Build a reporting system

Summary SDs make a strong reporting system. With push reporting, a recurring task makes sure a report is written and reaches the people who need it, instead of relying on them to go and look. Start an SD from the PaT Report Template, with its To Do, Weekly and Monthly sections, shape it to your business, then automate it with a recurring task for the report's writer. The tips at the end: keep the structure simple at first, avoid copying data between reports, and let different people fill in their own sections of the same SD.

Steps

Introduction. An SD's structure can hold several reporting periods, different reporting needs and a full history of the reports, all in one document. That makes a highly efficient reporting platform, beyond most traditional reporting options. A brilliant report system often separates a good manager from a great one: they get better information, so they make better decisions.

Push reporting. Because task management is built into SDs, reporting can be automated as "push reporting": the information you need is delivered to you, rather than you having to go and get it. Recurring PaT tasks automate creating the report, manage non-compliance, escalate issues to supervisors and recalculate task integrity. It works like a personal assistant, and saves a lot of time and effort over the year.

Why it matters. Push reporting gets critical data to the people who need it, exactly when they need it. It avoids the risks of "pull reporting", which depends on people remembering to go and get information, and can lead to delays or missed insights. PaT-based reporting systems consistently provide essential business insights, for the best performance of the report writer, the recipient and the business as a whole.

The PaT Report Template. PaT comes with a number of handy SD templates to save you time. The PaT Report Template is a great start for a report where you need a high-level overview every week and a deep dive every month.

Creating the report SD

Step 1

Open the PaT menu: click the round + button at the bottom centre of the screen. A fan of round icons opens above it.

Step 2

Click the SD icon, with crosses and circles on it, on the left of the fan, just above the tick-box icon. The Create an SD box opens in the middle of the screen.

Step 3

In SD Name, type a name for the new SD.

Step 4

Click the Template drop-down list under it, which shows No Template.

Step 5

Select PaT Report Template, then click Submit at the bottom left of the box. The new SD opens, built from the template.

Step 6

The template is divided into three main sections: To Do, Weekly and Monthly. Nested under Weekly and Monthly are indented headers: suggestions you can edit to suit your business. To tidy the SD and make more room on the screen, first hide the members list: click the diagonal arrow (pointing both ways), just right of the printer icon, near the right end of the row with the search box.

Step 7

Next, collapse the SD so only the parent-level section headers show: click the minus button at the far left of the top section header, To Do.

Step 8

Only To Do, Weekly and Monthly now show. The idea of the template is a weekly check-in on progress and, every month, a deeper dive into the numbers. To expand the Weekly section, click the down arrow at the far left of its row.

Shaping and automating the report

Step 9

Apply your own thinking to the structure you need. Several suggested section headers for your subordinate to report on are already entered. Use them as they are, change them, delete them, or replace them with reporting categories that better suit what you need to see from your business unit.

Note. The weekly report is a quick sense check, not a deep dive. It gives a quick sense of how the business unit is performing, with the report writer pushing updates to the report reader. If more information is needed, start a chat next to the item being reported on. You can also adjust the level of detail, add a Daily Reporting section, or change the template to suit your reporting needs: it is only a guide.

Step 10

Don't worry about perfecting the structure: it will likely evolve over time. Once it captures the information needed to tell whether the business unit is on track, automate the report with a recurring task: drag and drop a task element into the SD, using the Task icon (a tick in a box, the fourth of the purple buttons at the top of the SD), and assign the task to the person responsible for completing the report.

Note. Learning to manage and use the report well, as both its writer and its reader, is just as important. The Using SDs as a report or meeting minutes app module covers it. Mastering both will greatly improve your report management skills and give you a competitive edge as a manager. Time invested now in advanced reporting in PaT saves considerable stress and hours later, resolving issues that this kind of reporting prevents.

Reporting tips

Reporting tip 1 of 2. A key management principle is to minimise data duplication. Instead of a reporting system that needs information copied by hand into a master report, aim to create a linked reporting ecosystem. PaT SDs have a security feature that lets SDs be embedded within each other, while you control who sees what. You can then design a reporting structure that connects every part of the business and feeds into a single Department, Business Unit or Leadership Reporting SD, while managing access. Understanding the security feature is crucial, as it is what makes this powerful, advanced reporting framework possible.

Reporting tip 2 of 2. Whenever possible, and as long as the data is not sensitive, build SD reports where different people fill in different sections of the same SD. For example, instead of a warehouse manager reporting daily on key dispatch performance figures for three dispatches, build one SD report with a section for each dispatch. Assign recurring tasks to each dispatch manager to fill in their own section, as they have the relevant information. This pushes data collection back to where the data comes from, making it the dispatch managers' responsibility. It saves the warehouse manager extra work and brings the information together automatically. It also makes it easier for report readers to compare data across sections, for a more efficient reporting process.