Q: I need to save some money in this last quarter. What can I do without endangering the business?
A: In these “death by a thousand cuts” economic times, the mandate to save occurs more and more often. Since real productivity improvements are elusive in the short term, you need to set a savings target and go after the relatively easy stuff (not that doing so is easy to swallow), including travel, offsite meetings, unfilled open positions, favorable budget variances and such nonlabor expenses as software, upgrades and equipment purchases.Next, focus on cutting projects and service levels. All projects without a strong business case should be halted or delayed. Contingent labor should be reduced. If you have turned some of your fixed costs to variable costs by outsourcing, it’s now time to renegotiate rates and markups, and determine how costs could change with varying usage levels and cycle times.
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