First ask: "How will I use this data?"

Whether it's during data conversion, adding a new data field, or reconsidering a given process, one of the first questions you should ask is "How will we use that data?"

Put another way, just because we can manage the data doesn't mean we should!

For example, I was speaking with a client recently about how to manage organization records within their database. They have individual members and want to associate all of the individuals with their appropriate organizations. It's an understandable desire. But when asked the question "How will we use that data?" the answer was "We're not really sure."

We all have lots of data we need to manage. And lots more we might want to manage. But for any data we manage, we need to be able to quickly answer the question "How does this data get used?" If we can't answer that, it's probably not data we need to be managing!

First ask: “How will I use this data?”

First ask: "How will I use this data?"

Wes's Wednesday Wisdom Archives

The hidden costs of bad data

Don’t let your customers edit their names online!

Once is an accident, twice is coincidence, three times is a pattern.

“Every association does this.”

Trust your gut

“People more frequently require to be reminded than informed.”

Problems without solutions are not problems, they are facts of life

Perfect is not possible

“Different” isn’t necessarily better or worse.

The Rule of 100 and 1,000 and automation