Answering Key Business Questions using Reporting

Modified on Tue, 25 Jun at 5:45 PM

Creative operations, or "creative ops," is the process of managing and optimizing creative production. Similarly to marketing operations, it involves streamlining workflows, improving collaboration, and implementing best practices to ensure that your team is working as efficiently as possible. A Creative Operations Platform also meets business needs like predictable timelines, efficient use of resources, and provides answers to key business questions.

Understanding what outcomes you are looking to achieve and asking the right business questions to support those outcomes are at the foundation of success. At Lytho, we like to say, “what’s measured is managed.” To support you, below is a cheat sheet pairing common business questions and the appropriate report to provide you with the data you need.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Leadership
Proactive Team Management
Time

Leadership

Taking a step back to understand team accomplishments, production, and resourcing.

Business Question	Purpose	Report Type	Columns	Filters
Are we providing teams enough time to complete the project?	Assess timelines and durations for accurate expectation setting	Project	Start date Due date Time from acceptance to first proof Project duration LOE Total time tracked Time tracked (%)	Date > Custom range Project status > Complete
How many requests are not being planned ahead of time?	Evaluate rush request trends	Project	Request submitted date Due date Completed date	Tag or Project priority > Rush* Project status > Complete
How much work is the team producing?	To gauge the amount of work the team is accomplishing and recognize the production volume compared to request volume	Request	Submitted date Completed date Deliverables	Date > Custom range Request status > Complete
Where is the most work coming from?	Determine where production volume is coming from and if it needs to be leveled	Project	Requester name Custom field > Business unit or department* LOE Total time tracked	Requester name Custom field > Business unit or department* Date > Custom range
How long did it take for different types of projects to be completed?	To understand the time it takes to complete certain types of projects and how do those compare to each other	Request	Due date Completed date Request duration Request form	Request status > Completed Tags*
How long did it take for different types of projects to be completed? (Use this report to leverage relevant custom fields)	To understand the time it takes to complete certain types of projects and how do those compare to each other	Project	Due date Completed date Project duration	Project status stage > Completed Custom field or tag > Types*
Are projects being completed on time?	Evaluate how many items were early, on time, or late	Project	Due date Original due date Completed date	Project status stage > Completed
Are projects aligned to strategic goals of the business?	This is often based on custom field data. You can see what initiative work may align to, which helps account for the % team time spent on a certain focus. This would be different than where the work is coming from.	Project	Custom Fields*	Project status stage > Completed
What Tier work is being requested the most?	This helps teams understand staffing allocation, forecasting, staffing decisions, and what areas should be a focus for further attention/optimization.	Reviews	Tiers Review Version	Proof Status > Completed Date > Custom Range
What type of deliverables are being requested / produced?	This helps teams decide the types of projects they are regularly taking on and to appropriately resource said projects.	Requests	Deliverables Request Form	Date > Customer Range

*Represents customized data points (custom fields, tags, and priorities) in Lytho environments. Will be different for all.

Proactive Team Management

Evaluating current work within Lytho and resource management.

Business Question	Purpose	Report Type	Columns	Filters
What are my priorities for the week?	What does the team need to focus on	Project	Due date Project Status Next incomplete item
Is anything at risk of not meeting deadlines?	Do we need to shuffle work or priorities	Work	Due date Work Status Priority*
Who are bottlenecks in our workflow?	Where is work being blocked?	Work	Assignees Due Date Work Type Project Name
Are the team members I need available to do the work?	Who has what work on their plate. Do we need to redistribute work?	Work/ OR maybe this isn’t a report, but looking in the Workload tab	Due Date Work Status Assignees LOE Work item count	Due This Week/Month Work Status

*Represents customized data points (custom fields, tags, and priorities) in Lytho environments. Will be different for all.

Time

Reviewing all things time including duration, time tracking, and LOE.

Business Questions	Purpose	Report Type	Columns	Filters
How much time are we spending on rework?	Addressing the number of versions it takes for a proof on average	Reviews	Review Version Reviewer Name	Proof Status > Completed Date > Custom Range
Are we estimating the correct amount of time for work?	LOE vs. time tracked	Project	Project Name Total Time Tracked LOE Time Tracked %	Date > Custom Range Project status > Complete
How long is the average project lifecycle?	Calculating how long it will take for a team to complete a future project.	Project	Project Duration Start Date Due Date Completed Date Custom fields*	Date > Custom Range Project status > Complete
How long does it take from acceptance to first proof?	How quickly is the team turning around request? Are teams meeting SLAs?	Requests OR Project	Time From Acceptance To First Proof	Associated Work Type Project Status Stage > Completed Date > Custom Range Project Duration
How long does it take the team to vet a Request?	Time from submission to acceptance	Requests OR Project	Time From Request to Acceptance	Date > Custom Range Project Status Stage > Completed Project Duration
How long is the team waiting on Reviewers to respond?	Review Turnaround Time	Reviews	Reviewer Duration Custom Field* (Department, business unit, etc.)	Date > Custom Range Proof Status > Completed

*Represents customized data points (custom fields, tags, and priorities) in Lytho environments. Will be different for all.