Management tends to receive a load of information about different topics and from different sources. Have you ever thought that what information is really valuable for you? Especially in challenging times like today, companies should concentrate on must- know, business critical information instead of nice-to-know trivia – finally.
So the key question is that “What differs must- know from nice-to-know information?” I think there is a one simple test that can be used here: For each report or information, think what are the decisions you have done or should have done based on the received information? A decision doesn’t mean anything radical – a decision can be “This is going exactly as we want. Keep the business model as it is!” “Bear in mind – must-have information is information you need for decision making; nice-to-have information is you do not need regularly.”
Just for a start, take a weekly report, monthly report, or any information you receive regularly and in your mind, go through these questions:
– What are the decisions I have made or need to make based on the received information?
– Can I manage my responsibilities efficiently if I wouldn’t have this information?
If you find any information that you don’t use for decision making, consider if you should get the rid of that and use your valuable time for analyzing the figures that can really have an impact on your business.
Or alternatively use 5 minutes at the end of the month to think about “What information should I have had to do things better?”, or based on the current knowledge, “What information is business critical for me in the future?”
In Bilot’s projects, we have seen many companies broadcasting a load of information to one or several persons around the organization because “This is what we have always done” or because “It’s nice to know that …” Instead, they should consider carefully, what is the business where they are in now and in the future, what are the processes they perform in their business, and what are the decisions they cannot avoid making daily, weekly and monthly to keep their processes and business running – and based on what information those decisions should be based on?
