Exercises & Tools

Five Exercises.
Real Decisions.

Each exercise is embedded directly into the workshop session. All worksheets are available to download before, during, and after the session. Bring your numbers — these tools work best with real data from your organisation.

Map Your Cost Structure

Segment 1 · Minimum Viable Media Economics

8 min+

Classify your organisation's top 10 expenses as fixed or variable. Identify which costs scale with output and which don't. Work in pairs — CEO and CFO together for best results.

Full Exercise

Worksheet

List your top 10 expenses, mark Fixed (F) or Variable (V), and note whether each scales with output.

Staff salaries — F / V — Scales with output? Yes / No
Freelance contributors — F / V — Scales with output? Yes / No
Office / infrastructure — F / V — Scales with output? Yes / No
Technology & tools — F / V — Scales with output? Yes / No
Travel & logistics — F / V — Scales with output? Yes / No

Analysis Questions

What percentage of your costs are fixed?
If you needed to cut 20% of your budget, which costs could you realistically reduce?
One surprising insight from this exercise:

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Initiative Prioritisation Matrix

Segment 2 · Cost-to-Impact Analysis

10 min+

Score 3–5 current initiatives on cost, impact, and scalability. Plot them on the decision matrix. Identify what to scale, optimise, maintain, or sunset — and what's stopping you from acting.

Full Exercise

Scoring Guide (1 = low, 5 = high)

Cost: 1 = minimal budget, 5 = major budget consumer
Impact: 1 = minimal mission impact, 5 = transformative results
Scalability: 1 = one-off, 5 = highly replicable model

Strategic Decisions

Invest & Scale — high impact + scalable + acceptable cost
Optimise — high impact but inefficient, improve processes
Maintain — valuable but not scalable, sustain current level
Sunset — low impact or unsustainable, phase out

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Efficiency Audit Quick-Scan

Segment 3 · Operational Efficiency as Strategic Asset

7 min+

Answer 10 diagnostic questions about your organisation's operations. Score your results, identify your top operational drag, and estimate the annual cost of that inefficiency.

Full Exercise

10-Question Diagnostic (Yes / No / Don't know)

Do staff spend more than 10% of time on manual, repetitive tasks?
Do you lack standardised templates or workflows for common tasks?
Does content production regularly miss deadlines due to bottlenecks?
Do team members maintain separate, duplicate files or databases?
Is more than 20% of editorial staff time spent on administrative tasks?
Do you lack automated systems for invoicing, expenses, or payroll?
Does your team regularly reinvent the wheel on similar projects?
Do you lack clear metrics on how long content types take to produce?
Are important decisions delayed because financial data is inaccessible?
Could technology eliminate tasks currently done manually?

Scoring

0–2 Yes answers → Strong operational efficiency
3–5 → Moderate inefficiencies, prioritise top 2 issues
6–8 → Significant drag, urgent systems investment needed
9–10 → Critical operational dysfunction

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Funding Stress Test Simulation

Segment 4 · Preparing for Flexible & Hybrid Funding

10 min+

Your largest funder (40% of budget) just announced a 50% cut effective in 60 days. Work through your immediate response, 90-day adjustments, and the structural changes needed to prevent this from happening again.

Full Exercise

Scenario

Your largest funder provides 40% of your budget. They are cutting that contribution by 50%, effective in 60 days. This is permanent. You must close the gap.

Your Response Plan

Week 1: What gets frozen or postponed immediately?
90 days: Personnel decisions, program changes, emergency fundraising
6 months: What structural changes prevent this vulnerability in future?

Debrief Questions

What would have made this situation more manageable?
What surprised you about the trade-offs you had to consider?
What will you do differently starting next month?

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Translation Exercise

Segment 5 · Linking Editorial Strategy to Financial Reality

5 min+

CFOs translate a financial constraint into editorial terms — no jargon. CEOs translate an editorial priority into specific financial requirements. Partners give each other feedback: did I actually understand you?

Full Exercise

Part 1 — CFO: Translate a financial constraint

Choose one: limited cash flow, budget cuts, restricted funding, or high fixed costs. Explain it in terms an editor would understand — no "liquidity", "overhead ratio", or "burn rate".

Part 2 — CEO: Translate an editorial priority

Choose one: launching a new investigative series, expanding coverage, improving production quality, or increasing publishing frequency. Translate it into specific financial requirements: what resources, at what cost, one-time or ongoing, and what would need to be cut to fund it.

Partner Feedback

Did they understand your explanation? Yes / Mostly / Needed clarification
What would make communication between editorial and finance easier?

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Five Exercises.Real Decisions.

Download all five worksheets

Five Exercises.
Real Decisions.