It is not unusual for a company to have all their departments run reports on various measurements they are responsible for. And week after week, month after month, the reports are run, submitted to the appropriate person...then what?
It may be difficult to believe that a company can have too much data. However, when data is not organized and analyzed in a systematic way, it does not take long for data collection to become so massive that it is not easy to digest or analyze all of it.
How does an organization get their arms around their data to use it to their advantage?
How does an organization get their arms around their data to use it to their advantage?
Are you collecting the correct data?
After you determine your goals, decide if the data you are collecting is the right data. Stop collecting data that is not used immediately, otherwise it is just busy work, which creates inefficiencies. Ask yourself how you know the data you are collecting is the right data.
Make necessary changes to ensure the right people are reporting on the right data at the right intervals.
What are your goals?
Why do you want to collect information that your departments are reporting on? Determine the following:
*Is there a specific problem you are trying to resolve?
*Is your house already in order and you are trying to pro-actively prevent problems?
*Are you focusing on process improvement?
*Are you focusing on quality?
*Are you focusing on customer service?
*Do you have concerns about time management of employees?
*Does output not justify the overtime your company is paying out?
*Others?
Spreadsheets are boring.
Let's face it, it takes a rare person to get excited about analyzing spreadsheets. Fortunately, we have those rare people around. Unfortunately, those usually are not the same people that need to implement change.
Putting your data on spreadsheets is a good start, but cannot be the end point. Do not expect directors of your organization to make consistent decisions based on data presented in a spreadsheet format.
Do you really need the data you are already collecting?
The first thing your company should do is determine if changes can be made with information you already know. Is customer service an issue? If it is, do you need more data to prove that, or should you just work on fixing it? Is production slow? Are you running out of parts? Are employees showing up late or playing time clock games that Human Resources is having a hard time keeping up on?
If so, your company should focus fixing those problems before collecting and analyzing even more information that will ultimately create more to do.
Share at all levels.
All levels of your company should have the information that shows your company goals and progress in meeting these goals. It is not possible to meet goals unless every employee is on board with the goals.
Presentation is important.
Experiment with various formats in which to present your statistical data. Try charts or graphs, a dashboard format, a balanced scorecard format and other ways to present the information. Your audience must understand what the goals are and where you are in meeting the goals. The information should be quick and easy to understand and everyone should be able to interpret it with the same conclusion.
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