Over the past few decades, we have witnessed extraordinary technological advancements, but the pace of change has accelerated dramatically the last few years. Innovations such as automation, machine learning, and Big Data Analytics have revolutionised the way organisations operate. According to a survey by Gartner, they predict that 70% of organisations will implement infrastructure automation by 2025 demonstrating the rapid adoption of these technologies across industries. This includes the development of data automation and automated reporting.
Despite these developments, there are times where technology is not able to fulfil the task and human intervention is necessary. One example of this advancement is the transformation of customer service through chatbots and virtual assistants. Chatbots can handle a wide range of customer queries 24/7, supporting and freeing up human agents to handle more complex tasks. However, I’m sure many of you would have experienced a chatbot, after running through its standard protocol, you find yourself transferred to a human agent, correct? This is usually the case for more complicated enquiries that require human judgement or empathy.
Does this also apply to automated reporting?
This article will delve into how organisations can strike a balance between leveraging automated reporting and human employees implementing data storytelling uncovering insights to achieve a harmonious and effective reporting system.
Automated Reporting
As businesses have grown more data-driven, the limitations of manual reporting have grown more problematic. Tighter deadlines increased the need for accuracy, speed, and real-time insights, this in turn, has driven up the demand for more sophisticated solutions. Automated reporting is no longer just a trend, but a standard practice across many industries.
Report Automation provides a wide array of features that have saved companies countless hours. For instance, it can seamlessly pull data from a spreadsheet directly into PowerPoint or Google Slides reports. This eliminates the need for reporters to manually enter data or perform time-consuming quality checks. Additionally, Report Automation can conditionally format objects in PowerPoint and conduct significance testing on data. These are just a few of the many powerful capabilities it offers. A case study we conducted with Kantar North America saw Kantar achieve an annual saving of 17,000 hours on report creation. Bellomy saved 300 hours a year on just one project! Users no longer needed to dedicate time to quality assurance of report data as the data can be pulled in to your report directly from the data sheet.
Do we need human expertise for reporting?
Some of you may be wondering – ‘if automation can handle everything from data input to generating charts for reports, why is our involvement even necessary? What is the need for human expertise in reporting?
Uncovering The Narrative Behind The Data
Data alone does not tell the full story. Kian Bakhtiari, strategist for FortySix, writes in the World Economic Forum that “Even if the data is 100% accurate, it can only tell us what is happening; not why. Without a human layer of understanding, data is void of context and nuance. Numbers only make sense once we have discovered the underlying human emotions, behaviours and motivations.”
Humans are obsessed with asking the question “why” behind the data – analysts use their expertise to translate data patterns into meaningful stories. Automation could identify a decline in customer retention, however a human expert is required to explore the underlying causes such as the psychology of customer behaviour, and to propose corrective actions for this. Analysts can interpret these trends and anticipate for/predict future developments based on it.
Report Communication
Reports are made for stakeholders to be informed on updates, or to make proposals, or possibly show findings from a research campaign. Dr. Jo North writes that successful reports are “written in a style which suits the subject and the reader, it also tells a story which keeps the reader interested and engaged throughout.” This approach requires empathy and an understanding of how the stakeholders want be communicated to.
How can we create an effective balance in Automated reporting?
The most effective form of reporting combines the power of report automation and the oversight of human expertise. Automation frees up time and resources to allow humans to allocate their time towards higher-value activities such as gathering insights and finding the story within the data. We have seen this phenomena time and time again, for example, Jenna Allen, Research Director at DJS research, told us “With the hours and hours saved by not producing and quality checking our reports our energy can be focused where it’s most needed. Drawing out the insights in the data and telling the story in reports and delivering the final product within a fraction of the time.” Human expertise is required to ensure that the data not only informs but also empowers effective decision-making. The goal is to use technology to enhance decision-making and use human expertise to effectively define and communicate relevant insights to inspire action.
E-Tabs Enterprise is the ultimate report automation solution on the market. It can automatically pulls in the data from your existing data tabulation systems and put it into your template. Enterprise can perform statistical significance testing, sort & re-rank, calculate nets, averages and trends. Enterprise can also conditionally format the output with indicators, images positioned automatically where needed, highlight key values and much, much more. Reports that may have taken days or weeks to produce can now be updated effortlessly within minutes. E-Tabs Enterprise allows you to dedicate your time to what is most important.