Summarize data to senior management

As part of the continuing segment on Managing Opportunities or Problem Areas....

Summarize data to senior management; do not give raw data unless asked.

In developing managers, especially new managers, this is one of the most crucial areas to teach. Senior managers do not have time to process all the data. This is your job; to apply your brainpower to sorting through the data and providing a story which makes sense from the data and from your own intuition. Senior managers, when faced with mounds of data that should have already been processed, will shut down and indicate that further work is needed. Part of telling the story is having pre-processed data which support you, legitimately, in telling the story.