Datasheet

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CHAPTER 1: WHAT’S INVOLVED: DEFINING THE POSITION ■
Management will now come back to you with another question along the lines
of, “Well, what do you think we should do?” As soon as this question is asked, you
have an opportunity to resolve the conflict using financial reasoning rather than techni-
cal reasoning. The key is to have your recommendation ready and to format it using
business metrics, from the point of view of what’s best for the company’s business
position.
A Quick Example
Let’s say you have a user revolt on your hands because the users want the latest version
of the software, but this software is expensive and the business isn’t doing well enough
to afford the expenditure at present. This is the budget reality that the CAD manager
understands but the CAD users don’t. The CAD users are complaining loudly, and the
issue has come to upper management’s attention. The dialogue of this meeting might go
something like this:
Management: “There’s a lot of user discord, and they’re telling us that we need
to go up to the new CAD System Revision 30, whereas we’re running on CAD System
Revision 28 right now. What’s the problem?”
CAD manager: “Our users feel that we should be using the most modern and
available technology. They’re tired of using technology that’s two years old, and they
feel that we should make the move.”
Management: “Well, why don’t we make the switch, then?”
CAD manager: “Going to CAD System Revision 30 would cost us $1,000 per
seat, and with 20 users in our operating environment, that’s a $20,000 software cost
that we didn’t budget. In addition, it would cost us close to $2,000 per user to get
them trained and through the ramp-up and productivity curve that always occurs when
we install new software. I’m looking at a total fee of about $60,000 to get this new
software implemented. You and I both know that’s not in the cards budgetarily over
the next six months. This is why I’ve said no to new software.”
If your management team knows that $60,000 isn’t available to upgrade soft-
ware, and if you present the argument just as I’ve articulated it here, they will respect
your judgment and be impressed that you’ve taken the initiative to handle the financial
aspect of the problem. Management’s opinion of you will only go up as they come to
understand that you’re technical and financial and that you’ve combined those skills to
look out for their business. Management also knows that you’d probably like to get
your hands on the new software as much as your users, but you have enough discipline
to say, “We can’t afford to do that now. It’s not in the best interests of the company.
Even though the users want it, buying the software isn’t in the financial business inter-
ests of our company.”
Now you should go back over your list of tasks and user and management
expectations from a budgetary or “money talks” point of view. Think about tasks that
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