Know-How Exchange : E-Marketing

Q. What do you think?

A. Different managers have different preferences. Some like to look at the numbers and track progress. Others don't; they trust others to do that. So the reporting requirements need to be appropriate for each manager.

Q. Are you often shown reports that are not meaningful?

A. No, not often. I don't spend much time on a report that I don't think is meaningful.

Q. In your opinion, what is a good executive report?

A. A good executive report is one that provides information that helps the executive make a better decision. It has just enough information to answer an important question; no more, no less. Ideally it has an action recommendation in it, along with the rationale. Not just a bunch of numbers that require the executive to make calculations or comparisons. No jargon.

Q. What kind of information should be in that report?

A. It depends on the decision. No one-size-fits-all report formats, as each decision-maker is different and each decision is different.