• Know your total resources
• Share what you have with others
• Match the best combination of resources to your assignments

Software
Today's software enables a single person to accomplish many tasks -- one person plus the proper software equals a powerhouse. Instead of asking how many people are needed to complete an assignment, first ask how much of the assignment can be completed by software then decide the appropriate number of personnel.

Using a database, a single auditor in a few minutes can filter a universe of collections and disbursements to identify abnormal transactions, significant trends, and duplicate events. Such a task in the past would have taken several days for a team with calculators and green ledger tablets to complete. Similarly, spreadsheets streamline routine tasks by reducing data entry, eliminating duplicate calculation, and supporting scenario simulation.

Word processors eliminate the terror and time associated with one misspelled word half way down the page. They have increased the flexibility necessary for collaborative writing. Most software packages provide a multitude of capabilities. Unfortunately, many of those capabilities are never learned much less used.

Internet
The Internet has provided powerful capabilities to efficiently collect and disseminate information at a low cost. For example in recent years, auditors spent several days or even weeks conducting preliminary research by visiting libraries, making telephone calls, and sending letters requesting information. Today, in a few hours, auditors can download the most current federal regulations, pull funding from a comptroller's site, and visit an agency's homepage to obtain its mission, organization chart, and financial policies.

By accelerating the research phase, the Internet directly contributes to reducing the overall audit cycle time. Similar benefits exist for information dissemination. Instead of asking how many copies of a report need printed, find out where to post it on a Web page, and save time, printing costs and postage charges.

Electronic Documents
Electronic documents in combination with electronic mail hasten the evolution of ideas and written products by accelerating the speed at which teams collaborate. With hard copy documents all the players must be local or at best documents must be faxed or sent by overnight mail to the next participant. Now electronic documents speed around local computer networks and across long distances collecting changes as fast as team members can add input.

Learn how to exchange documents and work on shared computer drives. Emphasize the use of electronic teamwork, but as a caution, prevent documents from bogging down in a constant swirl of forwarding by setting clear guidelines and distinct deadlines.

Empowerment
The word "empowerment" may be over-quoted, but the concept can hardly be overused. Publicly authorizing employees to accomplish their assignments and endorsing the results of their work leads to innovation and productivity. Phrases such as, "You have my approval to," or "You have my full support to" invigorate employees. Showcasing good work and creative solutions is still an effective means for leveraging the full potential of a team. Know the words that prompt your co-workers to put forth extra effort.

Share Your Resources
Sharing is a low cost and highly profitable technique for multiplying limited resources. The enemy of sharing is parochialism, territorialism, and negligence -- fight those tendencies and be the champion of sharing.

If you or your team develops a spreadsheet to accomplish a common office task, tell others and put it on a shared network drive. If you research a subject area, download a file, collect documentation, or complete detailed analysis inform your co-workers and offer it to them. Sharing is more than just saving time for your team; it is about saving time for the organization as a whole. Sharing the praise and getting the job done on time is far better than failing to meet a deadline and complaining about inadequate resources

Plan the Best Combination.
It is people plus. Design an action plan that will achieve the agency's objectives by effectively using all available resources. For example, select the specific combination of database queries, spreadsheet simulations, and desktop publishing along with the appropriate human expertise needed to complete a project. Remember that in an electronic environment, projects are rarely a one for one match to people.

Questions to Help You Better Use Your Resources The questions below summarize the three recommendations and can assist team leaders and project managers maximize the full potential of resources available to them.

• What software resources are not being used?
• What documents can be developed using electronic teamwork?
• What information collection and dissemination activities could be done using the Internet?
• What positive words and actions generate the most energy from my co-workers?
• Does my leadership style encourage innovation?
• Is there anything I can share to save the organization time?
• Am I using the most effective combination of resources to complete the project?