LM EAB May 2021: How to stay calm during spring

Graphic: LM Staff

What’s your advice to help landscape companies stay calm, cool and collected during the busy spring?

Landscape Professionals

Richard Bare
Arbor-Nomics Turf
Norcross, Ga.

“I always liked the proverb, ‘happiness is good cash flow!’ I think many things enter into these headings, “The more systems you have, the more organization, the more great people who are on commission, and the less debt you have, will lead to a calm, cool and collected CEO.”
“I had to learn this the hard way by flirting with bankruptcy, but I came out on the other side a much better operator. Get into a mentoring group or hire a consultant to lead you to your goals while you have fun doing it.”

Troy Clogg
Troy Clogg Landscape Associates
Wixom, Mich.

“If you manage a calendar, schedule and set fair and honest expectations for yourself, your team and your clients … the spring will go as smooth as possible. When scheduling time for anything at all, whether it is time on a job site, an office project or a client meeting, make sure to pad the time you set aside a little bit, keep track of how well you predict, schedule and manage time, and change your plan accordingly. Be conscientious of others’ time and how long is the ‘right’ amount of time to spend with them to lead to success! And last but not least, in fact it’s first: Schedule and plan time for you, your loved one, your health and your faith. As Steven Covey would say, ‘Take time to sharpen your saw.’”

Paul Fraynd
Sun Valley Landscaping
Omaha, Neb.

“Take time for yourself to pause and get clarity, exercise, eat well, sleep, see friends and family. At the end of the day, keep things in perspective, it’s only landscaping, and most things can be corrected!”

Chris Joyce
Joyce Landscaping
Cape Cod, Mass.

“Be very organized, prioritize most important to least important and try to laugh and have fun.”

Bryan Stolz
Winterberry Landscape & Garden Center
Southington, Conn.

“When spring hits and the mulch is really flying, I don’t know that there really is any way to stay calm, cool and collected. So, what we focus on is making sure the craziness stays productive and profitable. To do that, we make sure our leadership stays focused on the big picture. It’s too easy amidst all the craziness to just live in the day to day and push meetings and longer-term decisions to the summer, but by continuing to hold our normal monthly financial meetings, companywide operations meetings and keeping our leadership thinking big picture, we ensure that the extra work going into the spring season is worthwhile and fitting into our strategic plans.”

Greg Winchel
Winchel Irrigation
Grandville, Mich.

“Scheduling in the spring is always the biggest issue with spring rains and customers that want work done yesterday, so trying to stay efficient is key. We have a schedule for work, and we have a backup schedule in case of rain or colder temps that won’t allow us to perform our main scheduled work. That way, we reduce the amount of lost work time. I find this reduces my and my staff’s stress level.”

Industry consultants

Marty Grunder
The Grow Group
Dayton, Ohio

“First of all, exercise. Do something: play golf, run, walk, workout. Second, every day, write down something you are grateful for at work; things are never as bad as we think they are. And lastly, meditate in the morning, using an app like Headspace to get your day off on the right foot.”

Phil Harwood
Grow the Bench
Grand Rapids, Mich.

“Embrace a good time management system, such as David Allen’s ‘Getting Things Done.’”

Kevin Kehoe
3PG Consulting
Laguna, Calif.

“Stress in performance is a function of lack of preparation; every great athlete performs best under pressure because they are prepared. Planning and preparation are my advice … people and equipment ready to go and a plan for every site/customer.”

Jeffrey Scott
Jeffrey Scott Consulting
New Orleans, La.

“Maintain your personal exercise regiment, take time daily/weekly to quietly plan, practice some form of relaxation/meditation/prayer and ensure you overcommunicate to clients so no issues boil over. Even if you have no update on key issues, keep clients/employees apprised, and this will keep everyone calmer.”