As we’ve previously discussed, many organizations waste a substantial amount of time on reporting.
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For example, managers spend 50% of their time writing reports. Managers and others in the organization, of course, need to be kept up to date with the goings on of their departments, but in many cases, reports are created that either are poorly implemented or simply outlive their usefulness—if such usefulness existed in the first place.
In our previous post on this topic, we offered some tips for identifying reports that could be discontinued entirely. However, there may be many reports in your organization that could be valuable if they are updated. Here, we’ll talk about some strategies to do just that.
Clean House
Our last post talked about determining which reports are entirely unnecessary. We won’t repeat that discussion here, but we encourage readers to review that post. A great first step: Start by whittling down the universe of reports by getting rid of what is not needed at all.
Identify the Audience of Each Report
For the reports that pass the cut, determine who the intended and actual audiences are, as these may be different. For example, a report on operational inefficiencies originally created for operations managers may be consumed by the finance and accounting teams, as well.
Get Input from These Audiences
Ultimately, the true gauge of the value of a report needs to come from the people utilizing it. This, of course, excludes certain reports required by laws or regulations. Those are beyond the scope of this discussion. But, for those reports purely for internal consumption, getting feedback from users can be insightful.
Ask the people reading them or the people who should be reading them some questions: How do they use these reports? What do they like about the current format and process? What don’t they like? What suggestions do they have for improvement?
The last question is particularly important, and those being asked for improvement suggestions should be reminded that if they don’t like something or don’t find it useful, this is their chance to help make changes.
Review General Best Practices
In addition to input from specific teams or individuals, consider some general best practices when updating reports. Think of things like clarity, efficiency, and data collection and organization.
Through this and our previous posts on this topic, we don’t intend to give the impression that reporting is a waste of time—quite the contrary. Businesses and organizations, in general, thrive on information to make efficient and informed decisions.
But sometimes, we develop a morass of useless or ineffective reports. Taking the time to review and eliminate or revamp them can boost the morale of your employees and make your organization more efficient overall.