Episode 51: Accelerating down the Home Stretch of xP&A

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Episode 51: Accelerating down the Home Stretch of xP&A

Guest: Andy Weiss

Some of the most important beneficiaries of a good Planning & Analysis process are on the front lines of the business. These are the people in sales, operations and line management whose day jobs are emphatically not about planning and analysis, but about building relationships, serving customers and doing the business of the business. These people also need data to do the best jobs they can, but if it is not convenient and easy to get it, they will naturally yield to more pressing priorities.

Getting relevant, personalized data in a timely fashion to the front-lines represents the Home Stretch of any planning, analysis or reporting initiative. Sometimes we puzzle over why people do not take advantage of the wealth of data that is available to them, and we wonder why they don’t “bother” to learn how to get it. What we forget is that learning how to use a system that is – at best – adjacent to what you are being paid to do, will always be at the bottom of your priority list (not to mention your boss’s priority list).

This week’s guest QueBIT Director of Product Management, Andy Weiss, argues that we are looking at this backwards. According to Andy the Home Stretch is a problem that can be solved if you put your mind to it. Instead of trying to change behaviors (which is hard), you can get relevant and useful data to the people who need it by delivering it right to them, wherever they work each day, in a format that is easy and convenient for them!