After we all agreed on the vision, I asked about the two dynamics of the Partnership Continuum. First, I said, let’s talk about the Stages of Relationship Development. Both agreed they hadn’t really gotten along in the past. In reality, they didn’t even know each other very well. I asked them if they met frequently to discuss issues of mutual concern. I wasn’t surprised to hear that they rarely even talked to each other. So I asked them what they could do to improve their relationship. Marty surprised me: “I think it would be helpful if we got to know each other’s operations.

Maybe there’s some way we can work together to solve our issues.” Jean immediately responded by suggesting they meet one afternoon the following week to talk about how they each accomplish their tasks. The following week we met again and both Jean and Marty reviewed how they scheduled and accomplished their tasks. One of the first things Jean noticed was that there was no coordination between cleaning the rooms and maintenance work. She asked Marty what time he received his list of guest room maintenance jobs. “First thing in the morning, about 7:30,” he said. The job orders were collected by the chief operator and given to him. He then passed them out to the maintenance engineers. We were well on our way to identifying the needs.

Do not ignore or underestimate the wider impact of a financial decision on other parts of the business. Avoid weak budgetary control Budgets are often used merely to assess performance, whereas their real value is as an active tool to inform financial decisions. Budgets should not be cut without giving sufficient thought to how this will affect other
decisions.

Understand the impact of cash flow

Issues of cash flow and the time value of money are often ignored by non-financial managers, to the detriment of the organisation. In the worst case, this may result in the business becoming insolvent.

Financial decisions affect everyone. They should not be left entirely to the “experts” in the finance department or among specialist advisers. Financial issues and techniques – such as dynamic cost management, the importance of cash flow and the time value of money – affect all managers with a financial responsibility and are influenced by everyone.

Make financial expertise widely available Every manager in the business should understand the importance of financial management for profitability and success. People need to feel ownership of their part of the process of financial control, to have the information and expertise to make the best financial decisions and to consider all relevant decisions from a financial perspective.