The Not-So-Dreaded Annual Review: A Checklist for Data Success

At the beginning of every year, I like to take inventory of everything we are doing with our workforce-generated data. Below is a checklist and underlying questions I think everyone who relies on data-driven decision-making should review on an annual basis. Hopefully you stuck to your data resolutions last year and are already in good shape! I’m looking at my world on the IT services side (specifically customer service and professional services) but I feel much of this applies to almost any area.

• Review your core metrics
  • Are you measuring the right things?Talk to your business partners to see if they feel they have visibility into their strengths and pain points.
  • Can you see progress or lack of progress?If not, you are not measuring the right things.
  • Are you aligned with industry best practices or setting new ones? Reach out to your industry associations for help here (for EMC Global Services, an example is TSIA).
• Review your data definitions
  • Has anything changed in your organizational structure? I would be surprised if the answer is no. Organizational changes can really throw your data for a whirl. Sometimes you can build off data history, and sometimes you just “fix forward.”
  • Has anything changed in your systems? And if you haven’t made any system changes that could potentially improve your view into the business – why not???  We are constantly challenging the data to find process, reporting and systems improvements.
• Review your data lifecycle
  • Do I understand all the steps my data goes through? Map out a high-level flow of your data and identify potential areas of risk.
  • Does the data get translated from one step to another? A simple currency conversion mismatch can throw off your analysis big time.
  • Can I measure all the major touch points of the lifecycle? Probably not – there is always room get more or better data. What are you doing to improve?
• Interview your data creators
  • Do I understand the data creation process? Look over the shoulder of a person who creates the data to see their real-world process, ask them about their methods, and identify potential areas of improved communication or education.
  • How much risk is there due to process? If the process is manually intensive, with lots of steps and options subject to interpretation, this is the start of “garbage in, garbage out.”
• Recap with your executive staff 
  • What are the top items executives are concerned about? Make sure you have visibility into these areas and that they translate to the workforce (managers and their teams).

I hope you found these recommendations useful, and would love to hear if you have any other items on your annual review checklist.