actually, the most efficient organization i ever worked for used a weekly report system to keep tabs on a couple hundred businesses in my state. managers were required to write a quick factual accounting of everything they did that week on each day. no nonsense or fluff, just the facts. it took about an hour to write, but from the perspective of the owner it enabled him to see a snapshot of everything that was going on in his empire every week. it was almost like a surveillance apparatus. the report was emailed to everyone in the hierarchy above the manager level. no one with any influence or control could use the excuse that they didn't know what was going on. problems were very easy to spot. the reports were due by 5pm every friday or your ass was toast.
United States