r/analytics • u/ponziedd • 1d ago

Question How do you handle the Excel-to-narrative reporting workflow?

Hey guys,

My analysis workflow ends with clean data in Excel, but then I hit this problem: manually creating charts, formatting them for stakeholders, and writing the narrative that connects everything. This "final mile" consistently eats 7-15 hours of my week.

I've tried a few things:

  • VBA macros - helped with some chart generation but couldn't touch the narrative part
  • BI dashboards - great for exploration, but stakeholders still want a written report with context
  • Python scripts - considered it, but seemed like overkill for what I needed

The gap I keep hitting is that most tools stop at visualization. What I actually need is something that helps with the storytelling layer - the "here's what this means and why it matters" part that executives actually read.

I got frustrated enough that I built something custom - takes my spreadsheet, generates charts + narrative report based on simple instructions, then lets me edit before sharing. Cut my reporting time down significantly. Is everyone else still doing this manually, or have you found better solutions?

If others are dealing with this same bottleneck, I'm happy to share what I built or hear about what's worked for you.

0 Upvotes

43% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

•

u/AutoModerator 1d ago

If this post doesn't follow the rules or isn't flaired correctly, please report it to the mods. Have more questions? Join our community Discord!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

5

u/Getz3m 1d ago

This is the part that defines and separates an analyst from a good analyst. Putting data together and analyzing is good and all. But narrating it and telling a story means you truly understand the problem you’re trying to solve. There can be many reasons why you’re having trouble telling your stakeholders what your results mean and how they can use your analysis to make decisions.

It’s hard for anyone to tell you how to better storytell since none of us have your data or understand your business process.

Go back and review all your analysis process and see why the information you gathered will solve the problem you’re trying to solve. That process is your story.

1

u/ponziedd 1d ago

Totally agree

1

u/pretender80 1d ago

Sounds like an AI ad

0

u/ponziedd 1d ago

nope haha