If you're not making reporting work for you, you're missing out

Most office workers, and especially once you start climbing the career ladder, have to do some reporting up the chain - eg to your boss usually, or to your board/investors if you are the CEO/at the C-Level.

Reporting is a pain

I remember early on in my career, that I loathed it. I'm a doer. I like to get things done. And it felt like a waste of time and a distraction from "doing my job", which in Sales, meant selling, hitting your objective and making money.

Most people, I think, see reporting activities as a doom. A necessary pain. Something they have to do, but do not enjoy to do. Some wing it. Or try to find shortcuts.

This pain even helped spun businesses, which help automate reporting. Selling a solution that addresses people's or business' pains is always a good recipe!

.. but it's actually a sheep in wolve's clothing

Over the years, as I got promoted to executive positions within the businesses (startups) I worked at, reporting became more and more part of my duties. The more responsibilities you have, the more you need to ensure the CEO/C-Level is aware of your progress, on delivering on your strategic objectives.

And while I did not enjoy it (still feeling I had "better things to do"), I started to realise, more subconsciously at the time, that the time I spent preparing and delivering my reports - which are structured and timely (eg weekly/quarterly/annually) - was actually extremely beneficial for me.

Clarify your thoughts

It forced me to take a step back, look at the data, analyse, put in context, measure against the objective(s) and see for myself where I/we fell short. What was working. What not. And what more I could do to achieve better results.

Because you can't go to your Management JUST reporting the data.

If things are bad, you have to come up with a plan to get things back on track.

If things are good, you have to come up with a plan to show how you will get to the next step.

So it helps you strategise a plan.

Helps you clarify the vision in your head.

And once you have a vision, you can visualise a path to get there.

(Bonus learning: when reporting to your boss, especially when it comes to Sales, follow the motto "underpromise, overdeliver"!)

My driving of the team's efforts, and of my own, became clearer, thanks to it. I was able to think clearer, and articulate (to my team especially) in a better way what needed to be done, and why.

It was forcing me to take my "nose off the handlebars" as we say in French. Ensuring I did not go off course.

Get feedback

Furthermore, when reporting to someone, you will get feedback. 

Another perspective. 

Your plan getting poked at by someone friendly.

Even if it is not always done in the friendliest way, your common objective is for the plan to succeed.

No matter how good you are, being able to get a sounding board on your plan will strengthen it. 

You only really value something after it's gone

After leaving the confines of executive roles - to start on my own - I started realising, consciously now, the benefits of a regular, structured reporting flow.

In my first own bootstrapped startup, I had a co-founder, so we had *some* reporting process, in the form of standups (short daily catch ups) or (in)formal meetings to discuss things out between each other. It lacked structure, but it was something.

The timing of this blog post comes as I am a few months into my 2nd own startup, this time as a solo founder, again of a bootstrapped venture. 

This means no one to report to (or with). 

And while that is sometimes used as the definition of freedom, I am experiencing also the downside of it, which is that I tend to keep my "nose in the handlebars" too much.

And it makes me realise, more than ever, that reporting is actually a boon. 

As the saying goes, you only really value something after it's gone!

So if you fall in the category of people who reluctantly look at doing your next weekly/monthly/annual reporting, look at it as an opportunity for yourself, rather than something you have to do for your manager/board/investor.

Take.. no.. invest your time in it, rather than looking at it as a checkbox exercise, that you have to get rid off as quickly as possible. It will pay dividends.

And in my new context, I still need to find the best way to find that again. 

If you have any advice, I'm all ears!