​Sharing Data in Your Office

Sharing (or not sharing) information can be a major area of contention in any office. Just as in all other areas of human interaction, egos come into play. All too often control over data is affiliated with control in other areas of office life. Also, individuals in an office may feel that control over information is equivalent to job security.

​However, multiple people in the same office may need regular access to the same information. These folks may feel as though excluded from data sharing even though they aren't fully aware of the work involved in maintaining and legitimately protecting important information. They may forget that there are real (and very serious) reasons for limiting access to information in an office environment.

As a database consultant, I am often asked to recommend when, and how, a user can have access to office data. There are several things to take into consideration when analyzing who should have access to important data.

Firstly, it’s important to realize that information sharing evolves over time. In my experience sharing of data generally follows a typical pattern. One person in the office starts a spreadsheet of information, say weekly sales data. The spreadsheet may be a combination of data from multiple sources that this individual summarizes for reporting and analysis.

Over time, the importance of weekly sales data grows, as well as the spreadsheet application built to maintain the data. More individuals in the office may need to use the data for reporting and analysis. One spreadsheet may morph into many in order to manage the multiple ways that individuals need to see, or analyze, the information. Still, the data is maintained by one individual, and may even reside in a folder only that individual has access to. And co-workers find themselves increasingly dependent upon one person for the sales data.

By the time I am called in to help, the situation has become stressful. The person maintaining the information may feel overwhelmed because the spreadsheets she/he is maintaining and complex and can’t be easily taught to others. Others feel frustrated because they are forced to depend on one person for information access.

And, it is not at all uncommon for egos to become involved as well. The person who built and maintains the spreadsheet application may feel overly protective of his/her work. Not only is it difficult to teach to others, there is often a sense that giving others control will lead to mistakes in the data. Those who need legitimate access to the information often do not understand the intricacy of maintaining the data. In the end, these common misunderstandings can lead to a lot of stress between co-workers.

So… how does one go about increasing legitimate access to the information while protecting data integrity? Firstly, it is important to determine which individuals in an office need regular access to the data. Actually sit down and create a list of the following information:

1. Name each individual who needs regular access to the information
2. Outline which portions of the data this listed individual needs access to.
3. Note whether they need read/write privileges, or read only.

After you have determined the above, it is important to create a data solution that can be managed by multiple people. This is one of the biggest reasons that data solutions evolve from spreadsheet applications to database applications. When multiple people need to share and edit data, managing and protecting the data can be done much more efficiently in a database application.

A fully functional database application can streamline the process of sharing data. It is easier to teach others how to use the information in a database, because it is easier to control what others see and edit. So new users find it easier to learn their job in a database, and leave other tasks to co-workers. Databases can be built with effective Switchboards or Dashboards to help multiple users navigate complex data.

Most users I work with care very much about the work they do. They don’t like stressful work environments or working relationships. And they do want effective solutions, solutions where important, and shared, information is well protected and still appropriately available to the office staff.
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Moving to a database information management solution, from a spreadsheet solution, may be a bit painful at first. But, if affected parties are involved in designing the database solution, at the end of the transition stress levels decrease because those involved feel as if they have ownership of the solution.

Learn More about Building Custom Data Management Solutions with Microsoft Access​​

• Yes – Microsoft Access works in a Multi-User Environment
• YES – Microsoft Access Can be Used Securely
• Deploying Microsoft Access in a Remote Environment
• Why You Should Care about RAD and How It Impacts Your Bottom Line ....
• Do you have questions about your own data management project? Contact Michelle.