Is Your Consulting Firm Truly Data-Driven?

Move Towards Truly Data Driven Financials With 3 Key Steps:

#1 Connect The Dots With Strategic Planning

Strategic planning should not be represented by an annual checkbox which results in a plan that sits on the shelf for the following ten or eleven months. We’ve all been places where budgeting and planning was treated as a half-hearted exercise that produced no real targets or KPIs. Planning and budgeting hits at a busy time of year for most companies and is often seen as extra work. Firstly, you need to encourage your entire organisation to adopt a Growth Mindset. It is by understanding that the pillars of planning are hard work, effective strategy, and input from others, that your organisation will start to adopt a culture of continuous improvement.

The SPI 2018 Benchmark Survey suggests that organisations should spend time re-energising their vision on a regular basis. This process should include a systematic post-mortem of what worked or failed from prior plans. Devote time connecting the dots from the prior year and understand the data from the previous year. Why did that plan fail? Was it because there was a key environmental shift in the industry or was it because you based a strategic initiative on someone’s gut feeling rather than on hard facts?

#2 Transform Your Project-Based Business By Automating Budgeting And Forecasting

If you want the most accurate and reliable picture of your business today, then it’s time to think about technology as an enabler. I know from experience that the budgeting process can be riddled with pitfalls. Relying on spreadsheets and complicated formulas in Excel leads to your CFO spending hours upon hours painstakingly reviewing every cell, every input and every conclusion. I’ve done it and I may have even nodded off while doing it. There is a better way.

Spreadsheets and paper are not agile enough to keep up with fast moving professional services firms. Embracing automated budgeting and forecasting can move your organisation forward in ways you haven’t even imagined yet. Remove guesswork and get through the budgeting process faster with more reliable results, then report on, and respond to, the data in real time. According to the research, 57% of organisations are getting access to the key data and reports they need too slowly. The process needs to be blown up and transformed to reflect the real-time way professional services firms conduct business.

#3 Consumable Data For Project-Driven Firms

Not everyone in your organisation is a data geek. Believe it or not, some people find data more effective than a sleep aid. Complicated spreadsheets need to be turned into more easily consumable visual representations that can help facilitate data-driven conversations between all members of your core planning team.

Do not underestimate the power of charts, diagrams, and visuals when you’re talking about data. Outside the finance department, straight numbers can lose their impact. Have you ever tried to present a really compelling argument, but lost the audience in the detail? A visual representation will almost always more clearly demonstrate your points and lead to a more productive and engaged conversation.

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