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- Approach
From business question to management decision
This is my general approach rather than a fixed process: eight stages, adapted to each business and its data. The dashboard comes late, once the decision, the data and the definitions are settled. Step through the stages below at your own pace.
Watch the system come together
Select a stage to add its piece: the question, the sources, the checks, the transformation layers, the model, the analysis, the reports and finally the decision. Press play if you’d rather watch it run.
What good reporting should do
The standards every report I build is held to.
Business first
Start with the decision, not the dashboard.
Trust the data
Validate definitions, relationships, duplicates and source inconsistencies before presenting numbers.
Exceptions matter
Useful reporting helps identify what needs attention, not just describe what happened.
Automate the repeatable
If someone rebuilds the same report by hand every month, the process probably deserves a system.
See the approach applied
Thirteen dashboards on one connected reporting architecture for an accounting and advisory firm.
Read the case study Independent prototypeWIP Risk MonitorFrom an aging WIP balance to a ranked queue with a reason and an action for every flag.
Read the case study Independent projectHR Management AnalyticsQuestions first, then structure: ten sections built from an open-ended public dataset.
Read the case studyWant to see what this looks like for your reporting?
Tell me what you’re working with. I’ll tell you what I’d look at first.