Jerry Macguire and That Report

A few years ago, it wasn’t too hard to quickly get my goat. You just had to follow this simple guide:

1. Hire me to work for you in a report development or data management capacity.
2. While concurrently working on a bunch of reports, tell me that there’s a problem with “that report.”
3. Watch me chuckle and retort, “Oh, that one.”

I didn’t always laugh when I hear statements like these, but I do now. I have found that my reactions don’t irritate people too much. (Smiling is key.) Of course, many times I have vented with other developers about clients’ sometimes amazing ability to be as generic as possible when attempting to diagnose problems.

A Quick Anecdote

A few years ago, I wrote about 250 individual reports for a large retail client. I was on that project for a long time because I quickly showed my clients that I knew what I was doing and could quickly turn a few statements into an actual report. I’ll never forget getting in the elevator one day with a guy for whom I was developing at least ten different reports. I wanted to grab a quick lunch and return to my desk. The conversation went something like this:

Elevator guy: Hey, Phil. That report isn’t right.

Me: Which one is this?

Elevator guy: You know, the one with the financial information. (Note: He worked in finance. Each of his 40 reports contained different types of financial information.)

Me: (jokingly and with that essential smile) Oh, sure. That one. What about it?

Eventually, elevator guy came around. He began prefacing his questions with little things like report names and specifics.

Focus

There’s a great deal going on during most data migration projects and system implementations–especially in tough economic times with lean staffs. Someone like me works with many different folks. Most of the time, employees are only working with one person like me. So, while I have to juggle multiple reporting requests from different folks, each individual employee’s focus is singular. People feel overwhelmed and just want to knock things off of their to do lists.

Simon Says: Be Specific!

To paraphrase from the Tom Cruise movie Jerry Macguire Help your developers help you. “The report isn’t right” is typically not very helpful. When diagnosing a problem, tell consultants and report developers about dates, steps, and specific file names. Take screen shots. Replicate the process. Share your screen as you try to access a page or run a report. We developers really can’t read minds and see over the Internet. You’ll be glad that you did. We will be able to help you solve the problem quicker.

Feedback

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