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Have you stopped sending reports that people have stopped reading?

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“Consulting companies that study information consumption routinely find that more than half of all standard reports aren’t being used by anyone anymore.” This damning statement comes from MIT Sloan Mgt. Rev., Spring 2011 at 57. Most law departments of much size spawn reports on such things as monthly spending, headcount, budget to actual, CLE hours, and more. If they were to take a critical look at the outpouring, they might find that many of them have outlived their purpose.

Try this: make an estimate of the time it takes to prepare each report and make an estimate of the relative value of each report. Stop preparing the lowest ranked report, the one with the worst combination high cost and low value.

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One response to “Have you stopped sending reports that people have stopped reading?”

  1. Steven B. Levy, Author of Legal Project Management says:
    May 5, 2011 at 1:02 pm

    Count the total time spent on the report — not just the person who prepares it, but those who review it, systems work to prepare the data behind it, etc.
    Or try the simple way. About two-thirds of the way down, put in the phrase ‘free latte for the first person who emails me about this.’ You’ll be surprised at how few lattes you have to give out… and how many reports you can kill.