Budget Issues for 2010

Budgets in 2010 are a study in contrast. During 2009 everyone seemed to hunker down and wait for the storm to pass. Now that the New Year has come everyone seems to be poking their head out to see what’s left. The problem is that most people are cautiously optimistic but they are working with tight budgets that were created during the height of the panic in 2009. Now you have departments fighting over the scraps and trying to decide the best way to spend what little is available.

This is a major problem all by itself but it’s not the only one.  There are two clear camps forming in many companies and that is the group that feels it’s important to jump on board and create a social media program. The other side is the group that feels with such little money available it shouldn’t be spent on something that is so new and untested.  The debate gets more challenging because many in the group that protest the use really don’t know enough about it and their unfamiliarity fuels their refusal.

A perfect example of this was a recent meeting I attended. I was asked by the IT department to drive 3 hours to do a seminar on social media for a health care facility. They wanted to know how it could be adapted and if there were potential benefits. After we were talking for about 30 minutes the Director of Marketing burst into the room and threw a magazine on the table talking about social media as snake oil. I sat there realizing I just drove 3 hours to actually be called a snake oil salesman.

I wish I was making that story up to be dramatic but that is exactly what happened. I had to sit and go over all the things he missed by coming late and then going over point by point his objections. The reality was that he didn’t understand what we were showing the hospital they could do or how the technology worked.

This year might wind up being a transition year. Many organizations are going to have to deal with these challenges when you have people who see the potential and other who don’t. Hopefully they will at least spend time educating all their stake holders about the options so you have people who are making informed decision on how budgets are spent for 2011.