The end of the fiscal year is in sight and the prognosis for safely landing the budget in the middle of the runway begins to be questionable. The budgetary flight plan established at the beginning of the year for the department was well documented with all the assumptions that Madame Pickanumber could conjure up with her crystal ball; and Professor Amnesia, the historian, could detail going back hundreds of years into his retrospective memory.

When the budget departed the gate, it was fueled with sufficient crystal ball / historic funds to make the long trip and land smoothly in the month of December. As the budget took off with the department, districts, areas, and crews on board, they had to dodge a gaggle of pent-up material purchases, a flock of unprocessed contract bills, and a stray elderly lawsuit, putting the flight plan into jeopardy right from the beginning.

Over the rolling prairies of April, May, and June, the control tower radioed: “There is turbulence ahead so have the department buckle their seat belt.” During this stretch of the trip, the budget was bounced and jostled by towering thunderheads and had to veer off the established flight plan by several million dollars.

As the trip progressed over the mountains of August, September, and October, another budgetary course correction was made due to partner budgets clogging up the airspace and the control tower advising your budget to slow significantly to allow the other budgets to land safely. FULL FLAPS DOWN!!!!

So, how do you take a department, district, area, and crew that were spending the budget at a run rate that was acceptable yesterday, to a level today that has often been referred to as a “Scorched Earth” spending rate? (Not a good descriptor when using an airline analogy.) The Frontline is challenged to spend as little money as humanly possible, still maintain customer service, and still achieve the department’s goals.

A large budget cut has been dropped into a serene, smooth-as-glass lake, and now the accompanying effects take place. An initial large splash occurs which instantaneously increases the stress level of the management team from top to bottom. Action waves are sent in all directions on what tactics should be employed to bring in the budget for a safe landing. So, what are the tactics that need to be taken? And, are the ripple effects fully understood by those ordering and implementing the tactics?

Communication, Communication, Communication. Your primary responsibility is to those who rely on your budget for their livelihoods: your employees, your material vendors, and your labor contractors. These folks have stepped up and provided the necessary resources to help you achieve your goals throughout the year, and they deserve to be notified that a drastic change is going to occur. Your managers and technicians are smart, and if they have been around any time at all they understand what needs to occur. They want and deserve to be part of the discussion and solution.

Prioritize your activities. Given limited financial resources, there needs to be a guideline established of what is important to accomplish and what will have to wait.

The tactic of eliminating all overtime will be successful with constant dialogue with your crews regarding status and risk associated with slipping customer service demands.

Restrict all material purchases. Utilize and reallocate existing inventories to complete those projects and customer requests high on the prioritization list. The corresponding ripple through the material vendors, although not welcome, will be lessened by providing an honest view of projected material purchases for the remainder of the year and into the first quarter of the following year. This will allow them to adjust their forecasts and manufacturing lines to avoid a massive inventory surplus at year's end.

Release all Contractors. Watch this one. These companies have hired their employees based on your service requests and deserve to be given as much forewarning as possible before the budget shoe is dropped. The associated ripple for this tactic is far-reaching and could possibly impact the financial sustainability of the contractor. Allow them time to decrease systematically. You will want them back next year.

Frontline, being asked to go "Scorched Earth" at the end of a long year is not easy. Be on top of your job at all times. Buy only what you need to get the prioritized jobs done, and keep in constant communication with your technician team to efficiently complete the tasks at hand. You can land the budget safely.

(All persons portrayed in this article are fictitious; the real budgeters are very competent. Stuff just happens.)

Byron retired as a senior manager of AT&T and now is an Independent Consultant in Telecom Operations. During the last 12 years of his career, he held the position of Vice President - Construction and Engineering for AT&T West. Reach Byron at byron-mc@att.net.

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