Cliche #2 - Reports and Data Gathering

Frank's Management Cliche #2

"Any Report or Data Gathering that does not lead to a decision is a waste of time."

Explanation:

Every manager that takes over a new position finds that there are many reports that will be delivered to him/her that are already in existence.  It is someone's job to create these reports and submit them to management for review.  Most of these reports are a waste of time for both the creator and managers.  Some managers are reluctant to stop these reports because there may be something in them that they feel they should know.  They don't know what it is, but to question the reason for the reports opens them up to criticism or loss of credibility.  I say stop all reports and information gathering that is not leading to a decision.  That decision may be to continue the current course, or to do nothing, but it is a conscious decision based on what is in the data.  Sometimes information is valuable, or critical, for a short period of time but after the need passes the report keeps getting generated and distributed.

This is not to suggest that all standard reports are a waste of time.  Productivity reports, inventory reports, sales reports by customer/region/sales person, gross margin reports by product, etc. may need to be constantly reviewed to make routine and necessary adjustments.

A healthy organization will be constantly gathering information on the business to make better decisions.  There will be a continuous stream of new reports and a equal stream of killed reports that are no longer useful for making decisions.

By far the best type of report is one that is needed by several people to do their jobs.  The information is needed to make decisions on a daily, hourly basis.  For instance, a report that shows products that are on hand that satisfies a current or past due order would be critical for the shipping department to maintain customer satisfaction.  As products are being completed, it would be very useful to know which ones should go on the inventory shelf and which ones should be packed and shipped to a customer.  The way for a manager to know that they have produced a good report is when their group demands it, or is lost without it.

Look at every report you receive, or you generate yourself and ask if it is leading to a decision, and how important is that decision.  The best thing to do is err on the side of getting rid of as many reports as possible.  Think about what other information is needed and determine if there is a way to get it without generating a report. 

It is always a good idea to automate any routinely recurring report so that no one has to collate the data every time it is needed.  Don't think, however, that because a report is automated that it is not harmful to just keep producing it.  Automated reports tend to create noise in an organization that gets in the way of efficient decision making.  It doesn't matter how much work went into generating a report that has lost its value.  Kill it.