Page 142 - Budgeting for Managers

Budgetary Spending
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extra steps that can help.
• Follow any management method or read books recom-
mended by your company or your boss. If you use the
company’s approach and language, they will understand
you more easily and accept that you know what you’re
doing.
•Understand management’s concerns and focus. If you
focus on quality and the finance department is focusing
on cutting costs, you’ll need to show how spending more
money for quality equipment or parts now will reduce
costs within the next year or, at most, three years.
As you meet with each executive or financial manager, lis-
ten to their concerns. If they want you to present first, present a
basic outline and then ask for their questions or concerns.
Listen, then respond to the particulars that concern the people
you’re meeting with.

Be Ready for Hardball
An IT manager for a major electronics manufacturer pre-
pared a budget each year. He always tried to keep
expense growth in line with corporate growth. If there was a 2%
increase in staff size, he planned a support budget 2% larger than the
previous year.
However, in this company, senior management was trained in hard-
ball negotiation. Sellers would always demand more money and buyers
would demand a cut in costs.They also used this method in the com-
pany, not just with their vendors. Every year, senior management cut
back the numbers, refusing to grow the IT department budget.The
manager had to manage a growing department on a fixed budget.
One year, corporate growth slowed and there were no plans to add
new staff.The young manager went in and said,“Good news. I know
you don’t like to have the IT budget grow.This year, you can make it
just the same as last year.”
“Not good enough,” the executive barked.“You should cut it by 5%!”
The young manager learned his lesson. If the company plays hard-
ball, play hardball with them—he should ask for more whether he
needed it or not so in the end he would get about what he requires.