Performance Management – Garbage In, Garbage Out

Management information needs to be timely, relevant, clear and reliable.

Relevant and clear comes from the design of what information is presented in what way. Timely comes from ensuring that the information process is efficient and cost-effective.

But none of this is worth anything unless the information is reliable. Garbage in produces garbage out. Reliable information requires events to be recorded and transactions to be processed as accurately as practical.

In many cases information is reliant on analysis by department, region, product type or some other grouping.

eProcurement systems can make purchasing more efficient. They can also help to ensure costs are recorded against the correct department.

On the sales side, analysis is done typically in one of two ways:

• Analysis codes against customers, products etc are pulled into each transaction, where they can perhaps be manually adjusted, or are otherwise linked when a report is run
• Analysis codes are input to the system when each transaction is processed

In either case it is important that analysis data is entered accurately if reports that are reliant on it are to be in any way accurate. Fields left blank are an obvious problem, and it helps if values are validated, perhaps from a drop-down list. But this also means choosing an appropriate value from this list.

This may not always be possible – for example, the transaction is urgent and the information may not be to hand. If this is a common issue, it may be sensible to include “Unknown” as a value to choose rather than guessing. Such transactions can then be reviewed and a more appropriate value chosen.

In any case it is worth reviewing and correcting analysis codes before information is passed to people who will make decisions based on that information.

Setting up a reliable management information system therefore needs careful thought and design.

If you’d like to discuss this further, do ring me on 01628 632914 or send me an email.

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