Single Source of Truth Reporting

Too much reporting can be a symptom of underlying issues, including 1) no one trusts the data, 2) no one trusts how the data is being aggregated or processed, 3) there’s conflicting reporting showing different results, and 4) the meaning of the data is obfuscated by missing information about data filtering and logic. Getting to a point where there is a single source of truth for each KPI takes a lot of effort, organization, and stakeholder alignment. Here are some rules I like to adhere to when it comes to reporting:

1. Meet with stakeholders early and often, set agendas for meetings, decide on action items, and iterate with a pre-defined cadence
2. Group and define all KPIs; assign priorities, stakeholders, and directly responsible individuals (DRIs) for each
3. Identify which KPIs are upstream/downstream, leading/lagging
4. Identify KPIs that are further upstream or downstream that need to be created; coordinate with the right teams to create those KPIs
5. If you have 10 KPIs, always think about the “11th KPI” — the KPI that arises from thinking critically about the existing data and creating a new metric that can add layers of additional insight to your analyses. You might find out that out of the list of 10 KPIs, three are redundant when you have the “11th KPI”
6. KPIs are constantly shuffling in priority; set alerts and subscriptions so you can keep tabs on which KPIs are relevant and which are dormant and remaining stable