Notes from the President

02 July 2019 khilton Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

As I write this, we are approaching a very important date in the history of the United States. This may sound a little strange at first, but I choose not to celebrate the Fourth of July. Don’t get me wrong, our offices will be closed and I will be taking the day off. However, I will be celebrating Independence Day; it happens to be on July 4th.
I feel we have developed a tendency to recognize, observe, and celebrate dates rather than the events that made the dates important to us. So, while I think it is important to remember the special events that happened on a date, it is even more important to recognize why that date matters.
These thoughts can carry into your business management as well. Every day, week, month, and year we run a variety of financial reports to track how our business is operating. We look at a Balance Sheet and get a snapshot of the financial health of our business, but do we dig into it and determine what actually caused the changes on this report? We run an Income Statement, P&L, Statement of Farming Activities, or Statement of Revenue and Expenditures (depending on your type of organization), but, do we take the time to drill down and determine why the business is heading in the direction it is?
Every country and business has events and reports that they recognize and review at certain times of the year. Let’s make it a point to remember the reason we are running these reports, and especially the reason we are celebrating these dates.

Notes from the President

10 June 2019 khilton Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

This year the employees at Red Wing Software are celebrating forty years of providing software and related services to our customers. There have been an amazing number of changes over the years, and a few of the people that make Red Wing Software what it is, have seen virtually all of these changes. While we constantly look for new, talented people to join our team, we have been fortunate to have retained many of the people that had the vision to start this journey and help get our company off the ground forty years ago.
Throughout the year we will be organizing events that our employees, customers, and local community will have an opportunity to get involved in. One thing you may notice is a change in our logo for this year. You will see it on our website, advertising, and other places we use the logo. We have also asked our employees and customers to relate stories of how things have changed over the last forty years. We will share stories in our newsletters throughout the year.
We consider all of our customers and employees (past and present) a part of the history and success of Red Wing Software and wish to thank every one of you for the many years of support and service that you have given us.

Notes from the President

06 May 2019 khilton Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

As I pointed out in last month’s newsletter, when you have team members who have been with the company for many years, they eventually get to the point of a well-deserved retirement. At the end of May, we have two additional team members that have reached that milestone. Dick and Marlene Moore have decided to embark on a new phase in their lives.
Having worked with the two of them since the early 1980s, I could fill all the space on the internet with stories and lessons I’ve learned from them, but I will try to keep it relatively short for this newsletter.
In 1979, Dick founded Farm Management, Inc. that eventually became one of the companies that merged to form Red Wing Software in 2003. Over the last 40 years, Dick has led the development effort for many software projects, and his influence will last far into the future. Not only has his talent shaped the software you use today, through his participation in outside organizations, he has had a lasting impact on the financial standards of an entire industry. Don’t be surprised to see his continued influence even after retirement. Rest assured that Dick has done an excellent job of transferring knowledge to the rest of the development team and has mentored Aaron in his new role as Development Manager.
Marlene has touched the lives of virtually every user of our software. Most of you have had the opportunity to work with Marlene as you put your financial records in order. Marlene has served in several roles in the organization: accountant, support technician, classroom instructor, and most recently defining and recording educational videos for our products. She has been a mentor to many new team members as they get up-to-speed on our software and the industries we serve. Marlene’s influence on our software, team members, and customers will last for years.
I anticipate Dick and Marlene will spend much of their new free time on their passion of keeping up with activities of their many grandchildren. In addition, I’m sure you will find Dick enjoying his other passion in his new woodworking shop. (Come to think of it, I could use some new kitchen cabinets.)
Please join me in wishing them the best in their new phase in life. They will be truly missed.

Notes from the President

10 April 2019 khilton Notes from the President


Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

One of the many things that makes Red Wing Software a great company is the average length of time employees stay with the organization. Unfortunately, on occasion, one of those long-time staffers decides they have reached the point they think they are ready to retire.
Janet Polski has been in charge of helping customers renew their Customer Care Membership for over 15 years. When Janet indicated a few months ago she was thinking of retiring at the end of April, we knew we had big shoes to fill. My opinion is, nobody should retire until they have at least 30 years of service in. As usual, my opinion didn’t carry much weight in her decision-making process.
Janet has been instrumental in creating and streamlining our current Customer Care Membership renewal process. I’m sure many of you have had the opportunity to work with Janet over the years, and know how good she is at making the process quick and easy. We certainly appreciate her role in helping maintain our excellent rate of customer retention.
Rest assured the renewal process will continue as it has with Janet’s protégé, Katrina. Like Janet, you have probably talked to Katrina over the last few years as she, among other things, answered the phones for Red Wing Software. Katrina has been working under Janet’s tutelage for a few months now, and as of April 1st assumes the position full-time while Janet transitions to retirement on April 30th.
We certainly wish Janet the best in retirement as she takes care of her horses and various other animals on her “ranch” with her husband, Tom. Tom is also the Fixed Base Operator at the Red Wing Regional Airport, so I hope to run into Janet occasionally at the airport as I’m sure he will talk her into helping out.
While we never like to lose great team members, we certainly appreciate all the hard work and dedication they have provided over the years, and Janet has been one of the best.

Notes from the President

06 March 2019 khilton


Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

Does your business ever have a situation when two, three, four, or even more people don’t agree with how something should be done? How do you resolve these issues? You could pick a winner and everyone else could live with it. You could decide who’s right and fire everyone else. Obviously, these are both really bad solutions. So, how do you decide what to do?
First, let’s figure out who’s right. I already can tell you that answer – everyone is right. At Red Wing Software, we often have meetings consisting of four to ten people to discuss new ideas for software features, or how to improve existing functionality. There are often several differing ideas on what to do, and they are all good ideas. Everyone has the opportunity to argue their respective points and the pros and cons of each solution is discussed by the group. What almost always happens is we find out the solution is a combination of several ideas that produce the best results.
The same technique can be used when there is a difference in how a certain task might be accomplished. One person might think it’s more efficient to use one method, while someone else might have a much different method to accomplish the same task. Again, both methods probably work, and it’s likely that a combination of the two methods would be best. Now, we should ask: Why aren’t they both using the same method in the first place? Probably because, over time, the preferred process has evolved into something it was not originally intended to be, and as these changes to the process occurred, it was never properly documented as the best new process.
Whenever these situations occur in your business, it’s time to step back and take a look at the best solution for the issue, and properly document it. After you get the issue resolved and documented, don’t be afraid to monitor the process and tweak it as needed. And be sure to change the documentation for the process as it evolves.