Recently I wrote a paper called “How to Use Reporting to Grow and Manage a Business”. It has a powerful message and one that needs to get out there more. So, I want to mention some of the key points of the paper and direct you to a link where you can download and read the full story.
Reporting can empower an organization to make smarter, more informed decisions. Reporting can reveal, reward and punish behavior. Reporting can stir positive competition and motivate constructive efforts. Simply put, reporting can help you to succeed. With all the good things reporting can do, you’d expect there to be a lot more of it in today’s database-driven world!
I’m not taking anything away from gut instinct. Yet, as I see it, reporting is extremely under used. There are a number of reasons for this:
- Managers don’t know how to use reports and what to report on
- Managers lack the abilities and resources to design and write reports
- The data does exist to report on, so no one writes the report, so no one collects the data, and you end up with a kind of circular problem which only perpetuates both problems.
Like anything that’s not getting done and needs to, the solution begins by recognizing there is a problem. Just recognizing the need for better reporting is a big move in the right direction! From there, with some investment of time and resources, this is certainly one area of your business where you can expect meaningful improvements in a relatively short amount of time. Over time, you can build a portfolio of valuable reports that help all areas and aspects of your organization.
Looking for a place to start? Why don’t you start by reading my article “How to Use Reporting to Grow and Manage a Business”. After that, I invite you to take another step … if you’d like, give me a call and let’s talk about your organization’s reporting needs!
In addition, as a GoldMine user, I highly recommend you entertain a personal demonstration of the following popular report writing solutions for GoldMine: MasterMine, Stonefield Query and Crystal Reports. And, don’t overlook this lesser known tool for creating real-time HTML reports that can be viewed in the GM+Views window – DbNetGrid. Contact First Direct Corp. for further information or to arrange a personal demonstration.
