Getting Budget for Product Management Tools takes preparation. Your success at work, which ultimately can bring you certain dividends, including the desired increase in salary or position, depends on many factors. Remember that valuable employees are always those who do not hide behind the backs of others, but always actively offer their help to the company, not being afraid to take responsibility.
If you, as a product manager, have come to the need to implement certain reasonable tools to increase your effectiveness and the effectiveness of the entire team as well, in this article, we will proceed from the above principle and offer you a small but effective strategy.
Find out If the Company Can Afford It
This is the first question you should ask yourself. What if the company is on the verge of bankruptcy, and you are here with your “proposal” for Product Management Tools?
How do you know if things are going well? The most noticeable sign is expansion. This may be the recruitment of new employees or the opening of new offices. Yes, if new people are hired, because the current staff can’t cope with the current volume of work, then this is a clear sign that things are going well.
And at the same time, this means that tools to increase the effectiveness of the interaction between the teams will be simply necessary. And this is an excellent occasion to share your vision about what tools will be necessary for terms of efficiency, what is the price of their use and what are the obvious benefits for the business.
Explain the Need for an Increase in the Number of Tasks
With an increase in the number of tasks, you can say the following. “Well, I’m ready to take on another project. But let’s review the current technological solutions that we use, as this will increase my workload by 30%. ”
Or so: “Look, here is my report on the work for the three quarters of the current year, but here is the report for the same period last year. Here are the plans we are discussing for next year. The number of tasks this year has grown significantly and continues to grow. It would be effective to introduce specialized tools so that we can cope with all projects. ”
Find the Right Moment
The issue of introducing new Product Management Tools is so delicate that it requires a special approach. And it is necessary to make a proposal in a timely manner. In large companies, budgets, including salaries, are reviewed once a year. You need to talk before the numbers are approved.
There is also another secret. It is important to choose the right moment. Observe whether the chief had intense negotiations with other employees, whether he was in a hurry somewhere. It’s better to choose Friday for such an undertaking: at the end of the week the workload usually decreases, and the boss has the opportunity to think over your words on the weekend.
Stay Calm
Most often, we do not achieve what we want, not because external circumstances are against us, but because we are not able to build communication correctly. A lot depends on our behavior. And if we do not go ahead, but take into account the interests of others, then the realization of our desires will not seem like such an impossible dream. Moreover, the bosses are also people, and nothing human is alien to them. Finally, you have come to the fulfillment of the most responsible and important part of your task – directly to the conversation with the boss.
“Relax and have fun” is what we can advise you in this situation. If you take the conversation too seriously, then your tension will only hurt you. Do not forget that the introduction of new technologies is not a matter of life and death, but another way to increase the efficiency of the business as a whole. Do not forget that there are always a lot of alternative opportunities to achieve the desired. You only need to learn to see and use them.
Take the Risk
Do you remember where we started this article? If you have studied all aspects of all work processes, realized the weaknesses that require innovation, analyzed the experience of competitors, and came to the need for one or another Product Management Tools for improved work on the project, take responsibility for yourself before starting any negotiations. It will be especially good if this solution will give you an opportunity to try before you buy it. In this case, you can test its work in action, and make sure that it is necessary, or refute your hypothesis.
Prepare the Arguments Backed by Real Numbers
If your hypothesis has nevertheless received practical confirmation, show the real result of introducing a certain Product Management Tools in the business. This should be something like a mini-report for a certain period.
For example, you decide to try Jira for better task management. In this connection, your tasks will be to track the real results of the work, compare these results with the data for the previous period, and show the benefits visually. It is very unlikely that you will hear criticism or reprimand for the excessive initiative if your idea really makes sense.
Conclusion
So, the most key point with which we will complete our article. Remember that the business owner is the only person interested in increasing its effectiveness. Yes, employees also have this interest, only their interest is mostly related to the stability of tomorrow and money, and the owner experiences real mental pain when his company suffers.
The same principle applies as when selling any goods and services – convince a person that a certain investment will solve his problem, show a real result, make predictions that are justified, and it is very unlikely that you will hear a refusal. And if you still get a negative answer, then there can be only two options – either this person has simply lagged behind life and does not understand all the possibilities of technology for business, or you have poorly presented your idea for new Product Management Tools.
Luke Loftin is a blog writer and an award-winning indie filmmaker. When he isn’t writing about himself, he specializes in finance and health, blogging about all sorts of topics including credit cards, personal loans, bank accounts, and the digestive system. He currently writes for LeadsMarket among other sites, and his articles are scattered all across the information superhighway. You can find him on LinkedIn.