Many years ago, I was a young CFO of a small company acquired by Fortune 200 companies. Within a few days of sales, I found myself at the company headquarters, so I could understand the operation of big companies.

In the early days of my visit, I found myself in the office of the chief technology officer, who was constantly studying the functions of the new information system. He told me many times that we can provide the manager with any information he needs. ?

Later, I visited the vice president of manufacturing. His desk is full of computer printouts. I said:? That's quite a lot of reports. Will they give you the information you need? ?

Don't die, okay? He said. ? They completely wasted my time. ?

In recent years, my coach and Excel users who consult clients have also encountered similar problems in their reports.

For example, an Excel user told me that he recently sent a thick report, one of which was accidentally printed three times in a row? None of the 200 recipients of the report mentioned duplication.

Another Excel user said that he occasionally put a drop of glue between two pages and then checked the report in the manager's office to see if the pages were separated. Very few. Therefore, managers seldom even read his reports, let alone read them.

If your own Excel report is not as popular as you hope, it is undoubtedly a frustrating problem for you. But to make matters worse, this is a very serious problem for your company.

One of the serious reasons is that your company has spent a lot of money on you and other Excel users. According to Salary.com's data, the average annual salary of Excel users in the United States currently exceeds $57,000. According to this article, money.cnn.com, the payroll tax and benefits paid by your company will increase by about 30% ...... and the total annual expenses will be $75,000.

Of course, it is a problem to waste so much money on unpopular reports. But another problem is much more serious.

Excellent Excel users are subject matter experts (SMEs). They are smart, curious and educated. They are employed to understand the practical significance of company data.

Excellent Excel users are the eyes and ears of its managers. They look at data in an innovative way and look for new problems and opportunities for the company.

Excellent Excel users are those who break into the manager's office and say: I created a new report with the information I know you need to read! ?

However, few commercial Excel users occasionally encourage the discovery of new useful information. On the contrary, companies often waste the brains, energy and education of their Excel users?

Turn them into spreadsheet clerks.

If you want to solve this problem forever, and if you want to become a truly effective information resource for the company, then you must make your Excel report very popular and take the lead.

How is this done?

1. Ask your manager what report they want and why * *

Logically, you should be able to ask your manager what they want their report to be, and then you can give them what they want.

But things are rarely that simple.

This is because few managers know. ...

What data can be used for their reports.

What methods can be used to analyze and display these data?

Which types of Excel reports are easy to create and which types are difficult to create?

In fact, many managers are not sure what reports they will receive at first. Therefore, the best thing they can do is to tell them what they like.

In view of these problems, you need to meet with key management personnel to discuss how to improve their reports. The following are some suggestions from these meetings. ...

First, tell them that your goal is to provide them with as much and the best information as possible in the shortest possible reading time. So, ask them to be as direct as possible. then what

1. Show them some of their current reports and ask them which areas they have read little or never, and why. Then ask them what fields they usually study. Why this information is important to them.

Also ask them what changes they want you to make to these reports. And why.

2. Show them models of small tables and charts, even Excel dashboards, and ask them what information they want to see in similar displays. And why.

3. Summarize your available data sources and ask them what information they want to see from them. And why they need this information.

4. Let them pretend that your ability to create reports for them is unlimited, and then ask them what information they want to see in their ideal world. And why.

5. Create a model report according to the manager's feedback; Get feedback about these models; And then put the modified model into production? Until the reader asks for more changes.

2. Explain performance, not just record it * *

Most Excel reports I have seen look like spreadsheet versions of the reports I saw on the production manager's desk. At that time, managers hated this creepy report, but today, managers hate annoying Excel reports.

Both types of reports tend to display a small amount of data in many narrow columns on the page. Both types seem to be caused by thinking people? We don't know what all these figures actually mean. Created by people. Therefore, we will provide all possible data to managers and let them solve it! ?

It is not your manager's job to turn a lot of data into useful insights; As an Excel user, this is your job.

So, if you want managers to be interested in reading Excel reports, please provide them with reports so that your managers can read them quickly and easily understand their performance.

Should your manager spend time solving problems, developing opportunities and questioning your results? Don't study the Excel report stack, and don't blindly browse gigabytes of data in the business intelligence system.

3. Includes charts with trends * *

Most managers like to see trends in performance reports. Trends show managers how the company has reached its current position and provide hints on future performance.

Charts make trends clear. Small charts (usually no wider than newspaper columns) make them easy to compare with other small charts.

Similarly, small tables can show that data is distilled into some facts that are important to readers. For example, you can use a small table to display the ten worst performers or the ten worst performers, or the key facts sorted by the most interesting columns.

Don't force readers to compare the facts on different pages of the report ideologically. Summarize these key facts in a small table. When you do this, your report will be more popular.

However, if you use micro fonts to reduce the table, the table will not be popular. You may be able to read font 8 comfortably, but your boss and her boss may not be able to read it.

4. Always test * *

Ask your manager why you want to modify the report, which will give you a better understanding of their information needs. When considering these requirements, you may think of new reports and analyses that will interest your audience.

When you provide them with a new report or analysis, please explain that this is a test and attach information they think is useful. When the manager gives you feedback on your test report, why do they think their work style and what they like are good for them?

5. Reduce reporting time and error rate * *

This is the most important step. If you can't reduce the time to create a new report in each period, you won't have time to try other methods to improve the report. Moreover, your Excel report will continue to be the expense of large companies, and its value will be less than its due value.

In addition, of course, if your report often makes mistakes, then your readers will not believe it? No matter how interesting and attractive your report is.

The best strategy to reduce the reporting time and error rate is to store the source data in a table, in which formulas can be summarized and error checked conveniently. My coaches and consulting clients are now learning these technologies. I'm taking a training course focusing on this strategy.

To sum up ... * *

Everyone will benefit from your quick response to reports and feedback from managers and other readers.

Your company will benefit from it, because you will provide managers and other responsible persons with the information they need so that they can finish their work more effectively.

Your manager will benefit from it, because you can make them find new insights in company data faster and easier.

You will benefit from it, because you will be the first choice for their information needs, and you will know these needs better than anyone in the company.

If you can suggest more ways to make the report popular, or need help to realize these ideas, please leave me a message.