You’ve just arrived at work at half past eight in the morningYour planner suggests another day of emails, telephone
calls, meetings, writing reports, and, if you’re
lucky, maybe a rushed sandwich and a coffee squeezed somewhere in
between. The fact that two members of your team are off sick and you
are still trying to fill an opening for an assistant doesn’t worry you.
That’s just another day at the office!
However, you are concerned because sales in your division are
below plan and you’re under pressure to reduce costs. To help manage
these issues the finance division provides regular reports, but you can’t
make any sense out of them. Matters aren’t helped by the fact that the
computer equipment used in your department is out of date and you
need to put forward a commercial case for replacing it. Stress levels are
further increasing because next week you have to present your budget
proposals for the forthcoming year. As if to add insult to injury, the
company’s share price has been falling over the past few weeks and
there are rumors of staff cutbacks – your team wants to know what’s
going on.
The normal day-to-day demands of the job are well within your
management capabilities. It’s these financial issues that give you a
headache. Nobody has ever explained how to balance sales against
costs, how to interpret financial reports, how to argue a case for new
computer equipment, or how to prepare a budget. You also have no
idea why your company’s stock value keeps falling and you certainly
don’t understand why staff layoffs should result. In fact, this whole
calls, meetings, writing reports, and, if you’re
lucky, maybe a rushed sandwich and a coffee squeezed somewhere in
between. The fact that two members of your team are off sick and you
are still trying to fill an opening for an assistant doesn’t worry you.
That’s just another day at the office!
However, you are concerned because sales in your division are
below plan and you’re under pressure to reduce costs. To help manage
these issues the finance division provides regular reports, but you can’t
make any sense out of them. Matters aren’t helped by the fact that the
computer equipment used in your department is out of date and you
need to put forward a commercial case for replacing it. Stress levels are
further increasing because next week you have to present your budget
proposals for the forthcoming year. As if to add insult to injury, the
company’s share price has been falling over the past few weeks and
there are rumors of staff cutbacks – your team wants to know what’s
going on.
The normal day-to-day demands of the job are well within your
management capabilities. It’s these financial issues that give you a
headache. Nobody has ever explained how to balance sales against
costs, how to interpret financial reports, how to argue a case for new
computer equipment, or how to prepare a budget. You also have no
idea why your company’s stock value keeps falling and you certainly
don’t understand why staff layoffs should result. In fact, this whole
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