I just published the second article for this series in my Forbes column: The Resource Allocation Dilemma Faced By CEOs Every Single Day. The premise for this blog as my readers know is that the chief executive officer role is unique in business, with most people receiving little practical training for the job. CEOs must balance all the competing needs, demands, and interests of constituents while moving the business forward. Nowhere is this more evident than in the need to provide the proper resources. You have to balance the capital and people needs of all the departments within your organization, allocating each at the right time for the company to be successful.
All executives have experience dealing with budgets and allocating resources. The difference is that the CEO has to balance resources between groups and items that are not all comparable. How much do we spend on marketing versus how much do we spend on rent? How do I balance between resources for sales and resources for product creation? I’ve provided some direction in the Forbes piece but would like to hear from you: How do you suggest CEOs should balance resources?
Related article:
My management team spends a lot of regularly scheduled time together, so that each of them at least understands the goals and challenges faced by the others. Because of their level of understanding, I will often bring the team together to discuss resource allocation issues. I’ll lay out the situation and ask for their opinions. Often they will come up with creative solutions. If not, then ultimately the decision is mine. But if my team was involved, then I’ll have more information with which to make a decision, and they will have a better understanding of the reason(s) for my decision.
Love it when a team can put on their company hats and help with resource allocation issues. That is the sign of a great executive team.