Information flowing between the office and the field is a critical element of keeping projects on time, to budget and meeting spec. Being better informed centrally, relies on a combination of quality and quantity of detail. In this Lite Paper, we will examine how a project team with one project manager and six reporting staff members can go from generating 20-word reports per person per day, to generating 200-word reports, per person, per day – with more accuracy and with less time by using NoteVault.

Quantity of information Our model team is generating daily reports that average 20 words each, so our first improvement is to simply lift the volume of data coming from the field. On top of this we need photos (each worth a 1000 words!) and any local data that might impact the project, like daily weather. How many reports are as detailed as this, every day? Our first lift factor is in volume of data captured and we’re mandating that by using NoteVault, the quantity of information is increased 10X. On average, the detail in a daily report is

typically a lot less than 200 words per person per day, leaving holes, missing facts, and lacking detail. Speaking versus writing Now that we have a 10X lift in data quantity captured, how do we acquire all that additional data? According to Wikipedia, the average speed that people comfortably speak is around 160 words per minute (WPM).

Also, the average handwriting speed is around 22 – 31 WPM depending if we know what we’re writing about. In order to get our text into a sharable format, we’ll need to type our handwritten notes, which means that we’ll have to ‘write twice’. The average typing speed according to a study in 1998 also referenced in Wikipedia found that on average, people typed at 33 words per minute.

Improving Field Office Flow 200x

LITE PAPER

By Jeremy Foster, Chief Marketing Officer for NoteVault

If we assume that we have to write our comments onto paper, then type them into a system, both at ~30 WPM, we could say that our effective speed is now 15 WPM. Thus, at 200 words each, we’re around 13 minutes of writing / typing alone. Our second factor then is that by speaking reports into NoteVault at 160 words per minute, versus 15 words per minute, teams have 10X greater efficiency.

Reading versus listening The average person reads at around 250 – 300 WPM. Our model team has generated six reports with 200 words each, or 1200 words.

Considering that most reports with around 200 words would contain at least 20 items, we can assume that our memory is starting to decay pretty quickly throughout a day. Although some people have excellent memories, any detail captured in the moment will definitely be more accurate than something captured hours or days later. As it’s too difficult to put a number on this difference, we haven’t counted it in this comparison.

Compounding the effects In the end, there are three main effects that we can claim with any certainty when using NoteVault:

• 10X more content delivered daily • 10X faster speaking instead of

writing • 2X faster reading instead of

listening Clearly this lite paper is not exhaustive and a more in depth study is merited. It does pose the question; “What would I do with 200 word daily reports from my team, delivered fresh every day?” Stay safe.

Based on our reading rate, it would take us around four to five minutes to digest this content. If we had to meet with every person to update us on their work it would take at least twice as long. We also wouldn’t have a reference document at the end of that discussion. So we can claim a ~2X improvement in information flow from this factor.

Quality of information According to short term memory studies (ref Wikipedia), our memory starts decaying after just 18 seconds, and has a maximum capacity for short term or working memory of just seven items (+/- 2).

About the author Jeremy Foster is the Chief Marketing Officer and was an advisor to NoteVault for several years before joining full time in 2015. With 18 years of experience in Information Computer Technology (ICT) across several continents, Jeremy joined NoteVault from Ericsson where he led group level initiatives in Sweden. Prior to moving to Sweden, Jeremy lead Marketing and GIR (Government and Industry Relations) across 23 countries in the Middle East and North East Africa.