Embedding engagement
Costs: likely costs

It is helpful to think about costs and budgets as early on as possible. You may need to re-think your plans to fit within the available budget, or may need more time than expected to get the necessary resources.

When thinking about your budget, you will first need to list the costs involved in carrying outthe project. Each project is likely to have costs which are:

Internal to the organisation
External to the organisation
For negotiation / unclear

You also need to be aware of resources that you may not have to pay for:

time and resources given free of charge
shared workspace/venues which can be used at no cost

Costs/resources needed are likely to fall under the following headings:

Tools/physical resources
Staff/Time
Services
Other, eg travel expenses

It is likely that you will at first be unclear about the exact project costs and will need to firm them up as planning progresses. In addition, there will be some costs which are difficult to predict or are truly flexible /subject to variation (see box below).

Flexible or unknown costs - examples

True staff costs (time away from other duties, implications for host team/organisation such as the need to take on temporary staff)
Hidden costs (secondments, joint working on project teams)
Flexible/escalating costs (unforeseen resource implications, payments associated with risk management)

For these reasons, it is sensible to both consult with others within and outside your organisation before firming up a budget. It is also important to allow for a contingency budget in the project cost.

Embedding engagement Costs: likely costs

Embedding engagement
Costs: likely costs