The Fourth Month

Progress Report #2, which you should now be assembling as a basis for Progress Meeting #2 at the end of this month, must be as complete and informative as you possibly can make it at this stage of your planning.

It should include all Ideas presently in your hands, whether brand-new, previously Approved, or previously designated For Further Consideration. It should include your specific recommen­dations concerning each one (e.g., why you think is should be kept in the program or eliminated forthwith), and the most ac­curate estimated costs you are able to provide.

For this information, or the bulk of it, you must depend heavily on the experience and knowledge of the company personnel you have been consulting. Since these people are human, you occa­sionally may receive erroneous information from them. Naturally you accept this information as reliable and incorporate it into your Progress Reports. The result is that at Progress Meetings, or elsewhere, some of your recommendations may be successfully challenged by members of the Policy Committee or others with superior or specialized knowledge of company plans and opera­tions.

Such successful challenge makes no difference to you, nor to your stature in the organization. You do your job as well as pos­sible. You research each Idea as exhaustively as can be done; you consult sources you believe to be dependable; you evaluate the resulting information in the light of your knowledge of company goals and preferences; you arrive at an opinion about each Idea; you present that opinion as a guide to committee action. The fact that you cannot possibly know everything about every company operation is obvious.

In Fig. 12, on page 97, you will find diagramed a form for a report. You may care to utilize this form for your Progress Re­port #2. We have found this form to be adaptable to various requirements, some of which will be presented in samples of future Progress Reports. It is effective for such a presentation as you must now prepare. You may accept it in toto, adapt it, or discard it and develop one more to your liking.

Use of this form provides all committee members with identical information and, when they dart off on unexpected and surpris­ing tangents, helps immensely to bring them back to the meeting and the matter at hand. Your copy of the form can be, and should be, marked by you as the meeting progresses, so that when you return to your desk afterward, you have a blueprint for definite action on every Idea considered by the committee.

If you decide to copy the illustrated form, you simply feed standard 8¼" x 11" sheets of typewriter paper into your machine lengthwise. Measurements for the ruled lines are given in inches on the skeleton form in Fig. 12. If you have a typewriter with a carriage longer than 11 inches you will find preparation of this form very easy. With a shorter carriage you may find the extreme right-hand and left-hand entries cramped and may need to letter them in after the rest of the form is completed.

As you read the following description of the form, compare Fig. 13, on pages 98-99.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRESS REPORT #2

Start designing the first page of your report form by drawing a horizontal line from edge to edge, long way on a standard 8¾"x 11" typewriter sheet, approximately four inches from the top. (All subsequent pages [sheets] have this horizontal line drawn approximately one inch from the top. The "top," when sheets are being used lengthwise in this way, is, of course, the long edge.) Above that line are the title and number of the report, any neces­sary explanation of abbreviations used, and a report on costs of Ideas Approved and For Further Consideration as of the end of Progress Meeting #1.

Now, from the horizontal line, draw four dividing lines ver­tically to the bottom of the page. Place the first vertical line ¾ inch from the left-hand edge of the page; the second line 4 inches to the right of the first line; the third line l¾ inches to the right of the second; the fourth and final line, 3½ inches to the right of the third line. You now have five columns.

The headings you put at the tops of the five columns thus pro­duced are simply descriptive of the contents or purpose of the particular column.

Column 1. The abbreviation for "Number" (No.) at the head of this extreme left-hand column simply indicates the number an Idea happens to receive in sequence. Ideas are numbered for identification and ease of reference in discussion. The num­bers have nothing whatever to do with any form of grading or rating.

Column 2. The term "Idea (Activity or Event)" at the top of the second column designates the Ideas for activities and events being considered for inclusion in the anniversary program. They are submitted herewith for scrutiny by the Policy Committee. Sometimes a few words will adequately identify the individual Idea (e.g., "Produce a slick Annual Report"). In other instances, several lines may be necessary. Better err on the side of complete­ness when you are preparing this material; it will head off a lot of confusion.

Column 3. "Estimated Cost," which is the heading of the center column, will be the first place many an eye will stop. In this col­umn, you insert the probable gross cost of the Idea as you have determined it through your research. You should also review our comments on costs (page 104 in this chapter) just prior to meeting time.

NOTE: The use of actual cost figures in a volume of this kind is a touchy matter. We have assiduously avoided such whenever possible. The reason is obvious: cost figures vary and fluctuate with geographical location, season, year, and material and labor costs. The most accurate set of production cost figures we could assemble for you today could easily be obsolete in a month. The inclusion of cost figures in some of the lists and reports has been done reluctantly to lend substance, verisimilitude, and authority to the picture we are trying to give you. You are warned against

accepting any such figures as accurate at the time you read them. They are apt to be strictly atmosphere and should be warily re­garded as such.

Actually, you will come out very well on your estimates if you've done a reasonable amount of careful investigation, and if fairly prompt action is taken on your recommendations by the company. Naturally if 18 months elapse between the time you present a figure and the time action is taken, there will be some adjustments. It must be understood that your figures hold only as of the day they are presented. Also, your investigations into costs will proceed more smoothly if you make crystal-clear to the suppliers, resources, and workmen from whom you seek estimates, that nobody will hold them to today's estimates on an order they may receive a year from today.

Column 4. The heading "Comments" at the top of the fourth column indicates the place where you will cram every bit of avail­able information which may aid the Policy Committee to reach a decision. In addition, your own recommendations about each Idea should go in this column. Be impartial as possible but don't be silly about it. Sometimes you develop an Idea so obviously (you think) tailor-made to company requirements that it should sell solely on typescript presentation. Yet, to your chagrin and disappointment, when you present it, it is received with indiffer­ence or antagonism. Often it is merely a matter of timing in the presentation—or a question of who makes the presentation. When you have an Idea that you strongly favor, consider the possibility that the initial suggestion might best come from someone other than yourself. Your very interest in it may tend to make you push it too hard. Whenever you have an Idea which you believe would be beneficial to the organization, take some pains to see that it is presented in the best possible light to the General Chairman. Try to win him over first, and then get his help in selling it to the Policy Committee, and perhaps even to the staff later on. Even the best Ideas can stand help.

Column 5. This column, as you note, is headed "Disposition (date)." Type the date of the Progress Meeting on the "date" line before making copies of the report for committee members. What this heading means is: "Here is what the Policy Committee de­cided to do about each individual Idea on this date." It is in this column that you will indicate Policy Committee approval (APP.), rejection (ELIM.), or uncertainty and a request for further con­sideration (FFC), questions for answering, comments by commit­tee members, future action to be taken, when and by whom, and so on. In short, here is the place where you note the disposition of each Idea, as determined by the Policy Committee on the date specified. (In the sample illustration this column has been filled in to complete the example.)

And let it come as no surprise if the final disposition made by the Policy Committee is not what you recommend. A divergent committee opinion is no reflection on the amount of good work you've put into assembling this material. You have provided a solid basis for their opinion, and that's what you're being paid for. In sample Progress Report #2 (Fig. 13) for example, you will note that Idea #3 ("Release 5,000 helium-filled advertising bal­loons, etc.") was favorably reported by the Co-ordinator, yet re­moved from consideration by the Policy Committee. Why? There could be many reasons. (Sample reason: the appeal of the Idea was recognized, but fear that an unfavorable wind on the day of the event would dump most of the investment into a nearby lake caused committee disfavor.) The Co-ordinator probably protested that the publicity value of the event alone would repay the in­vestment, but the event was eliminated.)

PROGRESS MEETING #2

We suggest that the meeting Chairman (and we hope you're having the General Chairman handle the assignment again) keep an alert ear and a sharp tongue ready to control this potential obstacle to a successful meeting:

This will be the Policy Committee's first look at celebration costs. It is natural that a great deal of attention will be focused on this aspect of each Idea. An immense contribution to a productive meeting will be made if the Chairman emphasizes over and over:

"Remember, gentlemen, at this meeting we are testing Ideas that we like, and that we'd like to include. Never mind the price tag right now."

Such repeated emphasis on the primary purpose of the meeting also contributes to the salvation of many an excellent Idea put unfairly in a bad light by an apparently out-of-line cost figure.

A perfectly good Idea may look bad temporarily because it is the most expensive of a particular group, or because its estimated cost includes an amount for something the company does routinely anyway, or because the estimate is just plain wrong and needs more investigation. There can be many reasons, and no Idea should be condemned solely on the basis of an adverse estimated cost figure.

Nonetheless some committee members will peck away at the cost angle. It is up to the Chairman to repeat:
"If you could have it, would you take it? That's what we want to know now. After we've assembled a favorite selection of Ideas and added up their costs, if the total is too big then we say, 'O.K. That's too many dollars. What'll we cut out?' But not today!"

If the General Chairman is running the meeting, you have every right to expect him to hold it together for you in this way. And if you are Chairman you rightly expect his support if the committee begins to push you. The price tag is not on trial at this meeting. But you will find in any group—even of only a half-dozen —the timid, the lazy, the obstructionist, the indifferent. They can sabotage a program so fast in the name of leadership and helpful­ness and deep deep concern, that it will never get off the ground.

Put the meeting on an approve-it-if-you-like-it basis, and, at the meeting's end, the Policy Committee will have declared
X (number) of Ideas Eliminated by a NO vote.
Y (number) of Ideas held For Further Consideration, and so kept in the running, by an FFC vote. (In some in­stances this will be the second FFC vote registered for an Idea.)
Z (number) of Ideas Approved and so possessing a reasonable chance of becoming a part of the anniversary program.

Although you can feel from the climate of the meeting that prohibition of cost discussion is not popular, time will prove it wise. After the screening is completed, the General Chairman may hold an echo meeting on the subject of costs if he wishes. Whether he does or not, you may be sure that the Policy Com­mittee will be thinking hard about the question from now on.

And before you begin the task of investigating, revising, and rewriting for your next Progress Report, let's face the question ourselves.

ENTER, THE PRICE TAG

When you start asking for money, or even implying that some money will probably have to be spent for an anniversary celebra­tion, you immediately find that there is more than one school of thought on the subject.

One mellow school embraces the view that an organization has reason for a celebration of this magnitude only once in a lifetime, that a majority of organizations never have one, and that the com­pany ought to act accordingly and relax budgetary stringency a bit.

Another takes the vinegary view that not one dime should be spent for such nonsense unless there is a foreseeable net cash re­turn of at least 15 cents. On each dime, too.

In our opinion the best possible position for all lies somewhere between these diametrically opposed stands: a reasonable middle path along which all may travel with a maximum of comfort and enjoyment.

If we were required to put our opinion into words, it would probably sound something like this: *an anniversary celebration has a way of repaying handsomely and for a long time any special pampering it gets from the Comptroller or Treasurer or Budget Director. And by the same token, a memorable celebration rarely blooms or flourishes in an atmosphere of rigorous pre-observance penny-pinching.

You may as well face it: from now on you are going to be living day and night with the factor of costs. From now on, every Idea you present will have to carry a price tag. From now on, the first question asked about any Idea you offer, no matter how glamor­ous, productive, or generally desirable, will be "How much does it cost?" From now on, the price tag will be scanned first, the Idea afterward. From now on, the price tag will have a lot more to do with what happens to an Idea than the intrinsic value of the Idea to the company or the celebration.

So we are presenting herewith some thoughts on this subject. We believe they will help to mold your own thinking, guide your recommendations to your General Chairman, and assist in com­promises with the Policy Committee.

COSTS AND CELEBRATIONS
i
Actually, no matter how carefully and conscientiously you run them down, investigate them, compare them, and screen them, many of your cost estimates are going to remain no more than estimates right to the day the activity is initiated. That will often be because the Idea for which the estimate is submitted is sub­ject to so many variables that nothing better than an estimate is possible. Don't bang your head against this fact. Accept it. You can't change it, nor can the Policy Committee. For example, suppose you decide to carry out the routing of the old-fashioned delivery wagon. You proceed to locate and itemize every attendant cost you can think of. You do a good job, too, and, when the promotion is mounted, the accuracy of your work is proved by the fact that the budget assigned covers everything neatly. Then, the day before the event, one of the animals gets sick. Is there a replacement ready? Will your insurance on the event cover medi­cines, veterinarian's care, extended boarding costs?

ii

You will find, as planning proceeds, that a number of the activities accepted for the anniversary program are already, to a greater or lesser extent, a part of your company's regular pro­gram. Take as an example the item of institutional advertising. The company may have to budget at least $50,000 for a fair-to-middlin' institutional campaign, yet that figure is considerably grimmer than reality. Why? Because some portion of that amount is sure to be siphoned from the regular advertising budget. Yet when you submit your report, there stands the cost of an insti­tutional campaign in all its overwhelming mass.

The reason is that the cost which you have obtained and listed in your report actually includes a respectable amount now being spent routinely on the activity anyway. In other words, you are listing the entire (the gross) cost rather than the plus-over-normal (for expansion or elaboration of an existing activity) which would be the proper figure. To put it another way: When, a couple of years from now, the company President confides to a companion over highballs "Why, our anniversary celebration cost us a quarter of a million!" he stops right there. And why not? Why should he spoil the effect by adding that the company would have spent $150,000 of that amount in promotion that year any­way?

But you should watch alertly for this trap. Later on, you'll begin digging out and submitting net costs. Meanwhile don't let a gross cost confer the kiss of death on a worthwhile suggestion.

iii

You'll see the word NONE cropping up every now and then in the Estimated Cost columns of our sample Progress Reports. You'll use it in your own reports. It crops up because the activity named is considered to be so close to standard company routine that it can be staff-produced and staff-handled without upsetting the other duties of the department concerned.

Just don't let the word fool you. It's a phony. Even though you find it convenient to use now and then, remember that it won't hold up when you start writing checks against your anni­versary budget.

You simply can't say that an anniversary event won't cost money or won't use funds. Even where there actually exists no direct cost, in almost every case you will find some or all of the indirect costs of time, personnel, transportation, and storage. The time of personnel "borrowed" from their regular jobs to assist in a project of this type is a cost that is hidden, real, inescapable, and often overlooked. Also it is murder to try to estimate!

Use NONE, by all means. But be cautious about leaning on it. It'll pop up and belt you in the budget when you least expect it. After all, even if an event contains no charge except the addi­tional advertising (we mean additional, not a drop-in in regular space) necessary to publicize and support it, that extra advertis­ing represents a cost for that activity, and it must come out of the anniversary budget.

iv

We recommend that, where there is a cost range ("Maybe it'll cost this much, but maybe it'll go as high as this"), you submit the maximum in all instances, rather than the minimum. In the first place, the world being the way it is, the maximum estimate is much more likely to be correct. And i£ it isn't correct now, it probably will be by the time the committee gets around to or­dering or building or buying or producing whatever the estimate is for! In the second place, i£ the outside estimate you routinely present to the Policy Committee does not appear unduly large to them, you get a pleasant surprise. And i£ it does appear too large, it can generally be trimmed down and tailored to fit com­pany preferences without serious loss of effectiveness.

V

Since you are presenting routinely the highest figure, the out­side estimate, the maximum rate for any Idea you submit, don't let your Policy Committee arbitrarily rule out any Idea you think good, merely on the basis of its estimated cost. Tell them about the trimming and the tailoring. Actually, such careful pruning and fashioning should be done on most Ideas, not merely on borderline ones, if you are to obtain the greatest value for your money, and the most effective results from your efforts.

vi

And on the gloomy other hand (just to cancel out what you save by trimming and tailoring), probably in no case will your estimated cost for an Idea—an activity or event—include salary for any additional personnel required to produce the Idea. A further appropriation will be necessary to pay such help.

vii

The solution? Well, thrift is a wonderful virtue, especially in an ancestor. If companies could only be made a bit more far-sighted about things like this, funds could be put aside easily against such nonrecurrent expenses. However, we suppose that looking ahead 25 years to no goal except helping a bunch of perfectly awful strangers is a bit too much to ask of anyone. But just think: if a company would—on its 25th, or 50th, or 75th anniversary—decide to set aside $4,000 or $5,000 per year for the next 25 years, what a memorable community-participation cele­bration it could have then! And with no need for explanation, or embarrassment, or inflexible accounting. It's a point worth mentioning to the Policy Committee. Three or four times, in fact.

ANNIVERSARY BUDGET COMMITMENTS AT A GLANCE

The thermometer-type graph in Fig. 14 provides four impor­tant pieces of information. It shows (a) the percentage of the total Anniversary Year budget spent month by month, (b) the activities (or categories of activities) receiving the money, (c) the percentage of the total Anniversary Year budget allotted to each activity (or category), and (d) the percentage of each individual activity's allotted budget spent month by month.

To make a graph of this kind, you should determine the ac­tivities, or kinds of activities, on which you will concentrate dur­ing your celebration. The seven categories of activities we have listed are arbitrary. You will, of course, choose those most effec­tive in helping you toward your own anniversary goals.

Place your selections in a LEGEND block alphabetically, and number them in sequence. Opposite each activity in the LEGEND block, show the percentage of the Anniversary Year budget you are assigning to it.
The sequence numerals (1, 2, 3, and so on) in front of the ac­tivities in the LEGEND block are keyed to parallel identifying numbers running horizontally across the graph immediately be­neath the zero line. They provide (a) quick reference, (b) a key to the percentage of the budget's total being absorbed by any activity in any combination of months, and (c) by reference to the LEGEND-block total and some simple subtractions, the percent­age remaining unspent.

If you design such a graph before anniversary activities are finally determined, and before any money is assigned, it can be used to depict (a) a recommended group of activities (or cate­gories of activities), (b) the time in the observance period when, in your opinion, each activity might best be presented for maxi­mum impact, (c) the percentage of the total anniversary budget

you suggest assigning to each activity (or category), and (d) the manner in which you recommend that each activity's individual budget be apportioned over the observance period.

Prepared before celebration activities and expenditures are finally fixed, this graph can save you money by pinpointing in­equities and enabling you to correct them before any damage is done.

If you design such a graph after anniversary activities and events are chosen and a budget is assigned, it may be used to show (a) the finally approved group of activities (i.e., what you are spending your money for), (b) when each activity is scheduled for presentation, (c) the percentage of the total anniversary bud­get assigned to each activity (i.e., how you are spending your money), and (d) the percentage of each activity's total budget used during January, during February, during March, and so on (i.e., when you are spending your money).

The resulting picture will reveal any wasteful, disproportion­ate expenditures and any badly timed or poorly accented activi­ties in your program structure.

We believe that some such analysis of your situation should be formulated both before and after program completion, and without exception before the company is irrevocably committed to any course of action or expense.

We particularly recommend use of this graph in combination with a Calendar of Events like that depicted in Fig. 15, on pages 120-121. Used together, to check and balance each other, these two charts will save you time, money, and disappointment, and contribute immensely toward obtaining for you the most balanced, economical, and effective presentation possible for your anni­versary program

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