Integration issues and manual work are strongly related topics that keep cropping up among mid-market businesses. This recent story will resonate regardless of the sector you’re in. (The client prefers to remain anonymous, but they didn’t mind me sharing the broad outlines.)
The CEO of a business poised for growth was finding it impossible to move forward because different directors disagreed on the facts. Different departments presented their own reports, and the data was telling inconsistent stories.
Too much time was spent arguing – which caused distrust, reinforced departmental boundaries, and created manual reconciliation work. The Board was finding it impossible to make informed decisions or even to know what to believe.
Our fractional CIO, however, quickly grasped the issue – each manager trusted his or her own systems and spreadsheets. There was no single source of truth for everyone to draw upon. Everyone insisted their reports were correct, and the mistakes were in everyone else’s reports!
A model had to be created – with support from the leaders – to shared information and cross-company processes. Systems and data could no longer reflect departmental boundaries, and every manager had to draw upon common data for any reporting.
This took a bit of time, of course, and required changes in the processes, technology, and the company culture. But the end result is reporting the Board can trust, reports that empower managers to make decisions within defined boundaries, and increased cross-company cooperation. It also freed up the Excel-wranglers to spend their time on things that matter to customers!
And the business is able to move forwards with AI initiatives with a clear eye on ROI. No more throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. The entire business is more prepared for innovation and growth.
If any of this sounds familiar, I invite you to connect with us for a no-pressure chat. And speaking of innovation and growth, our CEO masterclass: growth and innovation in practice is scheduled for 17 July at 12:30 UK time.
Watch your inbox for the invite; we’d love to see you there.
Best regards,
Graeme