How can you overcome resistance to your budget communication strategy?

Make sure your comms will pass the common sense “sniff test” of your audience…you will lose credibility (and the audience) quickly if you are not presenting factual and credible/relatable content. And, be candid as needed - if there are organizational priority changes that impact budget, say so and don’t dance around something that can help explain the why.

In my experience understanding your audience and their background will help communicate the right message when you communicate the budget. In addition, support your argument with benchmarks and benefits of long terms investment to help decision makers to adopt your tailored budget.

At a high level, I have always used a four-quadrant bubble diagram. This can communicate to technical and non-technical audiences. I would use the x axis as the cost and the y axis as the benefit. The size of the bubble would represent the cost.

This year promises to bring about transformational benefits in the way we communicate and the way we work—for those who seize the opportunity. While some businesses have experimented with generative AI, few have unlocked its full potential. Now is the time for businesses to move toward operational excellence by harnessing the power of AI at scale to improve overall business outcomes through communicating better, not more.

If you can quantify the value proposition while aligning it with the respective budget line items, it may increase absorption. Stakeholders often struggle with validating marketing and communication efforts. While they know they need it, sometimes helping them visualize the potential economic impact could help. Value can be perceive when it can be measured.

Budgets are about outcomes and the value the outcomes create. Focusing on the numbers and not the outcomes increases the gradient to climb for approval. It is also important to understand who has right of approval and their interests. Ultimately it is about what the budget does and who it does it for.

Channel should be chosen with aspects of credibility reliability and idegrity. Otherwise the message will be challenged. Its an Army intelligence practice

Our brains absorb visuals much better than the numbers alone. Use color or graphs or arrows or all of the above. Our brains are looking for trends. Numbers alone don't immediately show our brains the trend. So, make the trend obvious. Then talk about what the numbers mean. Is an upward trend good? Why? Is a downward trend fantastic news? Why? Connect the numbers to the audience. Help them see what you see. And if you need help making the numbers matter... reach out to a colleague or mentor to assist. It's better to ask for help in understanding than to communicate poorly.

To communicate more efficiently, we must establish a collaborative channel that ensures everyone receives timely updates. By doing so, we can improve our overall productivity and efficiency, and ensure that everyone is on the same page at all times. Let's take action now to make this a reality.

Ultimate communication are made positive even when they are (extra scratching of brains to be politically correct) but positive are + You need money for channel for next positive person

Being upfront and truthful about the circumstances is the first step. Getting all parties on board for achieving the goal is the first phase. One of my preferred instances is the former CEO of Air France, Alexandre de Juniac, who was among the first to win the signature of every union in order to carry out a global cost-cutting strategy. People are unlikely to embrace challenging choices unless they understand fully the risk and the threat, so we must be completely honest about the issue and explain why.

The keywords everyone should consider are factual and anticipation. Don’t make your arguments from a place of emotion. Speak from a place of facts and numbers. If we spend this, we will get that and this is the positive effect on the department and/or organization. Also, anticipate any pushback and questions. Make sure you’re prepared for the observable questions.

In my experience providing context and rationale requires that you understand the "numbers" and the "pay-off". You also need to bring key stakeholders to the equation before you go into the budget meeting. Ex: I once wanted approval to upgrade our employee Gym, an area of neglect. I studied the absenteeism, met with the company nurse to provide the top 3 reasons why employees were absent and got together with the broker of our medical plan to understand our plan design. Results: I re-designed the benefit offerings, brought in substantial savings, upper management approved a $400K improvement. It was a huge success. Absenteeism dropped in double digits the following year and employee engagement increased over double digits as well. #s!

Given the credible context ... Cost - benefit ... Benefit - cost ... Then vice versa ... At least 5x ... And ... Why ... Why ... Why ... Why

Engage Stakeholders Early: Involve key stakeholders in the budget planning process early on to build ownership and reduce resistance. Clear and Transparent Communication: Ensure your communication is clear, concise, and transparent about the reasons behind budget decisions. Feedback Mechanisms: Implement channels for feedback to understand concerns and address them promptly. Tailor Your Message: Customize your communication strategy to meet the needs and preferences of different stakeholders. Highlight Benefits: Emphasize the benefits of the budget strategy to the organization and individuals to garner support. Educate and Train: Offer training or workshops to help stakeholders understand the budget process and its impact.

One thing I've always done is to have a 1:1 with the finance leader. Don't ask about your dept budget only but express an interest in the entire P&L and what drivers are attributed to employee's so that you can put tangible strategies behind every initiative planned for that year. Show your finance leader that you know enough about the #'s to be able to have an intelligent conversation steered towards the business productivity. Sometimes the initiatives you want to achieve bring the company hard #'s, sometimes they are intangible. Regardless, it's about getting the respect of the finance leader and show that you understand the "whole" not just your department.

For instance, financial stakeholders may require detailed financial analyses, while operational stakeholders may respond better to case studies or real-life examples relevant to their domain.

For instance, financial stakeholders may require detailed financial analyses, while operational stakeholders may respond better to case studies or real-life examples relevant to their domain.

What I have found helpful is to be present at the monthly budget meetings. Understand what the upcoming "quarter" looks like. What are the challenges ahead and when asked how each dept. can contribute truly evaluate your own budget and show that you are in this challenge together. If you are always defending your budget at every monthly or quarterly meeting, you are viewed as a myopic leader that is only interested in their own department keeping their yearly budget. If you give away a little of your budget ahead of time, when the challenges are foreseen, you are less likely to be asked by the finance leader to contribute because they truly know you have already done this and have turned every stone. Empathy is critical.

Every organisation has a strategy and the plan needs to articulate boundary conditions associated. The budgeting exercise/ guidance note can provide the approach - detailed/ bottom up or top down. Need to track and evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies, using relevant measures and KPIs. Communicating plans to managers is an important social aspect of the process, which ensures that everyone gets a clear understanding of how they support the organization. It encourages communication of individual goals, plans, and initiatives, which all roll up together to support the growth of the business. It also ensures appropriate individuals are made accountable for implementing the budget and tracking agreed KPIs through cadence.