Another Christmas has gone, and before us lies a year which will – if nothing else – be one with plenty of challenges. I am sure many of us were guilty of some overindulgences at Christmas, whether that was a few too many mince pies or turkey sandwiches. And while this is something we may permit in our own homes, albeit with the accompanying guilt and increased waistbands, we are now in the midst of an economic downturn where any ‘overindulgence' in our organisations – real or perceived – will lay us open to criticism. Just as, at this time of the year, we are bombarded with advertisements extolling the virtues of gym membership to get us leaner and fitter, so we must also look at our own organisations to do the same, and ‘sell' to them why this will offer us some real benefits and opportunities. With the purse strings being tightened ever further, and the outlook being that the downturn will be with us for some time, now is the perfect moment to seize the opportunity to take a long, hard look at our businesses from a customer and managerial perspective. With some creative thinking, there is real scope to investigate the ways in which we can improve how we do things. This will provide a chance to streamline processes and reduce bureaucracy, together with having a clear and simple organisational message as to the reasons why we need to do this. There may be tough times ahead, but with careful planning and thought, we can ride out the downturn and come out of it with much leaner and fitter organisations with less bureaucracy. These will offer our customers a much better experience and, of course, improved value for money. Let us not forget, necessity changes many a course, but never a goal. Mike Suarez is director of finance at Lambeth LBC
