The Scope of Work

If you want the whole story about the “Scope” process do a Google search like I suggested in the audio.

You’ll see as may variations as there are authors and applications.

Big companies institutionalize the process as part of their ongoing overall strategic business development.

Other organizations use it to address special situations – such as a new branch office or new product development decision making.

In the context of farm succession planning I will demonstrate a simplified version – no less powerful, you can use to move from where you are today to where you want to be in the future. I resisted the desire to create an actual chart – like the one I use with 5 boxes down and five across – each connected to at least two others.

I don’t think there is any value in being caught up with the form – plus if people start filling out charts and creating pretty graphs they may confuse the notion that just because they drew it makes it accurate.

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I talked about figuring out What’s Important, to you, the farm, your family etc. That is actually step # 1.

What’s Important?: When you are considering this – and when you discuss it with the planning coordinator, what’s important to you is important – to you at least. If you never tell anyone what’s important they’ll never know. If you have special desires about your place on the farm, your future career, you immediate and extended family – tell somebody.

Over the years I have received rave reviews from my results helping farm families come together and make decisions for the individual as well as the common good. For the most part I did nothing – except ask each person “what’s important” and then hung around until they answered my question.

You will be amazed by the answers to:

• What’s really important to you (your family)?
• What is your primary concern?
• Is there one thing that will make a difference?

What is the situation now?: Each person has an opinion on the current state of affairs. They may or may not be close to the ‘right’ answer, but their belief of what the situation is effects their behavior, attitude, and often their willingness or lack of same to cooperate in the process.

An atmosphere of open communications will help them air their opinions and often uncover misunderstandings that have affected them forever. In the context of passing down the farm an understanding of the existing situation often centers around issues of farm ownership, their place in the plans for the future, and whether or not their previous conversations have resulted in any concrete actions.

Think about the answers to these questions:

• Are you satisfied with the current possibilities – as you understand them?
• What do you expect to happen, based on the way things work here?
• What existing issue needs to be addressed in order to move forward with this?

What’s possible?: We all live in the real world. There are very real limits on what can be done and what can’t. That’s why the question “what’s possible” is so important. If each person involved wrote down what’s most important and you tacked them up on the kitchen door so that everybody could see them – you might come away with a feeling that ‘with a little give and take here and there’ we can make this work.

In the next session I will be talking about one of the critical issues that are the focus of the scope of work process. Before any real planning can take place the senior generation on the farm must be comfortable and confident of their own financial security before they’ll be willing to let go of ownership and control.

Here are some questions that require serious answers:

• Will retirement (senior generation) require a major change in lifestyle?
• Does the owner plan to stay involved in the day-to-day operation after retirement? Explain.
• Do the owner and succession/heirs agree on the senior generation’s retirement plans?

I have only touched on a few of the questions you’ll ultimately need answers to.

Across three decades I have seen that problems come not from what people want and can’t get or from what they want others to do that they won’t do. The problems almost always come from not talking about it.

Farmers are often unwilling to spend money on lawyer fees to help them figure out what everybody wants and whether or not it makes sense. Instead they go from the frying pan into the fire – one day they get up and go see their lawyer. They tell the lawyer what they (think) they want the end result to be – and the lawyer draws it up.

Instead follow these steps – talk to everybody, get their feelings on paper, sort out how you feel about it too. Then you’ll be ready to take on the lawyers, accountants, and insurance agents.

When you’re ready I’ll cover that too.

All the best!

Wayne Messick