Member exclusive. Thinking differently this budget season

By Allison Carter, executive editor of PR Daily.

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Welcome to one of the most critical times in the year.

Budget season.

It can be stressful to compete with other departments (and our past selves) for the resources to deliver meaningful results. But this is also one of the biggest annual opportunities to show off what your team can achieve and how you contribute to broader business goals.

Ragan Communications recently held a roundtable for communicators who have been invited to join the CLC — but haven’t yet come on board. These potential councilmates shared their pain points and tips for navigating this critical season, and we think you’ll benefit from their insight.

As with many CLC events, Chatham House Rules applied. So while we can’t tell you their names or the organizations they represent, their advice will still resonate. 

Audit early and often

One consistent theme shared by multiple communicators was how useful audits are when it comes to proving value and determining areas for investment.

One director of communications said that auditing helped her identify the most effective parts of her strategies — and she’s been able to use these audits to add headcount to her team, including a videographer and a website manager.

“So when I look at a full internal communications audit, I think about the biggest bang for my buck,” she said, “which is … getting my team larger so that we can parse out those skills, and then getting ROI from telling the stories that we want to,” she said.

But our 2023 Communications Benchmark Report, available exclusively for CLC members, revealed that most communicators haven’t conducted an audit recently.

If you’re among the 56% of communicators who haven’t conducted an audit in at least two years and have no plans to do so — it might be time.

Own the math

There is a persistent stereotype that communicators are bad at math. It’s obvious where it comes from, of course: communicators tend to be writers or designers by inclination and trade. But don’t sell yourself short when it comes to handling the numbers of your department.

“We do math and we do it very well,” proclaimed one vice president of communications.

Owning those numbers has provided myriad benefits.

“It’s just increased confidence in my leaders…when they can really get in and run their budget, the budgets are not running them,” she said. “And that helps them to better advocate (for) more funds to do what the business is asking us to do.”

“It's a little bit of a full circle opportunity that because we're managing our budget well, we've found we've been able to garner more trust, and frankly, have those tougher discussions when we do need to advocate and find additional funds.”

In practical terms, that means her team leaders are responsible for their department’s budgets and regularly track key leading indicators. But it extends beyond leadership when they empower all members of the team to better understand the overall business — and help prepare them to be leaders one day.

“I've always been of the opinion that it's not a state secret,” the VP continued. "If these communicators are going to come up one day and be leaders, they need to have engagement with the budget early and often.

The transparency also helps get buy-in on time constraints and other restrictions: When people have a fuller view on the financials, they better understand how they contribute.

Think different

One senior communications director shared that his team recently rethought their entire budgeting process.

“We changed the way we review our budget as a communications department to align with the way the business reviews their budget, which is a quarterly budget review,” he shared in the Zoom chat.” This has helped us become more flexible with projects and time,” he shared in the Zoom chat. 

Moving from an annual budget review to quarterly put the department more in step with the rest of the business — and created unintended but positive ripple effects.

“Did our spend in the first quarter align with what we expected the spend to be?” he asked. “Where we expect it to be? Were projects delayed? And if so, what did we replace it with? Could we replace it? Could we move things around?”. These questions added a level of flexibility and creativity to their overall work that helps them prove value to their cross-departmental partners.

What’s next?

As you move through budget season, remember that you’re not alone. The CLC Concierge is always here to help you, as are your councilmates via the portal. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and get help. We’re all in this together.