Wes’s Wednesday Wisdom

Are all your processes frictionless? I’m not a huge fan of buzzwords, but I love the word “frictionless” as it applies to data management. Frictionless is a fancy word for making a process as effortless as possible. Or as I like to say, with a minimal number of hoops to jump through. When I work with […]

Trends don’t need perfect data When it comes to analyzing data trends (changes in data over time), it’s important to keep in mind that the data does not have to be perfect (data never is!) in order for it to be useful. In a conversation with a client recently, the client pointed out that their

Start with “Why” before you move to “How” Something I’ve noticed over my years in consulting is that when there is a process problem the natural inclination is to ask “How can we make this process easier/better/faster?” But as often as not, the real question we should be asking first is “WHY are we doing this?”

The power of users groups! Last week I had the honor and pleasure of speaking at the NetForum Users Group Conference. I’ve always been a huge proponent of users groups (both internal and external) and sitting in the sessions prior to mine was a great reminder of their value. Here are just a few things I

Associations are complex businesses! One of the reasons managing data at an association can be so challenging is because associations are very complex businesses. The simple fact is a typical association of almost any size is selling multiple product lines (e.g., membership, events registration, sponsorships, products, etc.) and very often these product lines have a broad range of variables

Snapshots are required Recently a couple of different clients have asked me why it’s necessary to take a snapshot of data (e.g., a member count) in order to track the history of data (e.g., comparing year over year membership counts). They ask: “Why can’t we just query the data from last year?” The answer? Because your

“It’s in the database…” I often joke with my clients that AMS nirvana looks like this: When someone asks “Where is the data about topic X?” the answer is always “It’s in the database.” Q: “Who were the award winners in 2019?” A: “It’s in the database.” Q: “Which meetings did this person attend in the past

Using the Pomodoro Technique for data management I’m a huge fan of the Pomodoro Technique, which is a time management technique for breaking down larger projects into bite-sized pieces. I’ve found for someone like me who can be easily distracted, it’s a very effective way to stay on task. When it comes to data management, and especially

You need a PLAN to deal with duplicates Here’s the thing about duplicate records: No matter what you do, you’ll never get rid of them completely, because humans are human. Whether it’s a staff member creating a duplicate record because they forgot to check if the record exists, or it’s a customer who doesn’t want

Asking for more is a good sign… A client who had recently implemented a new AMS told me: “I’m concerned because even though we’ve only recently gone live, I’m already getting requests from staff for all kinds of new functionality.” I told her, “Believe it or not, that’s a good thing!” and went on to