“It’s not in the budget.” Trigger words! How do you combat this dreaded budget phrase? Continuing on with our Month of Money Problems in the Forensic Field theme – keep reading to find out our tips on how to manage a low-budget forensic unit.
Have Goals & Frequently Review Budget Plans
Alright, Let’s get the no-brainer one out of the way. Obviously, when you have a low budget you’re constantly going to be checking your expenditures. So then what do we mean by “have goals & frequently review budget plans”?
We mean, that if you constantly review where your money is going and are hitting your team goals then you can adjust next month’s budget to fill a different gap.
For example, say you have so much budget for necessary supplies and your team is wasting a bunch of it. Get everyone on the same page and reward them for helping you cut down on that supply cost.
I see this conversation going like.. “Hey guys I know a lot of you want to go to a group training to learn something new. In order for us to do that we’ve gotta stop wasting so many (insert wasted item here) so that we can fit the training in the budget. We have (this amount of time) to cut down on wasting (wasted product). Then we can evaluate if we are able to (insert reward).”
This doesn’t disclose how much your budget is or how much it’s lacking. It simply gives your team a choice. We can either continue this way or we can work together to gain something.
Communication is the Key to Crappy Budgets
Woah, check out the third paragraph to the section above – “on the same page.” That means you gotta communicate people!
Try having frequent team meetings to go over what everyone is doing to help with the budget issue. Just make sure you set the right tone for the meeting. This isn’t to berate your team it’s more like a meeting of the minds to reach a goal (there’s that last section again).
Make sure your team is fully informed and has clarity into what you’re trying to cut down on so they can benefit xyz way.
Don’t forget your higher-ups either. Sometimes, the benefit of spending a little just doesn’t come across in words. If you need more money have clear and concise reporting that shows that you aren’t wasting resources and would benefit this much (give a number) to adding to the budget.
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Help with Your Team’s Perspective
Back to the tone thing.
If your team constantly hears “we don’t have that in the budget” then they’re going to start feeling like your budget doesn’t add up to their worth.
If your team is already here then how do you change their perspective?
Well start with the last two sections above (man, we are just building today!) then evaluate what you have that they may not see. Just make sure what they want and what you have aligns.
Resource Distribution
One of the biggest challenges with a tight budget is you can’t hire more people when you need them. Sometimes, that leads you to require your team to stretch their hours and overextend. Leaving them feeling burnt out.
Make a list of every task, chore, and resource your team has uses does.
What can you minimize?
What is costing you the most in your budget?
Can you mark anything off?
As an example, a lot of agencies we work with took a look at their biggest time sucks and determined that reporting is a huge expenditure. So they came up with ways to minimize that time spent.
Be Creative with Your Team Rewards
You have to start by knowing what’s important to your team. I can’t tell you how many “pizza parties” I have been to that everyone just rolls their eyes at.
Or, the company that I was working for a while ago threw a Christmas party, and instead of giving out bonuses to everyone they did a raffle for high ticket items (TV, Soundbar, Roku, Experience coupons, etc). The kicker was the plus ones of my coworkers could enter and win. Yeah, so slacker Sally’s husband Steve who works in IT won a TV they didn’t need, but I couldn’t afford to pay my car insurance that month. Obviously, I’m still bitter about it 5 years later. I think he put the tv in their garage…
Anyway, try putting together a few budget-friendly options that will work for you and let your employees pick which ones they want.
Some Ideas we came up with:
- Offer an Exposure Opportunity to learn something they normally wouldn’t
- Give them the opportunity to inspire others
- “Out for Good Behavior” Day Funny forensic way of saying give em a half day 😀
- The Board of Appreciation or the Kudos Board
- Fun is best… Dunk your Chief Day anyone?
- Personal notes
- Team Awards Day
- Work with your bestie day – Let the rewardee pick who they get to work with one shift
- Give a proper thank you. I one time had a supervisor that would stand up in front of everyone at the station and say I was the best CSI in the field and would thank me for being on his team because I proved him wrong. I know that sounds cringy but it was comical and it was nice to be recognized.
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In Addition, Money Problems in the Forensic Field
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