Narrative reporting

When to use it

Reach for this when someone says any of these — they are the phrases the skill itself triggers on:

• “write the commentary”
• “explain this trend”
• “what should we say about the drop”
• “why did QA fall”

How it works

The method, in the order the skill runs it. The full procedure — tables, worked examples and the edge cases — is in the skill itself.

1. The four-part structure

   Every metric narrative answers four questions in order. Skip or reorder them and readers fill the gaps with assumptions.

2. Step 1: noise before narrative

   Before any "why", establish whether the movement exceeds what random sampling would produce. If you cannot compute an interval, say "direction only; n too small for confidence" — do not borrow confidence from tone.

3. Step 2: decompose before blaming

   Aggregate rates move for four channels: rate change, mix change, coverage change, and composition change (entrants/exits). Check coverage before attributing a rate story — especially for QA and CSAT.

4. Step 3: so what without drama

   So what connects the number to something the reader cares about — customer experience, cost, risk, forecast credibility — without catastrophising or cheerleading.

5. Step 4: do what with accountability

   Every narrative ends with one of: Named action and owner, Deliberate wait, No action.

Related skills

• Board reportingCut forty tiles down to the three numbers a board needs
• Metric alertsTurn a one-off search into an alert people won’t mute
• Benchmark comparisonsCompare yourself to a published benchmark honestly
• Conversation samplingPull a sample that represents everything, not what was easy
• Dashboard reviewCut the dashboard tiles nobody acts on
• Metric definitionsAgree one definition per metric, and keep it versioned