February 5, 2019

FamilyCare’s Evaluation and Research Coordinator, Janet Congues, got in touch with the OPEN team to discuss working together to present Family Care’s client satisfaction data in a more useful way.

FamilyCare were collecting and analysing a substantial amount of data using Excel and Janet wanted support in redesigning FamilyCare’s data management to make it more efficient and manageable.

The Challenge

To provide Janet and FamilyCare with a data management solution that is affordable and meets their data storage, analysis and reporting needs.

The Response

The OPEN data project, in consultation with FamilyCare, made a plan:

  • To review FamilyCare’s existing data management system for the collection and dissemination of client satisfaction survey data.
  • To provide support improving the current Client Satisfaction Survey Excel Spreadsheet, by:
  • Creating a “form” interface for data entry (to feed into a newly created dashboard)
  • Using Power Pivot (an extension of Microsoft Excel) to produce pivot reports and dashboards for the quick display of information for program managers
  • Providing training to build FamilyCare’s capacity to administer the new spreadsheet as well as learning to apply, design and create using Power Pivot.
Example from Family Care’s new data entry page:

The Outcome

Reviewing FamilyCare’s current data management system in close consultation with Janet highlighted the need to upgrade the current Excel spreadsheet rather than purchasing new data management software at an ongoing additional cost. OPEN engaged Excel expertise to help with this upgrade and to provide Janet with training support.

Janet emphasised the importance of building her own capacity to manage and analyse the data to then disseminate to managers on the ground. To do this, OPEN made sure that training support was included on the new more powerful Excel solution. A ‘how to guide’ guide for PowerPivot was provided as a quick reference point for Janet to continue to refine FamilyCare’s new data management solution in line with the information the managers need.

The Future

The project has not only built a more streamlined solution for Familycare it has also enabled Janet to move forward with confidence and train other staff to produce quality reports:

“My next step to provide in-house training for some of our admin staff who, based on initial conversations and demonstrations, were amazed by what PowerPivot could do and were keen to learn more. That will further enhance the capacity of the agency to produce quality reports more efficiently.”

Do you have data that needs to be put to good use? An IDEAS project may be just the way to get started!