What is Data?

Data is information. It comes in many forms and from different sources, but ultimately it is a summary of business activity and performance.

Why do we need it?

Data’s main purpose is to help us make informed business decisions. Without quality data to consider, decision making becomes more subjective, which can lead to poor choices and outcomes. Understanding data is key to ensuring business profitability.

But managing data in businesses can be problematic and overwhelming. Teams go missing for weeks producing reports and analysing trends. Only to find by the time they report on the history, they are ready to report the next month. The data then becomes useless, as it isn’t timely enough. It isn’t serving it’s purpose.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

5 Quick Tips to Manage Data for Reporting

How do we make our data work for us? Let’s look at some simple ways to better manage data for reporting for your business.

System – it’s easy to be distracted by poor systems and processes. But don’t be, when analysing focus on the numbers. If the systems to get to them are poor, improve them – but that is a seperate exercise.

Accuracy – is the data accurate? Update to date? Reported properly? Do the people preparing the data understand why?

Process – ensure there is a consistent process to prepare the data. It should be gathered and summarised in the same way, each time.

Useful Metrics – don’t report for the sake of it. Consider, is it useful? Are we looking at areas that will help us make informed decisions and grow the business? Or are we caught up in things that are easy to measure but serve no real purpose?

Communicate – are all parties who need this information, receiving it? Don’t keep findings locked away from team members who can use the information to do their jobs better.

These may seem like simple areas you can focus on, which is true – but it’s a good starting point. Each area can be deep dived on to uncover more truths and understand your business, and your processes even further.