- Every progressive company must have a defined set of reports which are regularly generated and checked within the company.
- The reports must be designed in a way so that the status of various activities or projects and any exceptions must be highlighted quickly.
- The nature of the information contained in the report must decide the frequency of the report (i.e. daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly etc.).
- About reporting, the company must decide the following:
- The format of the report (The details, the layout etc.)
- The medium through which it will be circulated (e.g. paper, email, SMS, Web site, audio, video etc.)
- The frequency of the report (Daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly etc.)
- The persons who will prepare and verify the report
- The persons who will receive and review the report
- The report must come on time and it must be checked also within a specified time. Because of the ever-changing dynamics of business, very old reports lose meaning, most of the times, unless they represent some historical summaries which are used to derive some learning.
- The business leaders must check the reports coming to them regularly. Similarly, the managers down the line also must be encouraged and expected to do the same. If reports are not checked, people’s enthusiasm to prepare them may reduce gradually.
- The accuracy of the reports must be ensured. A report with errors is meaningless and not credible.
If the company has Enterprise Software Systems (like ERP/CRM/SCM/HRIS etc.) then a lot of regular reports will be always available within such a system at the click of a button on the screen. In such cases, the company must have robust report-checking practices and culture in place.
(Expert advice to GROW your business wherever you are, whenever you want.
SMEBusinessGuide.com… https://goo.gl/E3pfoQ)
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