Data Policy

Data Quality

Data is one of the most valuable assets of many organizations. If data is inconsistent, unreliable, or just plain wrong, it follows that strategic decisions based on this data may also be inconsistent, unreliable, or wrong. Data quality begins with data entry. Every organization should have data policies describing how data should be entered into Andar in order for the data to be consistent and retrievable. Without data entry policies, mail lists may be unreliable, data trends analysis may be impossible, and accurate account selection may not be possible due to varying or unknown data criteria. Data policy documents are only good if they are read and followed. Such documents are often overlooked when new staff are hired or volunteers are used for data entry. Additionally, changes in policies and associated documents are often not distributed to and not given appropriate priority by the staff.

Solution

Just in time for the data entry push of the fall campaign, Helix is offering an optional Data Policy Manager module for Andar. This module will allow organizations to add data policy text to each window in Andar where a policy applies. For example, the "Add address" window could have a different policy text than the "Update address" window. These policies will be displayed at the top of the appropriate window. Users may hide the data policy text but a "Show policy" menu item will appear and flash 3 times if a policy text exists for the current window. This module is easy to implement, easy to use, and impossible for users to miss. Compared with the high risk associated with bad data as well as the ongoing costs of finding and fixing bad data, this module is easy to justify.

Step 1.

Administrator uses the "Help" menu to manage policies for this window.

Step 2.

Administrator types in the data policy for this window.

Step 3.

Ready to use! All users automatically see the data policies.