Because it was a job that supports reporting on multiple channels, I learned how to organize miscellaneous information into a form that whenever I was asked, I could respond right away.
I spent the first couple days to learn and figured out the sale process and generating PO from the ERP system (Ariba). The application enabled users to transfer quotation data from CISCO online ordering tools into Ariba. But not all the information is available online. For example, the financial expense codes are pending to be pulled and reviewed by the Finance department.
Finance department provided a job aid for how to apply proper expense codes for data entry. However, the support from the job aid is limited due to the complexity of assigning services items, such as buy or lease equipment, finance terms and etc. for multiple stakeholders. To tackle the challenge, I began to create my own spreadsheet knowledge base. For every PO I encountered, the information was extracted into my workbook. I tried to only include the most important piece to limit the file size.
Most of the services are recurring, i.e. the subscription service or software license. As time went by, I was able to accumulate certain amount of backup data. When I was creating POs and looking for the expense code again, I just need to refer to my "bible" index. This practice improved my work efficiency and accuracy.
As experience grew, I expanded the spreadsheet to include billing and invoice data. One of the advantages from keeping this was, whenever I was asked to provide a quick analysis, I could quickly filter by different criteria and present it in a minute.
With this single source, I was able to track, when and who has requested the PO, who the vendor is, invoice currency, how many vendor invoices have been paid up to date, project descriptions and other key fields used in the daily measures of work. This simple structure allowed all Engagement Managers with a no fuss and no training required access to the same data source.
From that on, I've kept a habit of maintaining my own knowledge base in any position.
Finance department provided a job aid for how to apply proper expense codes for data entry. However, the support from the job aid is limited due to the complexity of assigning services items, such as buy or lease equipment, finance terms and etc. for multiple stakeholders. To tackle the challenge, I began to create my own spreadsheet knowledge base. For every PO I encountered, the information was extracted into my workbook. I tried to only include the most important piece to limit the file size.
Most of the services are recurring, i.e. the subscription service or software license. As time went by, I was able to accumulate certain amount of backup data. When I was creating POs and looking for the expense code again, I just need to refer to my "bible" index. This practice improved my work efficiency and accuracy.
As experience grew, I expanded the spreadsheet to include billing and invoice data. One of the advantages from keeping this was, whenever I was asked to provide a quick analysis, I could quickly filter by different criteria and present it in a minute.
With this single source, I was able to track, when and who has requested the PO, who the vendor is, invoice currency, how many vendor invoices have been paid up to date, project descriptions and other key fields used in the daily measures of work. This simple structure allowed all Engagement Managers with a no fuss and no training required access to the same data source.
From that on, I've kept a habit of maintaining my own knowledge base in any position.
