A new system can be working while the business is still struggling to use it. Reports arrive, dashboards fill up and meetings continue. Yet the decisions that prompted the project may be no easier to make.
Once the work has started, the task is to notice where it is drifting. Look at how people use the information, where disagreements arise and whether the findings lead to action.
People keep their own versions of the figures
Separate spreadsheets are not automatically a problem. They become a warning sign when teams maintain competing versions of the same information or cannot explain why their totals differ.
Ask what the separate file provides that the shared process does not. It may reveal a missing field, an inconvenient workflow or a report that arrives too late.
Agree on the source for shared figures and how corrections should be handled. Fix the reason for the workaround rather than simply telling people to stop using it.
Meetings become arguments about the numbers
If each review begins with a debate about whose total is correct, the team has less time to consider what to do.
Check whether the reports use the same period, definitions and treatment of cancellations or returns. A difference may reflect how the figures are calculated rather than an error.
Document the agreed definitions and assign responsibility for unresolved discrepancies. Where a limitation remains, make it visible before the figures are used.
Hypothetical report comparison
Same records. Different definitions.
Reports have no clear decision attached
A report can be accurate and still be unnecessary. Ask who uses it, what decision it supports and what happens after it is reviewed.
For a retailer, a low-stock report should reach someone who can decide whether to replenish, transfer stock or wait. If nobody owns that decision, improving the chart will not solve the problem.
Remove or simplify reports that have no useful role. Give the remaining ones a reviewer, a review frequency and a clear next step.
Staff need help but stop asking
Low usage is not proof that people resist change. The process may be confusing, access may be restricted or the system may require duplicate work.
Watch someone complete a routine task. Ask where they hesitate and what they do outside the system to finish it.
Use that feedback to adjust the process and provide focused training. Keep a route for questions and make responsibility for support clear.
Every new tool becomes another priority
It is easy to expand the project whenever a new feature appears. The result can be unfinished work spread across too many initiatives.
Before adding anything, ask which current problem it addresses and what work it will replace. Consider the time needed to maintain it, not only the time needed to launch it.
Keep a short list of priorities and review it when business needs change. A roadmap should guide choices rather than grow whenever another idea appears.
Bring one drifting process back on track
Choose one report or workflow that is not helping as intended. Speak to the people using it and identify whether the difficulty lies in the records, the process or responsibility for action.
One focused correction.
- 01Pick one workflowChoose something that is not helping as intended.
- 02Find the difficultyCheck records, process and responsibility with the people using it.
- 03Make a correctionAssign an owner for one clear change.
- 04Review the resultAgree when to check whether the change helped.
Make one focused correction, assign an owner and agree when to review it. Progress comes from keeping the work useful, not keeping every original plan unchanged.
Editorial guidance by Rawaida Kamarudin, adapted from her data journey pitfalls draft. The retail scenario is illustrative, not a reported customer result.