er 13. For now, focus on current quarterly and annual operations planning.) Gaining a detailed understanding PRACTICAL IP AND TELECOM FOR BROADCAST ENGINEERING AND OPERATIONS of the content of goods and services making up the numbers may require examination and study of the invoices and contracts that caused the numbers. This is the area where communications subject matter expertise can greatly enhance clarity and meaning with re- spect to cause and effect of capital and operating expenditures, really purchasing decisions, on individual departments as well as the over- all operations of the enterprise. It is important to determine the value of each and every spending transaction. What is the result of provid- ing every single employee with a telephone? What would happen if they didn't have a telephone, or if they had to share a telephone with another person? Managers in all departments with responsibility need to evaluate and consider the work content of each and every employee. What is their input and output; how much is dependent on 24/7 availability of a telephone for incoming and outgoing calls? The same questions should be asked about their computers, LAN usage, pagers, mobile phones, and other gadgets. Not that they aren't valuable, but it's a simple matter of understanding how valuable. And if the value is real, is it being applied to, or used by, all appro- priate headcount? Capital spending should be scrutinized as well. Look at the previous 2 or 3 years of capital spending. What was the cost of each component in the spending package? What was the expected result? Capital spending should either result in savings or profitable revenue growth, preferably both if possible. What was the promised return compared to reality today? Get numbers, because you will (or should be) asked. If you're not asked, then you should update your resume and watch for an opportunity to move to a job where management asks before you're forced to because the management you work for might not get supervised by the bank or board be