How often have you wondered why, when you tried to change a part of your business it didn’t have the full impact you expected? Maybe it was a new revised process or new organisation structure or an improved manufacture operation. If business improvement is about anything it’s about using data to change or progress. Every business has access to so much information and data but this can be a double edged sword. On the one hand having the data is good because it can tell you so much about your business, on the other its only useful if you collect it properly and have the wherewithal to do something with it.
If you are considering any kind of change programme in your business, there are several key questions you should ask and probably the biggest and most important is about the availability and use of data.
Why do you need it? Is it improving your understanding of the business or does it tell you what you already know.
Who will collate it, analyse it? Is the whole process automated? If not then it’s extremely unlikely you have people sitting around doing nothing just waiting to be asked to collect the data. They are likely to be busy doing other roles. How will they accommodate this task, will they have to give up other tasks. What importance do you place on its collation?
What will you do with it? At the risk of stating the obvious there is no point having the data if you are not going to do something with it. At this point the data has become information and the value of information is the ability to assimilate it and change business activity.
It’s likely the data will lead to change, even if its slight modification to process. Who will oversee any changes or corrective action? Do they have the authority to implement change programmes. How will the change be communicated, managed, and assessed.
Following a simple structure which considers the data and the full impact of any change will give you the best chance of long term success.
If this article has interested you and you’d like to discuss what data-driven change may mean for your business please contact us.