Q & A Table of Contents
Negotiating Budgets
From: Marlyn, Brooklyn, New York
Question: What are some of the negotiation skills required for a budget administrators to function effectively?
Response: Budget administrators are often viewed by other members of their organizations as 'bean-counters', folks who only care about the numbers. While negotiating a budget certainly must have the bottom line as a top priority, paying attention to other issues can make the process more successful.
Organizations tend to be made up of a bunch of 'tribes', each of which has different sets of priorities and commitments to particular ways of judging whether an outcome is good or bad. People concerned with the budget may be focused on money -- and on pleasing such constituents as owners, the chief financial officer, and the folks who are concerned with how an organization looks in financial publications. There may also be political issues that influence how a budget administrator makes choices. Each of these needs to be researched and prioritized as the administrator enters negotiations and makes decisions.
It is crucial to ask questions of the spokespeople of fund-seeking elements of the organization. What motivates them? Who influences them? Who must they satisfy or impress? To what extent do budget decisions influence the outcome of their attempts to meet departmental or organizational objectives?
Asking questions -- and listening to the answers -- is the best way to gain information. Negotiation is all about the exchange of information: "This is what is important to me; what's important to you? What can each of us trade to reach a better resolution?"
A budgeteer needs to recognize there's more to life than just money, even if s/he is judged more on money issues than anything else.
Good luck,
Steve
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