GIS (Geographical Information System) data and business intelligence that integrates is a powerful management tool.  The more data a business compiles, it can give the illusion of a false sense of providing all the answers.

Imagine you have one regional sales office that’s under-performing. GIS can give you clues but it can’t completely tell management why.  By layering, or integrating, business data from multiple departments together, a clearer picture of “why” becomes apparent.

Combine sales with staff turnover, for example, and you might find a correlation with staff turnover.  Your HR department on its own isn’t going to use GIS software, however, incorporating and layering their data to the sales data, a visual picture materializes for management.

This capability to visualize information like this is a brilliant way to cross the streams of knowledge within your organization.

Cross-business thinking is the key. This is what GIS does best—where its power lies. Not in showing graphs and charts stuck on top of cities with no terms of reference, but as an aid to discover where the problems and successes are in your business.

Access to more “emotionless” data does not provide management the ability to capture the complexity of the team, nor the customers.  The data only reflects the consequences of a leader’s choices based on what is measured and how.

We must carefully select the activities we measure when gathering and analyzing data to create powerful, positive change; and we must measure in a way that encourages behaviors that help the sales team.  Pay attention to your inherent biases, and use the data carefully to avoid alienating the people we’re trying to motivate.

If you’re drowning in data, GIS might just be your lifeguard.  Data can help all of us be better managers, and achieve great productivity.

For information on mapping software, contact Geometrx at 888-848-4436.