Data Core · Reporting · Module
Whether it is read
Usage measured rather than assumed, and the retirement of what nobody opens.
The idea
How it works
Usage is measurable in almost every reporting tool and is almost never looked at. The audit takes an afternoon and consistently finds that most of the estate is unopened.
Retiring unread reports is resisted because someone once asked for them. Asking that person directly is faster than the resistance and usually produces a yes.
Working with it
In practice
- 01
Measure opens per report
By person and by period. The distribution is stark and the finding is immediate.
- 02
Ask what people actually use
Recipients answer honestly when asked directly and rarely volunteer it otherwise.
- 03
Retire with notice, not with permission
Announce removal and let objections surface. Almost none do.
- 04
Track the estate size
A reporting estate that only grows is one nobody is maintaining.
One level in
The components of whether it is read
A component is something that exists afterwards which did not exist before — a deliverable or a mechanism, not an intention.
Announce retirement rather than requesting permission. Almost nobody objects, which is itself the finding.
The other modules in reporting
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.
LearnDashboards
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.
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