Structure your

data, scale your

business.
The Sheetgo guide to process design.
 2 Structured data,
scalable processes.

6 What do you want

your data to tell you?

Contents

7 How do you get

your data?

15 Dealing with
data
Structure your data,
scale your business.
The Sheetgo guide to process
design.
Focus on
decision-making, not
data management.
Every organization in the world is built
on data. Data on stakeholders,
customers, products, sales, inventory,
employees, finances.
And data-driven companies (those
who use data as the basis for business
decision-making) are the ones who
gain a competitive advantage in the
market.
But how do we get the right data to
obtain the insights we need for
growth?
The truth is that most of us spend
more time entering, finding, collecting,
moving and processing data than
actually analyzing it.
Think about the last report you creat-
ed. Did you spend longer pulling the
data together than sitting down to
evaluate it?
Imagine a system where you only have
to input data once. That data is distrib-
uted to everyone who needs it, across
your entire company — automatically.
Everyone who needs that data to
make decisions and take strategic
action will be able to access it without
calling, emailing or asking you
anything.
Imagine how much time you will gain
for:
·Strategic conversations.
·Important decision-making.
·Taking action.
·Creative work.
·Vacation — without interruptions.
...or just grabbing a coffee.
No matter what size or type of organi-
zation you work in (an SME, non-profit,
or a department within a large corpo-
ration), you can design and implement
this system in your workplace — with
the tools you already know and use.
In this short guide we’ll show you how.
2
Scalable businesses You’ll learn :

need scalable 1 - The 3 steps for every data pro-

processes.
Well-designed and automated data
processes not only save you time —
they can save your entire business.
cess.
2 - How to use the Sheetgo process
design framework.
3 - How to increase productivity with
automation and collaboration.

Copy-pasting or manually re-entering

data is time-wasting, unproductive ...
and also dangerously prone to errors.

Inefficient and manual processes are a

huge drag on both productivity and
growth.

At Sheetgo, we’ve helped hundreds of

companies eliminate manual work by
designing and building their own
customized automation systems.
Here we’ll share some of the key
lessons we’ve learned.

3
All data is the same. is good news, because it means
anyone can design and implement an
automated process. We can all be
We all tend to think that our business significantly more productive and get
is completely unique and that the more data reliability without coding or
tasks and systems we’ve created are the help of an IT team.
specific to our company or our
product. Because we adapt and At Sheetgo, we’ve worked with every-
optimize processes over time, we can’t one from government organizations to
always find a piece of pre-packaged restaurants, from AI-powered tech
software that covers everything, startups to schools.
especially when we have cross-depart-
ment processes. It doesn’t matter what data you have, it
matters what you do with it.
In reality, all business processes—even
the most unusual, customized Every business process has 3 data
ones—follow a similar pattern. And this flow steps.

Date SKU Quantity

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Volume of items per day
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M
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T
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7/4 89459 53 Unit F

8/2 22411 13 Unit S

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1. Collect 2. Prepare 3. View

This is where everything starts: where
you input the data for a specific task or
process. Examples of data input include:
• A purchase request.
• A list of prospective contacts on a
sales landing page.
• Finance department expenses.
• Marketing campaign performance
results.
• HR evaluation forms.
• A database of products.
The data input is the trigger for your
entire process. It could be anything from
a simple manual entry in a spreadsheet
to a complex dataset extracted from
software or an ERP.
The preparation step involves making
sense of the input data and transform-
ing that data into actionable informa-
tion.
After your data is prepared, you can
generate values, tables and charts to
make it easy for anyone to quickly spot
trends, monitor values, or compare
actual results with goals.
Multiple people are involved in
decision-making so the results
produced in the preparation stage need
to be easy to understand and shareable
in a simple visual way, with charts,
tables or totals, etc.
This step is critical because this is
where analysis takes place and where
key business decisions are made. It can
be incredibly time-consuming if the data
flow structure leads to incorrect
information or if the data flow is not
automated. Delays in people receiving
and analyzing data can impact critical
decision-making and the success of a
business.

4
The Sheetgo The Sheetgo process design framework
guides you to apply the same logic when
building your scalable process.

process design Begin by defining the end goal.

framework What data do you want to see?

With any strategic activity, we start by

defining our goal and then based on
Average check-out items per weekday
Volume of items per day

where we are right now, we find a way

M

(View)
T

to get from A to B. Imagine that your

W

goal is to run a marathon. You need to

F

evaluate what level of fitness you’re at

S

now, and then design a training

program to get you there. Your training
program would be totally different if
your goal is to swim 1 mile or lift 80 kg.
And you only know what to do if you
know what your target is.
Then think about where you’re
starting from.
How will you collect the data?

Before you get started:

•Always start your design from scratch.

•Don’t open your spreadsheets (yet)!

Start with a pencil and paper.

•Think about who will be impacted by

the process when you design it.
Now design the process.
•Involve these colleagues or clients at What is the best way to get from
Collect to View, based on your
the outset to save you having to make team’s requirements?
changes later.

Date SKU Quantity

Date SKU Quantity

4/9 42517 23 Unit

2/5 50232 24 Unit

5/8 55942 63 Unit

6/9 56045 68 Unit

7/4 89459 53 Unit

8/2 22411 13 Unit

2/1 14039 03 Unit

1/9 20268 25 Unit

6/2 75721 35 Unit

5
View

What do you want to manage when you want to scale.

Build a solution that gives you the key
your data to tell you? information you need to view. Leave
non-essential elements for later.
Focus on what data you want, not
what data you already have. This 1. What question do you want
means listing the exact information to answer?
you need, and thinking about the best
way to present it visually. Spend time What do you want to know and what
being specific about what you want. format do you want the data in? Do
you want a chart or a table? Do you
When designing an inventory dataflow want a single metric?
for instance, you will probably want to
see a list of items that you need to
purchase in the coming week as well
2. Who is it for?
as the ones that have been sitting in
Remember that you are already famil-
your storage for a while. In that case,
iar with your data, but others are not.
your goal will be a table with a com-
Make it accessible to the person who
plete list of items. The list will need to
will view the data. Will it be shared
contain values such as product ID,
internally or externally?
description and a time or date (such as
The best format might be a dashboard
a deadline to purchase more stock).
for your whole team to access at any
time. Is it just a number, a chart in a
One size does not fit all! Don’t try to
quarterly team presentation or a
incorporate your entire company into
detailed report?
one single process. You’ll end up with
a process that does one thing well,
and another thing badly. It’s also hard 3. How often do you want the
data updated?
In our experience, data that forms a
Average check-out items per weekday Total itens in stock
key part of a process normally requires
M

T
1,677 daily, hourly or even real-time updates.
For reporting, weekly or monthly
updates are usually sufficient.
W Volume of items per day

S
6
Collect
How do you get
your data?
This is the step techie people tend to
skip (because it’s what they’re good at)
and the step non-techie people get a
little afraid of.
These are our tips:
•For techies: take the time to plan this
stage. You’ll probably be able to sim-
plify your solution and make it easier
to transfer the system to non-techie
colleagues to maintain.
•For non-techies: dealing with raw
data may seem complicated but it’s
simpler than it looks and it’s very
important for enabling automation. If
you need help with a specific chal-
lenge, share it with us and we’ll be
happy to help.
There are 3 elements to think about in
relation to your data collection:
1 - Source
2 - Format
3 - Frequency
Source
How is the input generated?
The source will vary depending on the
type of process and the size of the
company.
For example, in the finance
department of a small company, if you
need to compare your actuals with
your budget, your data will probably
be distributed in department spread-
sheets and a master spreadsheet
managed by the finance analyst. Part
of it will likely be entered manually.
If you’re carrying out budget vs. actual
analysis in a large company, your
actuals will be in an ERP and your
budget will be in a spreadsheet. A
spreadsheet allows you to create
different models and it’s an easier
input tool for people in other depart-
ments to enter their expenses.
In many departments, you will have a
variety of sources for collecting or
generating source data such as forms,
spreadsheets or different software.
7
Let’s look at the main data
sources:
Email, messaging apps,
docs or PDF.
These may seem like an easy way to
send data but they are best avoided!
The data is unstructured and gets lost
easily. These methods generate a lot
of manual work and mistakes. Instead,
provide a form for colleagues or
clients to share information.
Software: ERPs or apps.
Most software has an export button for
you to download the information to
Excel, CSV or Google Sheets format.
You can click to export the data, but if
you have an IT team, ask them to auto-
mate the generation of spreadsheets
with the data you want, saved in your
cloud storage so it’s ready for you to
work with it (bribe them with donuts if
necessary).
Google Forms.
You might think of Google Forms as a
survey app, but we recommend using
it whenever you want to gather any
kind of information from colleagues or
customers. For internal employees,
you can use it for
things such as supply requests, job
applications, IT, or vacation requests.
For customers, it can be used for
everything from orders to event
registration.
Google Forms not only save you time.
They ensure accuracy.
When someone enters data themself
into a Google Form, it’s more likely
that the details are correct. No more
spelling mistakes or wrongly entered
phone numbers.
It’s also already in the correct format
for transfer to your Google Sheet.
Automating and scaling your process-
es involves replacing manual work
(like emails, calls and copy-pasting)
with digital data collection channels.
But your data needs to be extracted in
the most user-friendly and collabora-
tive way possible.
Let’s imagine that you’re a school
administrator and you want to create
a system for your teachers to report
grades. You may be familiar with
spreadsheets and regularly use them
to analyze and collate data — but a
spreadsheet might not be the most
accessible, simple or user-friendly
data collection source for your
teachers.
Google Forms offer a more
user-friendly interface than a spread-
sheet. You can import the data directly
into a sheet, collating the reports from
your teachers automatically.
So, let’s talk about data and file format
to enable you to manage your collect-
ed data.
8
Format
Spreadsheets.
Spreadsheets are great because
they’re easy to use, they structure the
data, and you can start preparing the
collected data straight away. As a data
source, spreadsheets have some
downsides. If multiple people have
access to the same sheet, they can
alter another person’s data. For data
transfer automation, it’s also essential
that people format their data correctly
in the spreadsheet.
The solution?
Get your spreadsheets
talking.
The key advantage of spreadsheets
(their flexibility and user-friendliness)
can also make them risky. Everyone
can use them. Most spreadsheet
users are not techies or experts in
formulas, so as a result it’s common to
find copy-paste mistakes, incorrect
formulas and multiple errors.

Think spreadsheets are a thing of the Here we’ll show you how to:
past? Think again.
• Get your team using spreadsheets
70% of companies' decisions are still in a smart, structured and safe way.
based on data in spreadsheets. And Design a scalable process based on
according to research from Gartner, spreadsheets.
the number of spreadsheets is dou-
bling every year. • Avoid data chaos and spreadsheet
overload.
No matter which software you use:
Google Analytics, Hubspot, Asana,
Shopify or ERPs like SAP and Hyperi-
on…

there is one thing that almost every

worker and every company still has in
common: spreadsheets.
Date SKU Quantity
4/9 42517 23 Unit

One reason for this is that spread-

2/5 50232 24 Unit

5/8 55942 63 Unit

sheets are still the easiest way for

6/9 56045 68 Unit

7/4 89459 53 Unit

22411 13 Unit

non-programmers to organize, manip-

8/2

2/1 14039 03 Unit

1/9 20268 25 Unit

ulate, and analyze data. 6/2 75721 35 Unit

Often, a spreadsheet is the only way

to combine and analyze data from
multiple software packages that do
not talk to each other.

9
A spreadsheet-based solution is
incredibly flexible. Why?
You can
• Combine and process data from
multiple software packages.
• Get all your data in one place for
analysis and reporting.
• Create expandable databases.
• Do it yourself. No coding, no need
for an expensive developer.
• Customize and adapt. No need to
change software as processes change.
• Save money - spreadsheets are
affordable and accessible.
You need to consider 2 key factors
when creating a spreadsheet-based
solution:
1 - File format.
2 - Data format.
File format
A scalable process must allow stake-
holders to access and analyze data in
a smart way. That means quickly
(instantly or automatically) with mini-
mal (or zero) communication and
manual work.
Sending files as email attachments,
waiting for file revisions, calling to
check facts and get fresh data … these
are all inefficient, outdated working
practices that can be completely elimi-
nated.
The key to team productivity is
collaborative tools, used in the right
way.
You can make your processes scal-
able by using cloud-based software.
This allows easy access to files and
real-time collaboration. G Suite is the
current leader in online office
applications.
Are you an Excel user?
Microsoft also has an online
spreadsheet format and collaborative
environment, but it has not yet caught
up with Google Sheets in terms of
user-friendliness and features. It’s not
currently as easy as G Sheets to
connect spreadsheets and share them
with colleagues to create automated
solutions.
10
Why Google Sheets? •Is flexible: easy to incorporate new
information, saving you time.
In real time.
•Allows you to perform analysis with
Up-to-date, accurate, and readily-avail-
simple formulas, preventing formula
able information means quicker deci-
errors.
sion-making and no delay in taking
action. This is key when you want to
Before we had collaborative tools like
grow your business.
G Suite, we would work in one single
spreadsheet, controlled by one owner.
A collaborative system.
The same spreadsheet would be used
This means less reliance on individual
to input, process, analyze and report
team members for specific tasks.
data. As each function requires a
The person who made the spread-
different format to perform well, we’d
sheet is on vacation? No problem.
end up with a spreadsheet that did
Need to check a stat from another
everything, but didn’t do anything
department? No need for a time-wast-
quite right.
ing email or phone call.
In cloud-based platforms like G Suite,
Ready for automation.
you can share any file with anyone,
If you want to scale your organization,
collaborate on files in real time and
you need to automate manual tasks.
connect data easily between different
By using Google Sheets, you can con-
sheets. You can create a more effi-
nect data more easily, in workflows.
cient system by using multiple spread-
sheets and giving each one a specific
Data format role.
If you put dirty fuel into an engine, it There are 2 types of data input:
will probably keep running for a while,
then start to break down frequently, 1 - Database data.
before meeting an early death.
2 - Activity data.
Your data process is exactly the same.

By taking the time to structure your

data well at the outset, you will make a
system that:

• Works efficiently.

•Has a longer life-cycle.

11
Database data is data that you use as
a reference.
This data is stable or fixed: it doesn't
change frequently or suddenly.. You
need to have this data well organized
so you can combine and analyze it
with activity data.
Imagine that you run a restaurant or a
cosmetics company. You will need a
database of recipes containing all your
products, ingredients and quantities.
This information is essential every
time you generate a production order.
It needs to be connected to your
inventory system to calculate which
ingredients are used, and in which
quantities, for every single order.
If you work in operations or HR, you
might need a database of employees
showing their availability, contract
(part-time, temporary), hourly rate,
and so on. This database data will be
brought together with the number of
actual hours worked to create a table
containing the information for their
pay.
When designing your solution, it’s
important that database data is
isolated in a private or view-only
spreadsheet — people must not be
able to alter this data (either
intentionally or accidentally). This
guarantees data reliability and, if
needed, data privacy. You may need to
use multiple sets of database data for
one specific process. You can bring
them together in one single
spreadsheet with multiple tabs,
or if there’s a large volume of data
(or different people need to maintain
it) it’s better to keep it in separate
spreadsheets.
2. Activity data changes frequently.
It’s the data generated by your
processes.
This is the “current” data reflecting
what’s happening in your business on
a day-to-day basis. In a sales team, for
instance, activity data might include
the contact details and status of new
leads. The team will be constantly
logging and updating this information.
The database data in this case might
include the list of sales reps and their
field of responsibility. It doesn’t need
to be changed frequently.
In a finance process, activity data
includes things like expenses, funding
and loans.
Activity data must have a date or time
attached to it. This is essential for
creating a dashboard or report.
It’s important that people can enter
input activity data in a user-friendly
way — but it’s also important that they
do not do not alter another person’s
data. At the same time, the data needs
to be well structured so you can apply
formulas for analysis.
12
You can do this by:

• Using Google Forms. These provide

a user-friendly interface and a
structured data input.

• Integrating your software with a

spreadsheet.

• Importing information to a specific

folder.

• Using separate spreadsheets for

individual users to prevent too many
hands touching the same data.

For both database and activity data

there are key structural issues that
need to be addressed for your
solution to be scalable.

Date SKU Quantity

4/9 42517 23 Unit

2/5 50232 24 Unit

5/8 55942 63 Unit

6/9 56045 68 Unit

7/4 89459 53 Unit

8/2 22411 13 Unit

2/1 14039 03 Unit

1/9 20268 25 Unit

6/2 75721 35 Unit

13

The top 5 data no-nos:
2. Rows and columns with no
data.
This tends to happen when the
The top 5 data no-nos:
input format is non-tabular.
4.Similar data in different
formats.
This could be a number written in
a different way (e.g. 1,000 or
1.000) or different date formats.
This can happen if data comes
from different sources.

List of books:
302-543-0104 Department Date %
1-Le Petit Prince Charlotte Finance 3/2 10.2
(The Little Prince)
ID 12 502-525-0604 finance 9.7.2020 10,2
2-Moby-Dick Finances 1.4.2020 ten
Isabelle
3-Harry Potter and the ID 13 372-135-0435 MKT Jan/20 31.3
Philosopher's Stone Daniel Marketing dez.19 50.6

4-Alice's Adventures in
Wonderland

ID 12 Charlotte 562-543-0153 3. Multiple namings or data

ID 34 Diego 122-523-0104 formats in a field that
ID 21 Alex 772-563-0746 should contain the same
ID 13 Daniel 232-543-7501
type of data.
1. Data in a non-tabular
format. This happens if you don’t
use data validation, which
This is unstructured data. At 5.Similar data arriving in the means guaranteeing that a
the input stage, your data wrong order. number is a number. It might
needs to be structured and sound strange, but some-
that means it should be in a This is a particular problem when times you think you’re
tabular, grid-like format, in we can’t change the source. looking at a number, but the
columns and rows. It may look spreadsheet can be reading
boring or hard to read, but it as a text. Numerical
you do not need something formulas will not work
readable or visually attractive properly on top of this data.
at this stage (that’s your Remember you are smarter
report, which will come at the than a spreadsheet!
end!).

Frequency
Differences between the frequency of the
data source and the frequency of the data
visualization require you to make data
transformation adjustments.

Let’s explain that.

For example, imagine you extract weekly data

but you want to generate monthly reports. Or
your input data is in US$ but you want to see
€ on your dashboard.

These are differences in frequency.

14
Prepare

Dealing with data This is particularly important where

OK, so now you know what data you
want to see and where it’s coming
from, it’s time to prepare your data for
visualization.
People end up spending most of their
time on this step when the process is
not well-structured or automated. This
often entails manual work, fixing
formulas, auditing values, and so on.
We want to help you spend more time
analyzing data, not managing data.
there is a lot of input (or a lot of people
touching the same spreadsheet).
2. Automate data transfer
between spreadsheets
This is where the productivity magic
happens!
By automating, you can eliminate
time-consuming manual work and
communication, saving hours every
week.

There are 3 golden rules in
the prepare step:
1 - Maintain one single source of truth.
2 - Automate data transfer between
all spreadsheets in the solution.
3 - Use intelligent formulas.
You also get up-to-date data, exactly
where you need it, when you want it.
When working in a cloud-based envi-
ronment, you’ll be more productive —
even when you have more spread-
sheets.
When using Google Sheets, there are
a few different ways to automate data
transfer.

1. Maintain one single source

of truth

This means that you must never trans-

form data in the source file. Instead, it
is better to carry out all changes in a
new sheet. This separation helps guar-
antee data reliability.
15
Google Importrange formula
The IMPORTRANGE formula imports a
range of cells from another spread-
sheet.
On top of that, you can consolidate,
filter and query data — allowing you to
create a complete, automated work-
flow system that works just like a
data-base without any coding.

The great thing about Importrange is

that it’s quick, you can use it for any
cell in your sheet and it allows you to
import whole ranges of cells. It works
really well for one-time, one-off data
transfers, giving you real-time data
when the spreadsheet is open.

The weakness of IMPORTRANGE is

revealed when you want to perform 3. Use intelligent formulas
multiple imports from multiple spread-
sheets. There is no traceability and it’s
Intelligent formulas are expandable
easy to forget where you’re importing
and lighter for Google to process.
data from.
These formulas expand automatically
when data volumes change: you don’t
If you import data in a cascade format,
need to alter the formulas to adapt to
you will experience a delay while the
the data.
data loads and this can result in errors.
Multiple formulas can make your sheet
This means you:
heavy and this can break the sheet,
especially as your data expands over
• Increase the life-span of your spread-
time.
sheet.

Sheetgo • Prevent your spreadsheet from

Sheetgo allows you to push and pull
data from one spreadsheet to another,
automatically. Just like booking an
Uber, you select your source and your
destination and then watch your data
move from one to the other. You can
then select the frequency of automatic
updates (hourly, daily, weekly or
monthly), as well as having the option
to update each connection manually.
crashing — this can happen when you
use multiple formulas in several cells
as it overloads Google’s servers.
• Get quick results. No time-out errors
or delays in processing the data.
•Guarantee that new data is automati-
cally calculated without copy-pasting
any formulas.

16
An intelligent formula will fill multiple
cells without you needing to repeat
the same formula in many cells. With
one formula you can get your calcula-
tion in a column.
This is the difference between creat-
ing a formula for a specific range like
A2:C4, and having an open range like
A:C. The latter guarantees that any
new information that appears in your
columns is included in your calculation
without any manual work.
Array formula
This is the simplest one to start with,
and really useful for multiple purposes.
The array formula carries out multiple
calculations on values in an array, or a
series of data, rather than on a single
value. An array is a table of values in
rows and columns.
Check out our blog post on how to
use array formulas in Google Sheets.
QUERY function
Another powerful tool, QUERY fetches
specific information from a data set.
This function can be intimidating the
first time you see it, because it has a
programming type of logic. But trust
us, QUERY is magic, because it keeps
your spreadsheet very light and gives
you the flexibility to play with your
data.
Read more about the power of QUERY
function in Google Sheets and start
testing it to see for yourself.
Index formula
Just like the index in the back of a
book, Index formula allows you to
access particular content quickly. It
returns the value of a cell in a given
position in a range or array.
This is really useful for creating
dynamic reports. Instead of all your
data, you only get the specific data
you need.
Get a step-by-step guide on how to
use Index formula in Google Sheets.
Prepare your data to scale
your processes
It’s now easier than ever before to
automate and scale your business
processes yourself — thanks to the
power of the cloud.
We can now collaborate and work on
the same files with colleagues in real
time, and we can automate data trans-
fer, freeing us from time-consuming
manual work and back-and-forth com-
munication.
Taking the time to organize our data
and design our system well at the
outset allows us to maximize the full
potential of cloud software.
17
Remember to use:
1 - Clean, structured data.
2 - User-friendly inputs such as forms.
3 - Intelligent formulas.
4 - the Sheetgo process design
framework
Automation for all. No need
to call IT.
At Sheetgo, we help teams and entire
organizations to automate using the
tool they already know: spreadsheets.
No coding, no need for complex new
software.
Sheetgo.com
Our team has helped design and
implement custom-made Sheetgo
systems all around the world in every
sector, from education and retail to
finance and tech.
If you use spreadsheets, you can
automate with Sheetgo.
Interested in automating with
spreadsheets in your company?
Migrating your team to the Cloud
and want to do more?
Book a meeting with one of our
process experts or contact us to find
out about our next webinar or
workshop.
18
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