How to Manage a Budget

"In today's uncertain economy, when every manager is being held accountable for the bottom line, you have to be 'finance-savvy.  You've got to know how to justify a request, quantify your contributions to the company and spot profit-drains immediately. No matter how effective your management style or how innovative your ideas, your performance will be measured in dollars and cents."

• Your budget is your business plan in dollars and cents. It must reflect everything you contemplate doing. If the numbers don't add up, it may not be a budget problem-you may need to go back and re-examine your business plan.
• Build in a contingency fund. Allow for the unforeseen. Anything and everything may cost more than you expect. Overtime and last-minute delivery charges have been known to derail many a budget.
• Document everything. Ideally, get all cost information, and possible alternatives, in writing. Keep careful notes of the assumptions, reasoning and calculations behind your numbers.
• Know your costs. Don't guesstimate. If you can't get the actual figures, then it's better to overestimate expenses and underestimate revenue.
• Continually monitor spending against budget, ruthlessly. The amount on an expense invoice should never come as a surprise. If expenses are out of line, don't put your head in the sand and hope that things will work out. Take immediate action. Curb spending until you are sure the budget is running smoothly again.
• Establish checks and balances. Set spending limits for line managers and specific tasks. Require approval or sign-off for all exceptions.
• Money talk. Don't keep anyone in the dark. Continually communicate with all stakeholders about the status of the budget. That's the best way to prevent being blind-sided at the eleventh hour.

PASS

• Debrief. The Apex team debriefed their team experience from their previous task. This allows teams to reflect on what is working well and not so well with their teams. High-performance teams allow time in meetings to analyze how their team is working together so they can learn from mistakes and victories.
   

• Know when to shut up.  Trump declared to Maria in the boardroom, "You have said enough." Her response was an immediate, "Yes, Mr. Trump" and she left the room. She survived to fight another day.

  FAIL

   

• No clear vendor agreement. Get it in writing! Maria blew a critical negotiation with a printer vendor that cost her team a victory. She did not get a written contract clearly specifying their mutual agreement. As a result, she was caught by surprise with huge overtime charges due to the rush nature of the job. Always get bids in writing with signatures addressing delivery expectations and clarity about overtime, potential changes or hidden costs. Bringing surprises to your management is basic professional courtesy; not doing so should be grounds for dismissal. Do you think The Donald likes surprises?
   

• Big ideas (usually) = big risk. Better have a contingency plan! Andy's big creative idea for Mosaic to hire a PR firm to offer an insurance guarantee for a million-dollar sweepstakes Crest promotion also put the team at risk. Any time the words: "We will have to consult our legal advisors" are uttered, count on time, big money, trouble and risk. Mosaic recovered the fumble (barely) when the PR firm refused to cover the sweepstakes by changing the amount from $1 million to $5,000 and using the circus acts already booked for the promotion. Always do scenario and contingency planning for the unforeseen future.
   

• Unanimous consent on a team is powerful, but beware of mob mentality scapegoating!  Trump broke his routine by asking the rest of the Apex women to return to the boardroom to address what the two most likely to be fired candidates, Maria and Elizabeth, alleged -- that Stacie J. was a crazy, loose cannon. In the greatest show of unity seen in a Trump boardroom, each woman pointed a finger at Stacie J., who had nothing to do with the budget mistake. They questioned her stability and labeled her as a bad egg that was ruining their team. Trump's reasoning at that point to fire Stacie J.: He couldn't allow a loose cannon in his team, and "the team was unanimous and they don't even like each other." Team consensus is a powerful thing but can also happen for the wrong reasons. When team members do not want to be held responsible, they can, instead scapegoat someone else. Elizabeth, the project manager, and Maria deflected their own accountability for their team's failure by scapegoating Stacie J.  Holding people accountable when they aren't responsible is scapegoating. This happens all too frequently on teams in workplaces. Unfortunately, a wolf-pack mentality can result and core (real) team problems are not addressed.   If you are responsible for a task on a team, you should be held accountable. Maria and Elizabeth were accountable and knew it yet successfully protected their behinds using the alliance of their team to shift the heat to Stacie J. Trust, integrity, honor and accountability are all issues that can now legitimately be questioned about Maria and Elizabeth.
   

• Loose cannons sink ships.  High performance teams require trust, protection and order, not just from the leader but also with each other. There is a huge liability having a team member who creates tension, anxiety and distractions. They can bring down the performance of a good team.
   

• Avoid lobbing big grenades in the workplace.  Mental instability allegations are the kind of serious hand grenades that should only be lobbed with great caution in the workplace. Granted, Stacie J., set herself up from the beginning as an easy target with her odd and, at times, unprofessional behavior. She was different, yes, perhaps even obnoxious. But schizophrenic? Was there a clinical psychologist in the room?  Apex's other Stacy, Stacy R., told Trump that her experience of Stacie J. (seen in the season premiere as she called out predictions from a Magic 8 Ball toy) was "the most scary moment of my life." This statement tells us way more about the person making the statement. What, was Stacy R. raised in a convent? Would Trump ever hire a leader that naïve? Would you?

MAUREEN MORIARTY
SPECIAL TO THE SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER