Tag: reporting

Exception reporting, a.k.a. alerting, is often propagated as an effective method to stop the half-hazard information overload that plagues modern managers. Experts, however, warn of the downsides – [...]

You can only tell if something is worth reading after you have already read it. But then you don’t have any more time to read the things that you should. The time we have to read and think is limited [...]

Managers receive more information than they can take in. In fact, their information absorption capacity is the main bottleneck in Business Intelligence. Here are a few ways we can increase it.

Controlling guerillas aren’t being turned away at palace gates anymore. Discover why that is as well as other lessons learned at our Executive Forum last Monday in Berlin.

In Part I, we reviewed Bella’s law of proportionality, measured it with the lie factor, and tried to save the world through standardization. Today, we will tame the tiger for good.

Some people place logarithmic scales on the same level as rabid tigers. Without them, however, every second chart would have the wrong scale. In part one of this two-part series, we will show how you [...]

People often use stacked charts to compare components - but the effect rarely works. Learn why that is and what alternatives are available.

Traffic lights in charts are junk. They portray the world in black or white – just using red and green instead. Because they use a bit of threshold voodoo, some people consider them to be an “intellectual” [...]

We've already explored a laid-back approach to management reporting. For the more athletically inclined, we have a high-performance alternative. The key? Resolution.

Dense, straightforward charts are rare. As a student, I was amazed how the graphic designers at management consultancies worked with such meticulous detail. Years later, I am convinced that we simply [...]

Decision-makers who receive a traffic light for support really don’t have anything more to decide. The report author already made the judgment call. Worse yet, decision-makers don’t even have the [...]

Sachsen LB could have at least tried to. Their board of directors trusted a few traffic lights. They were usually green, but now all German taxpayers see is red.

“Good management is boring” says Peter Drucker and “If you want excitement, don’t go to a good management information system.” We should reflect on this statement if we do not want to amuse [...]