Twitter has become a reliable (dare I say “go-to?) source for me to catch up on current trends, comments and insights from industry leaders in the eDiscovery and Privacy arenas that I work in…when I’m not enjoying baseball and travel banter with especially-enjoyable contacts, that is! And that is what brings me to this rather “off-topic” topic about management reports, from a well-stated tweet from someone titled just “Dr.” @chao_mbogho. She advised managers to utilize report templates with guidelines to help staff better understand what’s expected to be included in those reports. I agree and support her suggestions, which got me thinking what makes reports “work”, and what helps keep staff focused on providing beneficial information.

The number and types of reports are probably uncountable, and range from direct output from databases and spreadsheets to summaries of mechanical output, which are pretty static and predictable, to users’ periodic activity reports which can be highly variable. These user reports are what I’m referencing here…the exact type that ‘Dr.’ is talking about. Too often, users are told to “tell me what you did last week” or some other time frame, or to summarize output of some sort that is not necessarily measured by definable metrics. So the ball lands in their court, with predictable results – stated productivity will be high, the tasks that the user attacked will be monumental, and the grass is ever-greening. With no clear guidelines and no objectives or goals against which to measure…and critically, no feedback, why would any manager not expect something like this: “I did pretty well last week, could have been better but the NCAA tourney started and I was busy setting up betting charts and figuring out my picks; then Julie had a going-away party, so Bob didn’t give me his stat report. But next week will be great!” Seems like there might be room for improvement, and not just in attitude.

I propose that managers first determine for themselves exactly what kinds of reports are really important for ongoing success for their team. What does the manager’s superior expect to hear about work progress or status; what report(s) will indicate problems to be addressed sooner rather than later; and what information will assist the manager in gauging team productivity, as individuals and as a group? Eliminate the “make-work”, mostly useless reports that are too often intended to reflect how busy everyone is, without saying anything of value. We have all seen them – the printouts that go into ever-growing file folders or quickly-forgotten e-folders, never to see the light of day…perhaps never read in the first place, and identified by the only criteria that matters – the date it was written or received.

Once the manager has decided the overall goals and types of reports that can represent progress to those goals, she can then design templates that indicate what measurements are to be included in each report. It’s important to be clear on this, but perhaps more important to be concise; don’t overload the person doing the reporting with too many information demands – ask for what’s relevant and easily-measured or -defined.

The good part comes next…meet with your team and discuss the reports. I think including the team in report definition is extremely important, even though it might seem to some managers as time-consuming (especially to those managers who place a sometimes bloated value on their own time). It provides an excellent opportunity for the manager to show team members their insights are valued, and their expertise gives added dimension to content for the reports. There is also an additional value from the managerial side: The manager gets an opportunity to identify who among the team is engaged and willing to help support the work effort…a team leader exercise of sorts. And the team can see that their efforts are reflected in the reports, and this is a chance for them to make sure those efforts are correctly captured. But back to the report template…

Variations to the approach here are certainly welcome, each manager has preferences on how to start out a meeting or discussion. One method I will put out is for the manager to briefly explain what the intent is for the meeting…what the ‘drivers’ necessitating the report are, and to assure the attendees that all input is welcome and will be considered in a positive manner. Then the manager can explain what the goals are for the report, how it will be used and who the ultimate audience is for the report. Now the stage is set to go through the template. This may be a more or less technical discussion, depending on the subject – the intent is more simple, to make sure everyone understands what is asked for in each section of the report.

Once the template is adequately reviewed, the important work begins. The manager must be able to figure out the best way to engage the staff, to encourage open comments and discussion. This is the moment for the team to use their expertise to identify targets missed, possible skewed statistics, and the most important part – that the report accurately reflects the proper time line of activity. The outcome should be clarity in response to any questions asked, clear understanding of who is responsible for providing what information, and above all, that the respondents will satisfy the intended goals set for the report. A conscientious manager will document the discussion, and absolutely must provide feedback along with the final template when it is delivered; the manager must not just “talk the talk, but walk the walk”. Do what you say you will do, in this case act on accepted recommendations. It does not hurt anyone to let superiors know about the team input and participation, either…give the team acknowledgement for their effort. Lastly, keep in mind that, like almost any project, reports must have built-in flexibility – as tasks change or mature, the corresponding reports must also be updated. But the ultimate goal should be realized – the manager has a useful report, and the team has a feeling of true engagement…they are able to “tell it like it is” as far as what they are accomplishing. Even if their basketball picks fall apart…again.