You need your team to participate in the budgeting process, so how can you make the process a little less dreaded? Business budgeting is critical, but it is far from fun. Rather, it is most often viewed as tedious and time-consuming. However, the more engaged and motivated your team members are when creating those budgets, the better the end result will be.

Here are 4 quick and dirty tips to make your people dislike doing business budgets less.

1. Be accessible. Start by setting up the budget in a format that the user understands and that follows their thought pattern. Accountants think one way, sales reps another, so make sure that the format is catered to the end user to make the entire process more accessible.

2. Be realistic. One of the most noted reasons people hate doing business budgets is because of the time and resources required to complete the task of compiling an accurate budget, on time. One of the easiest ways to make your employees more engaged with the budget is by setting realistic expectations. Giving people enough time to compile their data, as well as providing them with the resources required, will make them hate the process a little less.

3. Be clear. Clearly outlining your expectations, ensuring team members know what you expect, means less interpretation and therefore fewer mistakes. When your team, and teams involved with the budget in other departments, have a greater understanding of the budget, the more invested and engaged they’ll be. With a deeper understanding of the moving parts comes a greater degree of acknowledgement regarding how those parts work together to form one cohesive budget.

4. Be accountable. Once you’ve set objectives and outlined the ways in which your team members are expected to adhere to those objectives, don’t change the game-plan. Remain accountable throughout the process. If something isn’t working, acknowledge it and make the necessary changes. If you present yourself as accountable, your employees will be more likely to respect the process.

You also need to hold those involved in the business budgeting process accountable. So many managers complain about the ‘game-playing’ involved, but all too often their budgets are created with this ‘game-playing’ in mind. Creating budgets that are not entirely reflective of current numbers, or based on singular departmental needs rather than company-wide needs, is going to be problematic. If you don’t hold these participants accountable, things will never change.

The business budgeting process will probably always involve a certain level of, if not outright distain, at least some dislike. However, by simplifying the process, being clear and realistic with regard to expected outcomes, and holding all those involved with the process (including yourself) accountable, you may be able to tone down the hatred and make employees hate the process just a little less.

The True Sky corporate performance management system can make your existing budgeting and forecasting process better – and easier – for all involved. Find out more at www.truesky.com today or call 1 855 878 3759.