Are you spending too much time chasing people for KPI data? Most organisations have multiple locations. If they don’t have multiple locations they almost certainly have a distributed workforce. Often staff are either on-the-road or have been given the option to work at home. This has impacted an organisations ability to gather data effectively and so they have turned to technology for the solution. The ubiquity of the Internet is undeniable. Access through mobile devices now means staff can keep in touch with the ‘workplace’ easily.
However, not all applications have kept up with technology. And in the case of business reporting, one of the most often used tools is woefully lacking. This is, of course, the spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is a wonderful business tool in the right environment, but as a means to track and manage business performance, it just does not hack it. In truth, one could argue that even in a single site location, the spreadsheet has had its day as a business management tool. Where the spreadsheet can claim to excel (no pun intended) in the manipulation of data, it fails miserably in the activity of collection and ownership. Management of spreadsheets as a data collection tool, is just about impossible.
However, when using a centralised software application like Scoreboard, anyone can log in from anywhere and update business metrics. It does not end there though. Applications like Scoreboard also provide sophisticated permissions functions that allow a business metric, more common known as a Key Performance Indicator (KPI), to be allocated to individuals. They can be nominated as ‘Owners’ and/or ‘Updaters’. Suddenly, the people responsible for KPIs become highly visible in a centralised management and reporting system. If they don’t update the KPIs they own, there is an immediate gap in the upward flow of information. Furthermore, the system can automatically send out reminders and alerts if the KPI remains blank.
This level of automation comes as a massive relief, not to mention a huge process improvement, to the people who build monthly reporting packs. They no longer have to spend all of their time chasing people for data and then copying and pasting from multiple spreadsheets. They can concentrate on the high value activity of analysing the data to provide useful information to the management and executive teams who will be making decisions on more accurate input.
If you are spending more time chasing people for KPI data than you are in examining your business results, you need to look at a centralised alternative. Scoreboard is a good starting point.
