100 GREAT BUSINESS IDEAS • 93- What information is needed?
- How should it be presented?
- When does it need to be supplied (timing and frequency)?
- Where does it come from? This determines the quality of
information and puts facts into context. - What restrictions are there? For example, whether some or
all of the information is confi dential. - Which decisions and activities will it support? It helps if
people know why information is needed. - Generate the right data—fi nd out the best way to acquire
information (eg surveys, telephone calls, meetings, and
interviews). - Review and analyze information. Decisions come down to
judgment, but quantitative statistical methods will highlight
trends and anomalies, while scenario planning, modeling, and
simulation are useful techniques for generating and assessing
the right information. - Store and retrieve information, ensuring it is widely accessible,
clearly labeled, and categorized. It needs to be relevant and
up to date. Establish criteria for adding new information and
discarding (or archiving) old, irrelevant details. The system
and processes for storing and retrieving information need to be
cost-effective. - Act on information. Three tactics are useful: monitor decisions,
act methodically, and manage the constraints (in terms of time,
resources, and other pressures).