How to keep moving on despite a tight budget
How to keep moving on despite a tight budget
Danny Supriyadi, Senior Manager, Accenture, Jakarta
Hope 2003 has gotten off to a good start for you. And as far
as money goes - we hearing the same tune: Tight, tight and tight.
This year, business leadership is about getting the job done
with less resources. Let alone doing more with less, delivering
the same results with less is enough of a challenge. How do we
keep moving ahead and keep the morale up in such a situation?
Some of these ideas may work well for you.
Paint the picture. Let everyone in the organization know that
money is tight. Do not complain about, just report it. Just be
factual about it, repeatedly. It will drive expectations and
behaviors in line. For example, people may not expect a new
computer this year. It would be great if you could come up with a
new one, but if not, nobody is worse off.
Unify goals. Be it an organization or a nation, people stick
together because they have done great things together and, more
importantly, they want to do more great things in the future. Let
people understand the goals and how we will achieve them. Share
the gain, the way, and the pain.
Line up the leaders. Pick the key personnel to report directly
to you. They are the drivers with the most impact on the
business. A combination of veterans and new faces may be required
to create a sense of urgency and drive the changes. Ensure the
group shares a common goal, work on the priorities, and use one
set of facts and conclusions. Leading by example is the best.
Buying a Porsche, even out of one's own pocket, dilutes the sense
of cost-cutting urgency.
Act on Priority. Drop non-core business operation budget items
and initiatives. Then, review the rest rigorously. If we cannot
smell success, let go. If we cannot let go, freeze it. If we
cannot freeze it, find a way to succeed. Shift the people and
money to the most important project. Track the funds and the
progress closely.
Ask the King. Touch base with key customers. They will tell us
if our tight money situation is taking a toll on our service
level. Receive feedback graciously. Find some mutually beneficial
solutions. Simple things like changing delivery size and time may
lead to savings for both sides. Act promptly to apply the quick
win valuable ideas.
Take care of your staff. Zero bonuses, less career
opportunities, lay-offs and pay cuts are tough realities to
digest. Ask the people how to make their working lives better in
this situation. Relax any rules to make things easier for them
without raising risks. Try to keep part of the work that gives
people satisfaction. Look out for their interests. There are
people with more interest in the business than their career.
Stay Cool. Everyone is stressed from the tight budget, less
staff and ever increasing workloads. Conflict can blow up
quickly. Step in when the cracks start to show. Never display
fright or panic or a bad temper. Willingness to listen and
practical optimism - always believe there must be a way to make
things better -- these things help a lot.
Explore new methods. Keep a running list of possible ways to
run the operation under the tight budget: Outsource IT or
logistics, pay by successful projects, cooperate with other
companies to share transportation costs, and work together with
competitors to lower the purchasing price.
Keep the perspective. When resources are short, we need to pay
more attention, not business as usual. We need to stay on top of
everything. Beware of losing the big picture when the details
pile up. Perhaps there is an opportunity to spend more money to
buy the market domination.
Shoestring management is a necessity - never the preference.
Toughness and perseverance must be the order of the day. If we
feel like were going through hell now, keep going. A great year
is waiting ahead.