Action: The Power of the Weekly Report

Let me preface this discussion with the fact that up until November of this year, I have NEVER, ever, ever, ever done a weekly report or any other kind of report since College LOL! I took it upon myself to give my father (also my boss/company owner) a weekly report. I figured that providing a weekly report would do a couple things;

1. A means of Serving my father and team
   
2. Provide production information (ROI, Sales, Expenses, Product/Team Success and Trends)
   
3. Bring attention to any problems (Technical issues, personnel issues, etc)
   
4. Provide insight to my father in regards to the technology side of his business (Most intricate technology is abstract to him)
   
5. Build a culture of accountability (If my team sees my providing reports, they see accountability in me)
   
6. To honor my father's input in areas seen in the report where he can question. provide insight and/or solutions

I am injecting my team with the notion of the power of the weekly report! One of my team members (one of our managers) provides me with a weekly report that gets added to mine before going up the chain. This provided further insight to me and to my father. And I'm getting intel from the troops on the battle field.  I've found that 5 minutes spent reviewing a weekly report can keep the lines of communication open and problems get solved easily. Not to mention, we can applaud those on our team for their efforts, results etc. The report gives us a looking glass into our team's lives. If there is a problem, we know about it and we can assist when needed.

My goal is to have this type of communication through reporting throughout our organization at some point. It's a challenge, but if I do not introduce it somewhere, it will never come to fruition.

Unintended Consequences of the Weekly Report:

1. I found that my reports are probably just as useful to ME as they are to my father and team. For an ADHD guy like myself, the report entries keep me on track and accountable to myself. I used to look back on the week and know I accomplished something for my organization, but sometimes I was so swamped that I forget everything I did. With the weekly report, I can look back and see how problems got solved, how we profited from my efforts and watch my daily process. Now, I can look back over the last few weeks and see ideas that became reality, battles won or lost, and potential clients become trusted customers.
   
2. I GET MORE accomplished by writing a weekly report
   
3. I go home satisfied and happy when I turn in a report
   

Things to know about Weekly Reports:

1. It's not difficult (make it fun)
   
2. Do your reports in REAL Time (when you begin a task, record it. Then record it when you complete the task) *This will bring satisfaction and closure
   
3. Do it for YOURSELF! (see above)
   
4. Do it for your spouse (if you don't have anyone to report to, give a copy to your spouse. They will appreciate it)
   
5. You will gain insight into your process, strengths and weaknesses
   
6. You are writing your own organization's history. (It may be valuable someday)
   
7. Do what works for you and get your team involved
   

For an idea of what I do, please click on the images of my Weekly Reports. (I have Xed out names and figures to protect the innocent. But, you'll get the idea).

Finally, I think I've provided evidence of the Power of the report. I must thank Dave Ramsey for introducing me to this simple but powerful communication tool. It has changed the way I work and my team's perception of me.

Enjoy the journey!
Lance Cashion
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