How Successful Financial Managers Create More Value Without More Resources

Last week's installment explored the first of 4 traits shared by financial managers who succeed at creating more value without more resources: those managers know what specific activities they should perform in order to create the most value for their enterprises. This week, we'll look at the second trait shared by successful financial managers: they possess additional attitudes, knowledge, and skills that enable them to maximize their effectiveness at creating value.

Regardless of the specific value-creation activities you may perform, there are 3 critical factors that will enhance the effectiveness of your activities: (1) teamwork; (2) communication; and (3) technology. Here's what successful financial managers have to say about those factors.

TEAMWORK

"Finance needs to work as a team with other departments" says Ken Burton, Controller of Blue Ridge Metals Corporation, a provider of finished metal parts to the automotive industry. Recognizing that effective value creation is not the result of individual, uncoordinated efforts allows each team member to focus on contributing his/her strengths to the team.

Allowing team members to contribute their strengths also applies if you have supervisory responsibility for staff. Don't be afraid to delegate. Burton notes "You'll be surprised at how much intelligence and imagination you staff has. If you can't find a way to get more done with less, chances are someone on your staff will find a way."

COMMUNICATION

Communication with your customers - primarily internal ones - is another key to effectiveness in creating value.

In Burton's experience, financial managers are often "confused about who their customer is. Top management is the number one customer of the financial area. The financial area has other customers, but top management usually designates them." As a starting point in communication, Burton says "top management needs to communicate its expectations." He adds that once top management sets goals and objectives, "progress on those goals should be reported regularly."

James Roach, a Financial Manager in the Fountain Division of The Coca-Cola Company, points out that "Communication skills are critical. We must be able (and willing) to listen to our customers and ask questions to determine their needs." Burton's key advice: "Communicate, don't assume. Make sure you know what the customer needs before starting. Don't waste valuable time on false starts."

Roach notes that in communicating with customers, "being able to interpret their requests and explain what we can offer in a way they understand eliminates frustration." One challenge, he adds, is that customers are usually not finance-oriented: "we each speak our own dialect" in business communications.

Perhaps the most important reason to communicate with others in your enterprise is so that you learn the ins and outs of your business. Andy Weaver, Assistant Treasurer of Reliant Resources, Inc., a Fortune 100 provider of electricity and energy services, emphasizes the importance of "understanding the business to find what line people need to make good informed decisions." This applies to your staff as well; be sure they have the opportunity to learn as much as they can about your business.

TECHNOLOGY

Each of the 6 successful financial managers interviewed for this series identified effective use of information technology as playing a key role in creating value. It doesn't have to be expensive, fancy software, but you do need to know how to use it effectively. According to James Roach, "The technical skills that have given me the best opportunity to add value are the ones related to software." George Pope, a colleague of Roach's at Coca-Cola, echoes this perspective: "Efficient, effective use of desktop tools is critical."

In next week's installment, you'll see examples of how successful financial managers use IT to increase their efficiency and productivity as well as their effectiveness.

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