Whose data is this anyway?

You may think as you prepare your spreadsheets and reports that you are doing a fantastic job…….we all do….8-)

Sit back though and imagine a scenario where the data is being viewed by someone that has never seen it before……

I have seen confusion in manufacturing schedules where the product is grouped by equipment type, instead of manufacturing start/required finish dates where the only thing needed was to data sort the sheet by date and not equipment type.

I have heard explanations by the authors which generally take the form of something like “It’s obvious – if you just take a look at cell Z123 that’s exactly what I was asking for”

Same with reports – raw data with no summary anywhere to be seen.

Step back and think about that – a scenario where your spreadsheet or report is being viewed by someone who has no prior experience of the project or the history of events.

This can take a number of forms. In the case of a spreadsheet, maybe have a number of tabs one by product – with another sheet by delivery start date in the case of a manufacturing schedule. It could include several tabs for the historic revisions as long as this is clearly identified to avoid a third party working from the  wrong tab – and yes I have seen that happen too. An instruction sheet on the front of the spreadsheet will help in the case of interactive tabs along with a history revision sheet.

On reports a summary sheet or paragraph will help third parties to understand the history so that they can understand quickly the current project status.

Another thing – when sending out spreadsheets to vendors as email attachments on interactive sheets like schedules – make sure that you do a copy – paste special on formats and data for interactive spreadsheets. Otherwise the spreadsheets will lose all of their reference cells and your goods may end up turning up in 2012………..

My point is that we all tend to think of these things as our data – it is actually information in a form that outlines the tactical stepping stones of a corporate strategic plan that is designed to make the company successful.

The data belongs to the company…Lets make sure that we remember that when we create them – step back and imagine that you are looking at the document for the first time . There is enough chaos in the World – lets make sure that we do not inadvertently add to it!

John Burke

John@RoHSUSA.com