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A Waterfall Chart is basically a variation of a bar graph that shows how an initial value changes due to other factors over a period of time. It is also known as a Waterfall Graph or a Bridge Chart particularly in finance parlance. Its purpose is to show a before & after picture of your data, it depicts each step in the journey & shows which factors increases or decreases the progression. Its was made popular by McKinsey & Company, thus many people consider it to be a financial charting tool, however it has its applications in other areas as well. Let us see below a common example of a waterfall chart being leveraged in financial sector in order to study the effect of various revenue streams on the overall profit of an organization. Waterfall chart has its application in business excellence as well, especially while driving improvement projects. Let us see some examples in order to further explore this aspect:- In this example, the waterfall chart is leveraged to showcase the roadmap of achieving the targeted goal broken down in terms of various solution levers. Here we will start off with the initial baseline of the project metric & then showcase each solution lever along with its projected impact on the metric & finally arriving at the targeted value of the project metric. This example showcases the application of waterfall chart at a program level in order to showcase the 5 year projection journey of the program metric by showcasing the projected reduction of the program metric over a period of 5 years. Let us have a look at one more example where we are showcasing the impact of various factor X’s on the output Y of a regression model. Here we are starting with mapping the intercept coefficient value & then also showing the coefficient values of all the relevant X’s & finally arriving at the projected Y.

WATERFALL CHART A waterfall chart may be a form of data visualization that helps in understanding the cumulative effect of sequentially introduced positive or negative values. A waterfall chart is additionally known by many other names: waterfall graph, bridge graph, bridge chart, cascade chart, flying bricks chart, Mario chart (due to its resemblance to the video game), and net income waterfall chart. no matter the name, this versatile chart may be a great way to provide a quick visual into positive and negative changes to a value over a period. In a waterfall chart, the depiction of the floating steps is the initial and final values are shown as columns with the individual negative and positive adjustments. Some waterfall charts connect the lines between the columns to form the chart look like a bridge, while others leave the columns floating. Waterfall charts became popular within the late 20th century, when the service industry organization McKinsey & Company used them in presentations to clients. Then McKinsey associate Ethan M. Rasiel these widely popular in corporate analysis in one of his 1999 book, The McKinsey Way. The key feature of a waterfall chart, per Raziel, is that it shows changes not only over time, but in reference to the previous period or other milestone of measurement. Each step within the waterfall gets you to the result and demonstrates how you got there. and therefore, the beauty of a waterfall chart is its simplicity of construction, even in analyzing complex information — which suggests it will likely enjoy heavy use into the future. When to Use a Waterfall Chart? Waterfall charts are helpful for a spread of scenarios, from visualizing financial statements to navigating large amounts of census data. samples of situations where we might use a waterfall chart: • Evaluating company profit. • Comparing product earnings. • Highlighting budget changes on a project. • Analyzing inventory or sales over a period. • Showing product value over a period. • Visualizing profit and loss statements. • Creating executive dashboards. • Tracking consulting jobs. • Keeping track of retail inventory. • Documenting contracts. • Demonstrating how operating costs have changed from just one occasion period to another. • Contrasting competitors. Who Typically Uses a Waterfall Chart? Waterfall charts began to trace monetary performance over time and have become a mainstay among financial industries and departments. However, more and more industries, also as departments within those industries, are finding it useful to adopt waterfall charts to trace and present performance. These include the following: • Sales companies and teams • Developers and IT professionals • Retailers and ecommerce companies • Legal departments and lawyers • Construction companies • Educators and exam-scoring companies The Benefits of Using a Waterfall Chart Waterfall charts are an easy visual format that presents your data in an impactful manner, which is why they need become increasingly popular in recent years. There are other benefits of using waterfall charts also . Here are some samples of advantages you can enjoy: • Customize the looks of your waterfall charts, as you'd with any other chart. • Make them as simple and bare-bones or as complex as you wish . • Deploy them for analytical purposes, especially to elucidate or present the gradual changes in the value of an item. • Study a good variety of data, like inventory analysis or performance analysis. • Demonstrate how you have got arrived at a net value, by breaking down the cumulative effect of positive and negative contributions. The Challenges in employing a Waterfall Chart That said, there are and continue to be challenges in creating and using waterfall charts. several the roadblocks’ users have encountered include the following: • It can take plenty of input work to set totals. • There is plenty of unnecessary data and content around and on the chart. • It takes too many clicks to interrupt the axis. • It is impossible to display relative contributions in percentages. • There is no difference within the highlights. • We cannot create a vertical Excel waterfall chart. • They do not allow subtotals. • Scaling multiple charts is time-consuming. The Typical Features of a Waterfall Chart Each waterfall chart will have a rather different appearance, relying on the type of data you choose to visualize. However, your final chart will likely include the next features: • Floating Columns: To quickly provide a visual into the status of a value over time, the floating columns (also mentioned as plot or plotted values) represent the positive and negative changes made to the initial value. • Spacers: Because each of the columns during a waterfall chart don’t begin at zero, they need to be offset by a certain margin. This area is known as the spacer or padding. • Connector Lines: The connector lines (also mentioned as datum) show the relationships between the floating columns. Although they are not necessary for all waterfall charts, connector lines are often a helpful addition to enhance the professional look of your chart. • Color Coding: By assigning specific colors to the varied column types, you will quickly tell positive from negative values and supply a quick visual of the movement over time. • Crossover: There are some instances, relying on the values you're plotting in your chart, where the values will move across the x-axis. as an example, if you're creating a waterfall chart as a visible for a profit-and-loss statement and the first figure is 1,000 while the second figure is -2,000, an element of the floating column will be above the x-axis and part will be below. this is often often an important feature of the waterfall chart, because the chart should adjust automatically to point out movement across the axis. How to Create a Waterfall Chart in Excel A data table for annual sales numbers for the current year is created as below Insert three additional columns which would represent the movement of the columns on the waterfall chart. The base column representing the starting point for the fall and rise of the chart. Then input all the negative numbers from the sales flow on to the fall column and all the positive numbers on to the rise column. Insert the specified formulas to complete the table Select C4 within the Fall column and enter the formula: =IF (E40, E4,0). Drag the fill handle down to the end of the column to copy the formula. ' Select D4 in the Rise column and enter the formula: =IF(E4>0, E4,0). Copy the formula right down to the end of the table using the fill handle. Select B5 within the Base column and enter the formula: =B4+D4-C5. Use the fill handle to drag and copy the formula to the end of the column. The necessary data to build your waterfall chart is ready. Select the data you would like to highlight in the chart. Include the row and column headers, and exclude the sales flow column. Go to the Insert tab, click on the Column Charts group, and select Stacked Chart. The stacked chart now appears in the worksheet, with all the data included, but it is not a waterfall chart yet. Next, the stacked column chart need to be changed into a waterfall chart. In order to make the stacked column chart look like a waterfall chart, need to make the Base series invisible on the chart. Click on the Base series to select them. Right-click and choose Format Data Series from the list. Once the Format Data Series pane appears to the right of your worksheet, Click on the Fill & Line icon (looks like a paint bucket). Select No fill in the Fill section and No line in the Border section. Now that the Base series is invisible, remove the Base label listed in the legend. To do this, double click on Base in the legend, right-click on the selected label, and click Delete from the dropdown list. Format the waterfall chart To make the waterfall chart more engaging apply some formatting. Start by color-coding the columns to help identify positive versus negative values. Select the Fall series in the chart, right-click and select Format Data Series from the list. Once the Format Data Series pane appears to the right of your worksheet, select the Fill & Line icon. Click on the color dropdown to select a color. Once the color for the Fall series, complete the same steps for the Rise series. Color-code the start and end columns to make them stand out, and will need to do those separately. To make waterfall chart look a little nicer, remove most of the white space between the columns. Double-click on one of the columns in your chart. Once the Format Data Series pane opens, change the Series Overlap to 100% and the Gap Width to 15%. Need to change the chart title and add data labels. Click the title, highlight the current content, and type in the desired title. To add labels, click on one of the columns, right-click, and select Add Data Labels from the list. Repeat this process for the other series. To format the labels, select one of the labels, right-click, and select Format Data Labels from the list. Once the Format Data Labels pane opens, can adjust the label position, text color and font to make the numbers more readable. Once done with labeling the columns, you can delete unnecessary elements like zero values and the legend. Helpful Tips to Make Waterfall Charts • You are allowed to enter two or more values into a column. If you've got a column composed of more than one segment, you'll enter an e (for “equals”) for, at maximum, one among them. • For basic waterfall charts, every two columns are connected by just one horizontal connector. Select the connector, and it'll show two handles. • To change the column connections within the waterfall, drag the connectors’ handles. • To start a replacement summation, remove the connector by deleting it. to feature a connector, click Add Waterfall Connector within the context menu. • Connectors may conflict with one another , which can result in skew connectors. you'll resolve the problem by removing some of the skew connectors. • To connect the “equals” column with the highest of the last segment, drag the proper handle of the highlighted connector. • If you would like to create a build-down waterfall chart, use the image toolbar icon. • By using labels for level difference arrows, you’ll support the display of values as percentages of the 100%= value within the datasheet. • Incorporate subtotals as a visible checkpoint in the chart. • Customize the chart with logos, colors, etc., for max impact. • Waterfall charts aren’t limited to financial analysis; they will also show user growth or any other changes in a vital base metric.

Even I'm eager to know such methodology. If such a problem given to me, I'll go through the service history to know about the best practices & opportunities and start working on reducing the variation between the support. I'll do dip check at regular intervals to identify the gaps between SOP and Support Understanding for solving a query which improve the Quality of Service with better TAT. Ill create a Internal Reference Data Management System which helps the support to contact the right person/data on time for resolving a query which inturn improve the TAT time. May be we can incorporate several such procedures to get it done if there isn't one proven methodology. If it's working fine , we can standardize it and create our own template ( re-visit at times ) and use it.

Waterfall diagram aka Bridge Chart in its simplest form is a graphical representation of how you will achieve your desired goals in a systematic (incremental or decremental based on the goal KPI) way. It helps with a neat visualisation of 'WHAT' and 'BY HOW MUCH' variance you will achieve your goal KPI. For example, if a BPO wants to improve its current CSAT say from 80% to 85%, post a thorough Measure and Analyze phase (with ground rules of Define and Measure addressed here to improve CSAT by 5%) with identified tangible and actionable root causes we can attribute which action item can yield what percent improvement and plot a neat Water Fall/ Bridge Plot. In this example, post analysis we can say the bride to 5% can be say 2% from Bottom Quartile Agent Management, 1% from Knowledge Management, 1% from Customer Handling skills and Communication and possibly another 2% by stacks realignment. This approach will give a focused action plan and will help us focus on 'critical few' actions' with a timebound improvement plan. This can be revisted at planned intervals to see if the action plan is working before moving the same to Control phase. A downward trend bridge can be Attrition Management