Pauline is a senior vice president at an advertising agency. She has just received an expense report from accounting and needs to talk to Gina, the production manager, about some printing expenditures. Pauline sees Gina at the coffee machine and asks her to stop by her office.

          As Gina enters Pauline’s office, Gina’s assistant, Jerry, rushes in to tell Gina that a magazine ad will have to be redone. They agree to talk right after her meeting with Pauline. Pauline comes around her desk with the expense report.

          “Gina,” Pauline begins, “I just got these figures from accounting for our last quarter. It jumped out at me that our printing costs are almost twice what they were this time last year. Our budget called for lowering printing costs this year. Look at this.”

          Gina quickly scans the figures, looking for the ones at issue. “Wait a second. You know, we brought two new clients on board in that quarter. Their initial projects required a lot of printing. We will recoup those expenses when —”

          “— No, I’m talking about the printing for our own marketing projects.”

          “The Creative Department orders those materials! You should really speak with them about that.”

          “I plan to, but you oversee these figures as they come in. It seems we’re paying thousands more for the same kind of . . . .”

          Gina nods, but she’s churning inside. This is an important issue to discuss, and Pauline feels she is being straightforward with Gina. Pauline’s points may be valid, but Gina’s mind is racing. How could Pauline have used Q4 skills to get off to a better start?

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