4 Tips For Cultivating a Powerhouse Cannabis Grow Team

Just as roots are the foundation of a strong cannabis plant, your employees are the foundation to a successful grow.

The people who support and nurture a grow drive the success of a cannabis cultivation endeavor.
The people who support and nurture a grow drive the success of a cannabis cultivation endeavor.
Photo and headshot courtesy of Sweet Dirt

Much has been written about optimizing cannabis production in indoor grows and greenhouses, as well as best practices for outdoor farms. While monitoring those parameters and implementing technology that can drive more efficient operations is crucial, the success of a cannabis growing endeavor is dependent on the people who support and nurture that grow.

Here are four tips for building a dynamo cultivation team.

1. Root: Engage and understand team members.

Just as roots are the foundation of a strong cannabis plant, cultivation employees are the foundation to a successful grow.

As the head grower or cultivation manager, it is critical to create an environment where people can do their best work. This is best accomplished by getting buy-in from the ground up—understanding the individuals comprising the grow team, their role(s), their successes, and their struggles—to foster a culture of trust and inclusivity. At Sweet Dirt, this includes coaching the team by doing the work, demonstrating ways to get tasks done more efficiently, hosting all-team meetings each morning to discuss the previous day's work, today’s work and the week’s work. Everyone has an opportunity to speak. Once challenges—both individual and group pain points—are understood, real-world solutions should be identified and shared.

2. Nurture: Define roles and set expectations.

In smaller grow teams, roles are less defined, and a few individuals may wear many hats. If an organization doesn’t have an irrigation specialist, for example, when it comes time to irrigate, whoever is in that grow room is assigned that task. As an organization grows, defining roles is key for efficiency, consistency, and accountability. Task flows and checklists (as printouts, to start, and digitally as teams get more advanced) help team members know where to focus first and what to expect. Hour-long, weekly training sessions are also important to define and explain expectations and provide a space for questions.

Within any cannabis cultivation career path, there will be some variation on the day-to-day tasks performed, which is why a broad introduction into facility training and standard operating procedures (SOPs) also is essential for every cultivation team member, typically covering:

  • greenhouse management (cleaning, safety, inventory, compliance, etc.);
  • irrigation, pruning, and propagation techniques;
  • monitoring environmental controls (temperature, humidity, moisture, etc.);
  • recording and maintaining records of production;
  • lean daily management.

3. Grow: Provide continuing education.

For those who seek to specialize or advance, additional training is made available, and a development plan is put in place. Weekly continuing education in the field and classroom help foster an environment that encourages communication within the team.

4. Bloom: Celebrate and reward successes.

Happy and productive employees are those who truly feel empowered to contribute to the success of the business. Here are a few ways to show employees you appreciate and recognize their contributions:

  • Leaderboards are whiteboards located outside of the grow room that display and help track metrics, such as how many plants can be defoliated or unpotted in a day (calculated by labor hour), helping drive productivity and creating healthy competition among team members.
  • Idea Funnels empower team members to solve problems and recognize each contribution and idea by posting ideas on a public idea board and tracking each—everything from installing a new irrigation valve to improving facility management to eliminating waste to stocking the break room — and noting when the idea is implemented.
  • Huddleboards or dedicated places for employees to gather and note plans for the week, recognize the work of their peers and what they observed helps keep the team engaged and organized.

Creative incentives for recognizing individual and team achievements go a long way to affirming good work and engendering connections within the team.

Matt Cohen is the head grower at Sweet Dirt in Maine.

Page 1 of 4
Next Page