Thursday, February 26, 2015

Make artWORK: I Love Budgets

Make artWORK: I Love Budgets
By Jennifer Wright Cook

Do you hate budgets?  Do you get hives when you are asked to do one for a grant or a presenter?

I love budgets! Yes, I do. Budgets are just numbers really.  And numbers are just numbers. They won’t judge you.  They won’t tell you how much you are worth.  They won’t reject you.

Budgets are information that you can use to make strategic decisions about your creative projects or your personal life or anything involving money.  Without a budget plan you risk making last minute decisions and using your credit card to finance your show or your life.

Budgets are mutable.  As your creative project unfolds over time you can update your budget with new information.  For instance, if you estimated that you could raise $3,000 from Individual Giving and you actually raised $3,500 that means you have $500 more for your work!  Amazing.  Maybe that means you can afford a consultation with a Costume Designer or you can pay your artists a tad more. 

And if you raise less than you estimated then you can make strategic decisions in advance about what you can cut.  Rather than going into debt yourself (again and again and again).

A budget is also a moral document.  It shows what you believe in and what you value.  If you show that you are paying your artists a decent fee for their time then that shows your donors and presenters that paying your artists is vital to you.  Conversely, if you don’t have artist fees then that shows something else.  (Yes, of course, whether you can afford to pay your artists or yourself is another matter.  But most funders and many presenters want to see that you aspire to that.  And, yes, you should aspire to that.  And you can make it happen.  Maybe it’s all inkind/donated for now but maybe you start small with a stipend for a show. And then you grow from there….)

Ok fine.  So in terms of your artistic life: how do I make a budget for my show?

Start with expenses by projecting what you will need and researching or figuring out how much each of those needs will cost.  Ask people you know, use your contacts and resources to find this information, and tackle it one item at a time.  Think about your whole project and any possible expenses.  Is your show outside for example? Then you might have expenses for permits, sound amplification, port-a-potties, etc!  You might also consider adding a Contingency or Miscellaneous line item (FYI some funders want to see detail on such lines and some won’t let you have any lines like these though).   

Your budgeted income should realistically include a variety of sources of support, including individuals, fundraising events, ticket sales, grants, in-kind (free) donations etc.  Count all possible sources, noting any sources already “secured,” or "received."   If you list any grants please be realistic and do your research.  For instance, if you list Jerome Foundation at $25,000 that’s crazy town.  Jerome (and any other arts funder) would think you don’t know what you are doing.  You want them to trust that you know what you are doing.

It’s really that simple.  Income and expenses. Not your worth.  Not your value.  Just plans and ideas. 

Some other things to consider:
·         Make sure that your overall budget is not too large or too small for your level of experience, scope of the project, and your history of carrying out similar projects.  Do research on your peers’ budgets.
·         Inkind income must be matched in expense.  So if you show $5,000 in donated rehearsal space you must show at least $5,000 in expenses for rehearsal space.
·         For internal purposes I often have 3 budgets!  My big dream budget, my realistic budget and my sh*t  hits the fan budget.   As the project unfolds I tweak my budget as needed.
·         Your final budget should always balance—meaning that income equals expenses.

And if you want an app or a program to help you deal with budgets?  Our amazing choreographic colleague, Yanira Castro, recently pointed me to YNAB (aka You Need A Budget).  She swears by it for her home budgeting.  And understanding your personal finances is key in knowing what you need for your artistic work! 


What budget tricks and tools do you love?  Tell us on Facebook or Twitter.

Monday, February 2, 2015

Make artWORK: Leadership and People Management


By Shawn RenĂ© Graham

Whether you are consciously aware of it or not, on some level, you are continually leading yourself and others – you don’t necessarily have to have a large team reporting to you to be considered a leader or to need effective leadership skills.  Once you have taken on that leadership role, you should also assess your effectiveness throughout the year.

Here is an exercise you can use often:

·      Think about what you actually do on a daily basis.  Draw generalizations about how you spend your leadership time.  Complete the Leadership Behavior Chart below.
·      The central question is this: Is your leadership behavior out of sync with the way that you feel an effective leader should be spending his or her energy?

Think about your daily interaction with the people you lead.   Generally speaking, determine the actual behaviors that define that interaction.   Using the list of behaviors below, determine the amount of time (in percentages) that you generally spend on each behavior.  Then in the second column, determine what you feel would be ideal distribution of time (in percentages).
Behavior
Percentage of time spent on each behavior
Ideally the percentage of time you would devote to each behavior
Informing


Directing


Clarifying or Justifying


Persuading


Collaborating


Brainstorming or Envisioning


Reflecting (Quiet Time for Thinking)


Observing


Disciplining


Resolving interpersonal conflicts


Praising and/or encouraging



Don’t know how to get to your ideal percentage times for each behavior?  Here are some key buckets and strategies that you can employ that can move you even closer to your ideal distribution of behavior?

1. Business Management
Managing a business effectively is the key to the establishment and growth of the business. The key to successful management is to examine the marketplace environment. Despite the importance of management, this area is often misunderstood and poorly implemented, primarily because people focus on the output rather than the process of management. Planning is essential for developing a firm’s potential. However, many small businesses do not recognize the need for long-range plans, because the small number of people involved in operating the business implies equal responsibility in the planning and decision-making processes. Nevertheless, the need for planning is as important in a small business as it is in a large one.
2. Setting Duties Tasks and Responsibilities
An organization is characterized by the nature and determination of employees’ duties, tasks and responsibilities. While many organizations use different methods for determining these it is essential that they be clearly defined.
3. Controlling Conflict
Another key to successful management lies in controlling conflict. Conflict cannot be eliminated from either the business or the interpersonal activities of the enterprise. A measure of the organization’s success is the degree to which conflict can be exposed and the energies associated with it channeled to develop your organization.
4. Organization Structure
The essence of a successful organization can be more simply summarized than implemented and the effectiveness of a particular organizational form depends on a variety of internal and external events. To get the best results you must have an idea about various aspects of the market such as activities and number of competitors. Even though you may discover that certain events are affecting your business be careful not to change the organizational structure of your firm without discussing it with your team. Because restructuring involves spending a lot of time learning new rules, implementing a new organizational structure is costly.
5. Delegation of Authority
Delegation is a key to the effective exercise of authority in your business. By delegating limited authority to accomplish specific tasks the talents of employees in the organization can be used to upgrade the skills and experience of the manager. You must coordinate and control work of your collaborators effectively. To effectively delegate responsibility and authority in your organization you must know the capabilities of each person you are working with. Ensure that specific training and information is available and provide periodic monitoring and interest which should be praised and criticized as per performance. The skills and abilities of each level of authority can be increased by effectively delegating authority throughout any organization.