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Let’s continue our conversation with a reminder: Algorithms don’t matter. Data architecture doesn’t matter. Software doesn’t matter. At least, not yet.
What DOES matter? Getting the right data into the right hands at the right time to make the right decisions. And how does one do that? It all starts with a data strategy.
I know that may sound big, hairy and overwhelming. “Data” is already a loaded term and “strategy” even more so. But stay with me.
Let’s swap out “data” for “information” or “insights.” After all, that’s what we’re actually talking about: collecting the information and insights you need to take your business (or department or team) where it needs to go.
To be data-driven is to be mission-driven
A caveat: If you want to use data to help your business (or department or team) get to where it needs to go, you have to know where it’s going.
I recently had a conversation with Resultant President John Roach on the Data Driven Leadership podcast about this. John built our analytics and data science practice and has personally helped more than 100 organizations create successful data strategies. He’s frequently on calls while building something in his garage—and I have yet to find a topic in 10 years that he can’t carry a conversation about.
He puts it this way:
The whole point of data is to help your organization accomplish its mission more effectively. Often we’ll get a call to help with a data strategy—before an organizational strategy is in place. So we start asking questions. What’s your mission? How do you differentiate? What are three things you have to be exceptionally good at as a business to accomplish your mission? A good data strategy is not about tools and architecture. It’s about leveraging the data I have or can get to help the business accomplish its mission.
Get really clear on your mission and goals before “data strategy” even crosses your mind.
Data strategy 101
Put simply, a data strategy memorializes the information that matters and why. Some organizations have data that generates revenue. Others have data that’s useful internally, like:
◗ Pipeline data housed in a CRM
◗ Client or customer feedback
◗ Retention and/or employee engagement data
◗ Process documentation
Your data strategy just needs to answer a few questions:
1. What information do you need to thrive as a business? What do you need to measure and track this?
2. What’s not working? What issues are you encountering? What’s holding you back from success?
3. Who will act on the information gathered and how?
To get to the heart of hard questions like these, one of my favorite problem-solving techniques can be helpful. It’s called “Five Whys” and basically invokes an infuriatingly curious toddler asking “why” repeatedly to get to the root cause of a problem.
Let’s use employee retention as an example.
Why #1: Are we seeing any trends around our retention rate decreasing?
Answer: Retention has decreased among entry-level employees.
Why #2: Why is there such high attrition among this group?
Answer: Exit interviews indicate they’re dissatisfied with the current mentorship programs offered.
Why #3: Why are they dissatisfied with mentorship programs?
Answer: Employee feedback suggests the mentorship programs lack structure and relevance to their career goals.
Why #4: Why do mentorship programs lack structure and relevance?
Answer: Because the mentors are not adequately trained or matched based on relevance.
Why #5: Why are the mentors not adequately trained or matched?
Answer: It appears there is no formal process or resources allocated for mentor training and matching.
Spend time thoughtfully asking “why” questions and your next steps should become clear. You either have the information you need or you don’t. Have it? Great. Start playing with it and see what you can find out. Don’t have it? Great. Figure out how to get it. I just happen to be doing exactly that in my own job.
Data is more than ‘just numbers’
A month ago, somebody called me and asked, “What’s our client satisfaction score as a company?”
We didn’t have one then. But per our data strategy, we do now. We’ve always known that client satisfaction is a non-negotiable to our success at Resultant. “Helping our clients thrive” is literally in our mission. As we were deciding what data we needed, client satisfaction rose to the top. We didn’t have a standardized process for collecting these numbers. So we created one and launched a client relationship survey.
But don’t miss this: It’s not just a score. Yes, this information is necessary to achieve our purpose as an organization. But simply by collecting it, we’re improving as an organization. We’re learning how to better serve clients. Our culture is becoming more empathetic and data driven. A data strategy is about more than just making informed decisions. It’s about empowering your team to achieve its potential and fulfill your organization’s mission.•
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Carter is host of the Data Driven Leadership podcast and vice president of client experience and delivery operations at Resultant.
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