After crunching all the numbers and doing the analysis of your results, it is always a good practice to do a reasonableness test. Let me explain the value in doing so.
- First, you gain confidence on the results presented—For example, the average number of days to assign a site inspection work order worked out to be 3 days. In validating the 3 days, you estimated that gathering all the information for that particular work order would take 1 day. The review and assignment of the inspection would take another day or so. That makes the 3-day average reasonable. The test helps you feel more confident about the results from the analysis.
- Second, you uncover new insights—following the above example, let’s say the results turned out to be 5 days. Using the same estimation logic, you figured that 5 days is too long. In this case, you would dive in and figure out what caused the swing. The issue could be poor data that should be corrected, or anomalies that should be excluded in the analysis. The reasonableness test helps you identify unusual situations that you need to be aware of and fix.
By doing a reasonableness test, you get the peace of mind on the quality of analysis and with that, you will be more confident about the decisions you are going to make based on the results presented.
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