Power. Obtain it via execution.
One thing is always true; people want their cake and eat it too. – Marie Antoinette (well, sort of)
Why hit a budget, in the end, it is someone else’s money, and it’s someone else’s product. Sure budgets are part of the process, part of the job, but what does it mean to you; really. Really, what it means is power in the form of credibility, control, influence, success. Consistently, deliver the project/ product (one in the same), on time, and on budget, and you will accomplish something that few professionals do even part of the time. Hit the budget while producing quality and you will succeed. Executives will sing your praises, colleagues will be impressed, and board members will start to hear your name. You will be truly valued by your organization.
Budgeting is boring until you stop to realize that budgeting is a key to winning and being perceived as a Leader. Budgeting is a means to ensure that you and your team rise to the challenge of effectively executing at an agreed-upon cost, it’s where decisions are manifested.
Power begets power but it must start somewhere. Hitting the budget while delivering a quality product/outcome, will bring you power. Power, to control your own schedule, to pick the best and brightest for your team, to choose what you work on; ideally the most critical and impactful projects your company has to offer. Power, to push roadblocks aside, to cut impediments off at the knees, to win. In so doing budget execution makes you all the more effective at delivering the next one, on time, on budget, a virtuous cycle.
How
How do you hit the project/ product budget consistently; the short answer is hard work and persistent, daily discipline. The complete answer is hard work, persistent daily discipline as realized through basic practice and a simple supportive toolset, and obtainable expectations executed by a driven team. Above all, the answer is not fancy, it is not about a complex or trendy methodology, no extra special certifications have made or lost a budget. Large consulting firms with sophisticated-sounding made-up words for names like “Accenture” cannot hit the budget any more effectively than everyday professionals with simple discipline and forethought. Every day professionals with real names like Lisa, Tyrone, George, and Susan can be effective.
Start with the hard work and persistence, the simple approach and tools we discuss here will be more than enough to get you there. However, if you aren’t prepared to work hard and you don’t have a bit of discipline or persistence nothing will help you, no tool, no methodology, best to go put together a list of excuses and start practicing them*.
*see this post which contains a list of ready-made excuses prepared for you.
What about the company’s official process and policy.
Ask yourself this, how many of your company’s projects that follow their official project process/ methodology, have truly, been delivered on budget (really truly, not just PR). Sure, if you’re Boeing International with teams of logistics specialists, project administrators, and budgets in the 100 of millions, you have some success; but what if your not (and even if you are, google Boeing 787 budget). Ultimately, you may have to follow your company’s process to the degree you must, but that is not enough. Supplementing, and where and when possible, supplanting, that process with a basic approach, diligently executed, will win the day. Chances are, the strategic core projects/ products the company really cares about will be driven outside of the formal process regardless. In the end, what the company really wants, outside of any bureaucratic middle management group that is trying to avoid their own downsizing, is to make money by minimizing cost and maximizing value to the client. Hit the budget.
There must be a secret.
There is no secret, at its most fundamental, hitting the budget is about equating expectations to actual delivery within allotted resources. If you are to succeed you must control each of these factors; expectations, delivery, and resources to the greatest degree possible:
Expectations
Misaligned, outsized, expectations can kill your opportunity to hit the budget successfully and with quality. Such expectations are insidious as they do not impact the project on day one or day two but as the end nears and it becomes apparent that the budget and or delivery will not be made. You are responsible for making sure the stakeholder’s expectations surrounding the project/ product are properly aligned with reality. No one else will.
Delivery
Delivering a quality outcome, be it a product, a process change, what have you, is of course as critical as hitting the budget while doing so. Here, planning is key. You must have a viable approach to developing the product and a solid project plan to execute it. You must also manipulate the time available to deliver from the outset to make sure you have a realistic chance of success.
Resources
Having the right resources at your disposal is fundamental to success, not just enough resources, but the right ones. Perhaps this is an obvious statement, however, knowing you need the right resources and getting them assigned to the effort are two different things. Look first for the ability and desire to execute. The best professionals are highly talented but more than that are able to actually bring their talents to bear to effect an outcome. Simply, someone who can is not necessarily someone who will. You want someone who will.
Controlling all three factors is key. However, if there is anything close to a secret, it is in managing the expectations of project stakeholders and shaping the scope and goals of the project to a level the available resources can deliver on (supposedly the very thing some say a project manager is not supposed to attempt to control).
What next
Future posts will dive into specific detail on the mechanics of hitting the budget and will continue to speak to influencing expectations/scope, planning delivery/ time, and obtaining resources/team members. Concepts like the project pyramid are also in play as they can be useful metaphors for communicating the reality of the hard tradeoffs that have to be made for a project to succeed on time, on budget. Ultimately, success is in the doing; the execution. Be sure you are ready to do, to execute before you take on any project of any size.