{"id":815,"date":"2020-04-03T07:04:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-03T06:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nuvola.co.uk\/?p=373"},"modified":"2023-03-21T11:21:03","modified_gmt":"2023-03-21T11:21:03","slug":"exercise-6-what-sort-of-systems-do-you-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.nuvola.co.uk\/oldsite\/2020\/04\/03\/exercise-6-what-sort-of-systems-do-you-need\/","title":{"rendered":"Exercise 6 \u2013 what sort of systems do you need?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Part of our \u2018Becoming Information Conscious\u2019 series. We have created a workbook for these exercises<\/a> using Google Sheets \u2013 note you\u2019ll need to be logged into Google to make a copy.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on your functionality matrix and the results from the other exercises, you should fairly easily be able to produce a list of the kinds of systems your business needs. This involves doing some scoring, but bear with me as it’s not as complex as it might sound at first! Use the table below and add in the kinds of system you need in the left hand column. If that system already exists, put its name in the second column; if not just leave the second column blank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now,\ngo through your matrix and add up how many of the cells are\napplicable to the particular system. So for a CRM system, you will\nprobably count things like ‘store customer data’, ‘log phone calls’\nand ‘produce customer activity report’, even though the latter will\nalso apply to your operations management system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next,\ncount up how many of your matrix cells are currently implemented with\nyour existing systems. If it’s only part implemented, just give it\nhalf a mark. So to continue the above example, if you’re happy with\nthe way your customer data is stored, score it one, but if it needs\nsome improvement, just score it a half. If your customer database\nconsists of a stack of business cards, that would count as a zero. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Write\nthis count in the fourth column. You can now divide the fourth column\nby the third to give you a percentage, which is a crude measure of\nhow well you are currently served for the system you’ve identified.\nI’ve done a couple of examples \u2013\nclearly\nin my example while there are issues with the CRM system, there are\nfar more holes in the systems in use for project management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This exercise is also in our workbook<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSystem\n\t\t\tType\n\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\tName\n\t\t\tof Existing Software\n\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\tHow\n\t\t\tmany Func Matrix cells in total?\n\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\tHow\n\t\t\tmany cells do your existing systems cover?\n\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\tScore\n\t\t\t%\n\t\t<\/td><\/tr>
\n\t\t\tCRM\n\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\tMyCustMgt\n\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t10\n\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t6\u00bd\n\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t6.5\/10\n\t\t\tx 100 = 65%\n\t\t<\/td><\/tr>
\n\t\t\tProject\n\t\t\tManagement\n\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\tSpreadsheet\n\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t12\n\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t3\n\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t3\/12\n\t\t\tx 100 = 25%\n\t\t<\/td><\/tr>
\n\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/td>		\n\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/td>		\n\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/td>		\n\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/td>		\n\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How good are your systems?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If\nyou’ve done the above exercise well, hopefully it will provide\nanother useful insight to help us move forward. It’s likely to tell\nyou one of three things:<\/p>\n\n\n\n