Data Core · Reporting · Module
What gets reported
The inventory of reports and dashboards, what each is for, and who asked for it — the basis for removing the ones nobody needs.
The idea
How it works
Reporting estates grow by accretion: every request adds something and nothing is ever removed, because removing requires establishing that nobody needs it.
The inventory makes rationalisation possible by recording who asked and why, which converts an unanswerable question into a short conversation.
Working with it
In practice
- 01
List everything that exists
Reports, dashboards, scheduled extracts and the spreadsheet somebody maintains manually.
- 02
Record the requester and the reason
Both age. A report requested for a project that ended is a report that can go.
- 03
Mark what is duplicated
The same numbers presented three ways for three audiences is common and consolidatable.
- 04
Retire on a schedule
An annual pass with a default of removal unless someone objects works better than asking permission.
One level in
The components of what gets reported
A component is something that exists afterwards which did not exist before — a deliverable or a mechanism, not an intention.
An annual retirement pass with a default of removal works better than asking each requester for permission.
The other modules in reporting
Dashboards
How numbers are presented so that a reader can tell what is normal, what is not, and what to do.
LearnDistribution
How reports reach people, in what rhythm, and whether they arrive while still useful.
LearnWhether it is read
Usage measured rather than assumed, and the retirement of what nobody opens.
Learn