Report Automation & Analytics Academy

What’s Inside
Report Automation & Analytics Academy^TM

Module 01
Map out your Current State

Here is the thing, after 20+ years of doing this, I know your reporting and Analytics troubles are not an IT or Software issue. I used to think that at one point. The truth is your troubles are a systems issue. Something around how you collect, store, retrieve and utilize data is leading you to repeat the same report generation routine, weekly, monthly, quarterly ... you get it.

We will start setting you up for success by fully mapping where you are right now: You need to decide what part of your reporting and analytic routine you want to automate, identify and collate all the current charts, tables analysis, data sources, the typical ad-hoc report requests you get from stakeholders. You will also collate all the metrics you use to evaluate performance and those you would just love to have access to To achieve clarity; you will be putting all cards on the table so we can begin to tease out those major bottlenecks standing in your way.

Lessons covered

• Understanding your two Data Systems
• Selecting your Report Automation Project
• Managing Data Sources and Data Owners
• Collating all your current Reports
• Identifying your Reporting Fields
• A Glossary of Metrics and Measures
• Auditing & Scoring your current state
• Completing your Mapping Phase

Module 02
Organise your Data

Getting overwhelmed by the volume and diversity of your reporting and analytics? Mapping all your charts, tables and analytics as we did in Module 1 can be intimidating. How do I automate all this, you ask! Patience, my friend, this next stage in the process is where you start getting organised.

No doubt, you have a lot of reports to automate, some standard, some newly created. This module introduces a 3-Step Framework called ARC; this framework works with tools to guide you in understanding the relationships between your data and reports and their analytic value.

This tool will give you clarity, enable you to understand the structure of your current reports, see patterns that lead to the creation of even more insightful information about your business and give you the confidence to question prior assumptions about your data. 

Why are these two reports saying the same thing? What value does this report bring to the table? What time do I save by eliminating duplicated reports? Can we create a new comparison metric using these values? When you can see all your reports under one lens, these will bring up questions and value statements, which we will explore in this module.

Lessons covered:

• Introducing the ARC Framework
• Identifying your core metrics
• Defining your report Relationships
• Your Glossary of Computations
• Comparisons and the Why of your reports
• Getting organised with a naming convention
• Documentation with the ARC Tool
• Completing your Organise Phase

Module 03
Design the Data Model

Have you ever repurposed an existing Excel Report for a new one? You collate the new data, do some work on it, then feed the outputs into your nicely laid out template. You do this so many times it has become second nature. The problem is repetitively generating Excel reports is a time waster and you need your life back.

All your report generation knowledge is about to be automated in this module. Here is where your hard work in "getting organised" pays off. You will implement a data model design that connects to all your data silos and get each data source to talk to each other allowing you to automate manual Excel report mashups that you are used to.

Just like every building follows design plans laid out by the Architect,  your report automation and analytics journey needs a custom design that works for you. You will dawn your Architect hat and use what you know about your reporting needs to design the system that automates just about any report you would ever want to create from your current data sources. Yes, you get to design the system that will free you from the routine and open up amazing new data insights that were hidden till now.

Lessons covered:

• The limitations of your Flat File Design
• The only numbers that matter
• The power of your 4W's
• Unifying your Labels across the board
• Enhancing the Analytic Power of your Design
• Key Metrics and your Data Model Design
• Designing for Benchmarks and Comparisons
• Completing the Design Phase

Module 04
Execute your Design

For every Architect, there is always an Engineer who translates the design to those beautifully constructed buildings we love to take pictures of. In the last module, you got to play the part of the Architect; in this module, you will become the Engineer by following the steps to execute the design using the tools you already have.

The Steps to execute can be applied to a host of software, Excel Power BI, Qlik. As we always say, your reporting woes are not a software issue but a systems issue and now that you have built your system, the Execution of your system design is just the fun part of seeing all your hard work to this point coming to life!!

Lessons covered:

• Reviewing your Data Model Design
• Identifying your best Tools for the Job
• Tips on managing Spreadsheets
• How to connect your Fact Table
• How to connect to your 4Ws
• Executing your Data Model Design
• A word on Data Types
• Automating your Standard Reports
• Completing the Execution Phase

Module 05
Storytelling with SUCCESS

How often have you pondered selecting just the right visual for your needs? Your audience expects you to share succinct reports that say what happened, with analytics explaining why it happened and guidance on what actions need to be taken. Currently, you do spend loads of time gathering, preparing and analysing the data before beginning brainstorming on how best to tell the story, which you eventually tell through a presentation in PowerPoint or Keynote.

We have solved the first part of this problem by automating the process of getting the correct data whenever you need it with a few clicks. Great!, but the power of your new system only shines through when you can consistently translate those numbers into more efficient and effective reports and dashboards to significantly improve business communications in your department.

How do you produce highly effective visualisations? This module will share a framework that does just that. You will go through a logically set of steps to understand the secrets of communicating your business data consistently and effectively.  

At the end of this module, you will stand by these words by Edward Tufte to tell better stories consistently. "Graphical excellence is that which gives to the viewer the greatest number of ideas in the shortest time with the least ink in the smallest space".

Lessons covered:

• Getting to the Story in your Data
• Storytelling and the SUCCESS Framework
• Crafting a Language for your reports
• How to Identify the right visuals
• Harnessing the Power of Comparisons
• Constructing your Story
• How to Present your Story
• Completing the Story Phase

Module 06
Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Analytics

We are in the age of data, and our machines are getting smarter daily. Wouldn't it be great to have an automated system constantly looking for patterns in your data? The great news is with your model built using our framework; you can easily leverage the AI tools built into your software of choice, all for free.

I get a buzz when I see recognisable patterns in my data because I know this insight may either lead to some efficiency gain that will then lead to improved financial and/or operational performance. This Module gives you the tools and techniques needed to perform more advanced analytics that leverages Artificial Intelligence.

Don't worry, you do not need to become a data scientist; the tools you already have will do all the data science work in the background, you just need to learn how to make it work with your new System, and this is what we teach you in this Module. Of course, you must have done all the hard work in the previous modules as each module builds on the other, a step-by-step process as promised.

Lessons covered

• Extracting some basic statistics from your data
• Recognising Patterns in your data
• Separating the Signal from the Noise in your reports
• Using AI to get to the Signals
• Optimizing your data model for Analytics
• Advanced-Data Storytelling with natural language narratives
• Tips for improving productivity with AI features
• Completing the AI & Analytics Phase

Module 07
Sharing your Reporting and Analytics

At the end of the day, we create reports for others to consume and, in the process, we hope they get the message we meant to convey in the report. Sometimes you have multiple reporting lines and each user has slight differences in reporting needs. Managing multiple reports for multiple users may quickly become a problem.

In this module, we give you the general best practices to follow for sharing and collaborating with your colleagues. In your tech library, which is part of the course, we include some tutorials on how to implement these concepts using the most common tools.

You have come full circle, you started by knowing where you are right now mapping your current state, then you got organized, then designed and executed a system that is super tailored to your needs. You then learnt new ways to tell your stories and even how to leverage artificial intelligence and all these with tools and software you already have. Finally, you have also automated the sharing of the outcomes of this system you built with your colleagues. Well Done!

Lessons covered:

• Defining your varied audiences' needs
• Identifying the sharing method that works for you
• User Interface and Device Considerations
• Security considerations
• Deployment considerations
• Best practice considerations
• Completing the Sharing & Collaboration Phase