Management Rules: 50 New Rules for Managers

CHAPTER 18

CONTROLLING BUDGETS

At some point you will be the poacher who turns gamekeeper. As a junior manager, you play the normal budget games. As a senior manager, you have to delegate budget responsibility to other managers who will now be playing those games against you. The good news is that you will recognise most of the games. The bad news is that when they are played well, they are very hard to defend against.

When you control delegated budgets, there are some basic principles to remember:

Stay on top of the budget. Never accept excuses for why a budget report should be delayed: that is always a sign that something is wrong.

Watch the ...