Give people room to answer their own questions
Self-service business intelligence means people can explore business information without asking a specialist to prepare every answer. A manager might compare branches or select a different week using an agreed report. A trained colleague might create a new view from the same information.
The useful change is a team that can follow up a question while the conversation is still happening. Start with a few recurring questions that the available information can answer reliably. Agree what each figure means, who maintains it and when it should be updated.
Keep viewing, creating reports and changing shared definitions as separate responsibilities. Someone who needs to check sales does not automatically need to edit the calculation or see every branch. Microsoft’s managed self-service guidance describes this separation between maintaining shared data and creating reports.
Make a routine sales check useful
Synthetic example, not client results: a branch has 10,000 riyals in recorded sales and 1,000 riyals in returns for yesterday. The agreed measure is sales less returns for that day. Once both records are complete, the manager sees 9,000 riyals. If product details are available, they can explore which products contributed.
The manager can filter their branch’s report. A trained report author can prepare another view using the agreed calculation. The sales owner approves any change to that calculation; the data team makes and checks the change before others use it.
If the returns record is incomplete, yesterday’s net figure is marked “awaiting confirmation”. The manager contacts the named support person and waits for confirmation before using the figure as final. When the missing record is checked, users of that branch’s report see the same confirmed answer. That is useful independence with a clear route to help.
Build confidence that lasts beyond the first week
Try one department first. Ask people to answer a familiar question, explain the result and recognise when the information is incomplete. Agree who handles questions, who covers absences and how users hear about changed definitions. Broader access should follow that practice, with permissions checked against each person’s role.
The printable readiness checklist and permission matrix include the worked example and space to plan your own. They are planning aids; they do not set permissions in your systems.
Datimore can help shape shared business reporting around your team’s everyday questions. Our commercial performance case shows sales information and its context brought into one view. Bring a recurring question, its sources and the people who need access. The aim is a team that can find useful answers confidently, with ownership and support agreed from the start.