what is to be budgeted for this exercise

ACTION 11: To assess the appetite for a ‘hosted’ dinner of farm industry stakeholders in, say, London, or in association with another event, to review three hot topics for the future?

Nich Roper comments: There is a clear belief that with greater engagement with the executive along with a closer linkage to the BBS and leadership teams greater progress with will made. The renewed enthusiasm and team spiritedness can then more easily flow out to the regions where all sectors of the practice should be encouraged to attend and engage.

What we want to achieve

• To agree what needs to be done next
• To really understand what farm members want
• To clarify the structures we already have and define what needs to change
• Team unity - all on the same hymn sheet
• Understand everyone’s reality and where we are now
• Healthy discussion
• Alignment in the thinking of “us” and “them”
• XL Farm having strong profile
• Strong and clear leadership
• Re-boot, re-energise, re-engage membership
• Increase participation across the group
• Affirmation of our commitment to XL
• Understanding of how XL does work and how it could work even better
• Clarity of understanding of each other
• Confidence of group
• First Steps in a refined strategy
• XL squared

What we don’t want to achieve

• Not alignment of the the way forward for XL
• Anyone feeling victimised
• Reach an impasse or lack of acceptance for the need for change
• Things left unsaid
• To fall out with each other
• Silent / unadi disagreements and misunderstandings
• Avoid risk of rifts creating bigger fractures within the XL community

1. XLVet UK Ltd is a business that serves and supports the XLVet community
2. The XLVet board acts in governance to ensure that XLVet UK Ltd fulfills this role
3. It is the membership, who with common and shared interests, meet together to:

• define what is needed
• make sure that what is then developed enables them to deliver excellence in practice

Further Notes from the day

1. Change is inevitable
2. We only thing we have to fear is the sky falling on our heads and falling out with each other
3. Continuous improvement is the way forward
4. Pyramids are only as strong as their base

Colm’s notes from the meeting:

Farm Meeting : Birmingham 5^th June

Changes have happened, changed dynamics of the farm membership. These changes have been a combination of changes at individual practice level and within the Community. Not achieving actualisation (Maslow) in the same way we have in the past.

Approaching a time when all those who are leaving have left. Now is the time to re-boot.

The attendees discussed Wants (from the meeting) and Don’t Wants and agreed the objectives of the meeting.

Role of XLVets UK Ltd is to support the community of XLVets members (inverted pyramid).

Q.How well has this been happening ?

A. ‘Hollowing out’ of the community has had an impact and community hasn’t been working well as it has in the past. Community has stepped back recently. Perhaps the perception that more leadership was expected from the Board since last year’s AGM, however this is a Community led, Board supported, community.

Poor turnout at last Farm Exec meeting – 13 of 39 practices – not XLVets’ fault. Members needs to accept some responsibility.

Lots of entrepreneurial energy in the Group. However, that might be a double-edge sword as we’ve lost some significant entrepreneurial contributors to the community. Possibly we need those who have been less engaged (lurkers) to step up.

Lost the informal nature of meetings which gives Members a time to chat. Busy agenda.

Teleconference is useful for information and keeping in touch

Regions: opportunity to communicate to the whole practice. Not all the Practice Team have a working knowledge of XLVets. Shared Interest amongst individual members has driven some excellent initiatives. Perhaps, a challenge for XLVets is to be able to resource all these various interest groups. Define Develop Deliver.

Where do initiatives come from? Executive has driven the agenda however we have lost some ‘big voices’. The ‘less big’ voices need to be confident that they can deliver too.

Lots of initiatives has been driven from XLVets and haven’t necessarily been clinical in nature. More business orientated content. Good stuff but not clinical. Nothing for 1-5 year qualified vets.

Need doers - Younger members of the community

There is a difficult balance to be achieved; motivating people to participate whilst also scrutinising and ‘weeding out’ less effective initiatives. There must be more ‘honesty in the room’ at Exec meetings.

Challenges

1. Communication - cost effective communication. Use technology?
2. Members need to understand how the community works. How do we make thing work? What are the functions and structure ?
3. How do we empower the younger members? Provide confidence and empowerment too make decisions
4. Implementing ‘Delivery’ to the whole practice.
5. Executive leadership – how good has it been? Who should it be? Must be the members.
6. Show value in meetings to encourage attendance and engagement.
7. Remuneration – those who get involved?
8. Silo structure : Broomhall within the Farm Executive. Should we have a single AGM?
9. Need to re-establish our position and reputation within the market.
10. Remember, we’re not just a buying group,

Actions

1. At XLVets AGM. Explain ‘how’: Inverted pyramid structure.
2. Re-boot the regions. Empower the regions.
3. Communicate the purpose of Executive meetings and describe accountability.
4. Clarity on Executive leadership remuneration. Nich will put together a proposal for consideration .
5. Farm Buyers to become part of to farm leadership team
6. Appointment of Director : Explain to the members the process and the reason why the Board is making the recommendation it is.