Join management guru and prolific author Johanna Rothman as she shares insights on securing budgets for innovative projects. Instead of persuasion, she advocates for compelling storytelling that illustrates business value. Discover how effective communication bridges the gap between creative ideas and executive approval. Johanna also tackles technical debt by likening it to balloon mortgages, emphasizing the long-term consequences of deferred decisions. Lastly, she discusses the importance of strategic refactoring to enhance code quality and boost productivity.
Crafting compelling narratives around project data rather than merely presenting statistics can significantly enhance stakeholder engagement and budget approval.
Highlighting the connection between technical debt and its long-term impact on business value fosters understanding and urgency for budget allocation.
Deep dives
Understanding Budget Acquisition Challenges
Acquiring budget for technological projects often poses significant challenges within organizations. A consistent issue arises when teams struggle to secure executive attention for their proposed ideas, even if those ideas could enhance their current products. Johanna highlights the importance of demonstrating the value of a project not just to customers but also to the internal team, recognizing that many internal initiatives could streamline processes and lead to faster delivery. Framing projects as beneficial for both customer satisfaction and internal efficiency is essential for gaining support and budget allocation.
Using Data and Storytelling for Resource Needs
To overcome resource bottlenecks, effective communication through storytelling paired with relevant data is crucial. Simply presenting data often fails to persuade stakeholders but crafting compelling narratives around that data helps to illustrate the real impact of blockers on project timelines. Measuring and discussing cycle time— the duration from project initiation to customer delivery— serves as a practical approach to demonstrate delays. This ensures that all parties understand the ramifications of resource dependencies, driving home the necessity of immediate action to resolve these issues.
Connecting Technical Efforts to Business Value
Communicating the need for budget allocation for purely technical projects, such as addressing technical debt, requires a clear connection to business value. Johanna explains that technical debt is akin to a mortgage, where failing to address it can lead to larger financial repercussions down the line. By illustrating how unresolved technical debt can hinder future developments and affect customer satisfaction, stakeholders are more likely to understand its urgency. Regularly engaging with finance teams and using relatable analogies can foster better dialogue about priorities and funding needs.
Never try to convince anyone to give you budget for a project--tell them a compelling, business-meaningful story instead. This and many other surprising insights from my fantastic guest: management guru and prolific author Johanna Rothman!
Check out these resources we mentioned during our conversation--