With all the complexities in the world, how do you determine what to focus on in 2022?  HR and employee issues concerning remote work and wellness?  Office or retail space utilization?  Supply chain issues?  Inflation and pandemics?  World events that could cause disruption?  Blockchain, artificial intelligence, green energy and on and on?  And don’t forget the needs of your customers.

What’s needed is a simple How To Guide to manage this overwhelming challenge to your resources.  There is an old saying paraphrased as “don’t build a house on sand”.  In other words, use your resources to build a solid foundation.  Then you will have the ability to manage a myriad of risks and harness amazing opportunities when they come.  Here are four tasks to help your company Succeed in 2022 and Beyond.

1. Clean the data in your core systems – Your CRM has hundreds of data points for staying in touch with customers and prospects.  A typical real estate lease agreement may generate 200 data points to track, many of which go into the accounting system to generate invoices (aka revenue).  The other data points likely go into other core systems to help manage that relationship and contract.  Even an equipment lease has dozens of data points to manage.  If those data points are wrong or missing you’re very likely missing out on revenue or creating undue risk.  It’s imperative to review and update that data regularly.  Think about undertaking a contract document to data review project.
2. Make sure you capture the right data– For cost reasons it’s common to limit the data captured on customers or contracts.  However, spend the time to capture the data that is relevant and useful for where you see the business today and tomorrow.  For instance, can you track customers and vendors according to ESG parameters?  Can you identify sourcing locations for logistic issues and regulatory purposes?  What market definitions are appropriate for your customer base and sales effort?  Also, what’s relevant does change over time so review and modify as necessary.  It’s also important that the data is consistent within a system and across systems. Are states two letter abbreviations or full spelling? Is there a customer number in the CRM that matches the customer number in the accounting system? Do some data modelling to get this information together.
3. Create processes to ensure that the data stays clean– Workflow, workflow, workflow.  That is how you create consistent and complete data capture.  There are smart contracts too, using the blockchain to perfectly match the contract and data.  Just make sure the changes via amendment are accounted for.  Digital workflows can easily be designed with validation steps to compare data manually or via automated processes.  Workflow will also ensure all supporting information is assembled and tagged to the transaction data for later reference if needed. 
4. Make sure you train your employees how to use this data to its fullest – There’s no need for clean data if nobody uses it or uses it properly.  Therefore, it’s critical to spend the time to educate and train employees to use the data to its fullest.  Remind employees of the problems that old methods created.  Explain the benefit the data has for them and the company.  Its no secret that employees are stretched thin, so extra work is the last thing they want or need. Make sure the training highlights the downstream time and effort savings that will result.

To quote and paraphrase another great source “it’s simple blocking and tackling that win games”.  Artificial intelligence, machine learning, smart contracts and other great technologies can provide real benefits, but only if the underlying data is good.  Build that solid foundation and don’t let the complexities bog you down. 

Millennia Group provides workflow and document management solutions that help companies manage risk and take advantage of great opportunities.  Contact us at info@mgdocs.com, www.mgdocs.com or 630-279-0577.