FINAL WORD
department across an organisation.
Getting all stakeholders on board with
data at the same time can appear
an overwhelming, nearly impossible
task – particularly when you are part
of a large organisation with a number
of stakeholders. Instead of taking on
the whole group, look at one or two
individuals at the board or C-suite level
who have expressed interest in data, or
seem curious about the opportunities
data can bring. Focus on getting these
people on side first by inserting data into
your daily conversations. For example,
share results about data projects within
the business, educate them on data
trends over coffee and clarify the data
jargon to help them know where they
should be paying attention. These
conversations are best done in a one-
on-one format, so that your champions
can feel comfortable asking questions
and discussing topics where they may
otherwise feel ill-at-ease in larger settings.
Since change is often perceived as a
threat, having a few key champions on
board with the data opportunity will
mean they can speak on your behalf
to allay concerns and develop greater
understanding about the value of data
among their peers.
• Create a mission statement: Take
it upon yourself to draft a mission
statement where the goal to becoming
data-driven is clear.
It sounds simple but putting a mission
statement up on posters around
the office, in e-mail signatures and
newsletters, so everyone is aware of
a shared goal will generate positive
momentum throughout the company
and make the C-suite take note.
It also keeps that shared ambition front
of mind for the entire workforce.
• Initiate roundtable conversations: The
view that data is often seen as a risk to
be mitigated, not an opportunity, is short-
sighted and potentially detrimental to
business growth. Leadership teams need
to understand and recognise that data
is a corporate asset and can be utilised
across any business function to promote
growth both now and in the long-term.
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INTELLIGENTCIO
Accept the fact that not all leaders like
change and many will need reassurance
that opportunities outweigh risks.
Several customers were able to influence
a change in mindset by setting up
informal meetings or hosting roundtable
discussions between C-suite decision
makers and data leaders within the
business to share specific data-driven
projects. The roundtables focused on
looking at the data together to share
insights and the resulting decisions – for
example, a customer service team sharing
how they were able to identify key
obstacles to online purchases in the data
to then take action on improving that
experience for customers.
The result of these roundtables was
that the C-suite walked away with an
understanding of the business impact
from data-driven insights. Additionally,
data leaders within the business were
motivated by the chance to share their
work and offer recommendations directly
to their company’s senior leadership.
Regular conversations focused on data
and specific business results are key to
educating leaders on the value of data and
will ultimately affect perception change.
• Take time for trivia: Find ways to
incorporate data-driven questions into
existing meetings. Come armed with
data insights about the business when
meeting the senior management team
and the board. Encourage them to ask
numerical questions about company
results and guess at answers. For
example, where is our company’s most
profitable region? What industries are
highest and lowest growth? What are our
top performing products?
One customer shared that by asking
these seemingly simple, data-driven
questions about their own company’s
results, senior leadership quickly
understood that they often didn’t know
the answers and appreciated the insights.
Bringing data to the heart of business
conversations gives leaders the
opportunity to learn more about the
company from a data-driven perspective
and even ask follow-up questions to
understand why something is happening.
James Eiloart, Senior Vice President of
EMEA, Tableau Software
The aim is to achieve lightbulb moments
among your senior leadership by building
appreciation not only of what the data
can show, but how it can impact business
direction and decisions.
• Point to other companies: Share the
impact data can have on business by
calling out companies that are getting
their data strategy right. This proves the
power of data and that it is achievable for
companies across industries.
Take this a step further by communicating
this message to all employees via email,
posters and presentations, touting
the connection between today’s top
companies and being data- driven.
Because numbers often speak louder than
words, you can include key statistics to
drive awareness – for example, on average,
data-driven organisations outperform
other companies by five times. This
tactic helps to drive the ROI message
to the C-suite while creating motivation
and momentum within the business.
Additionally, leaders will have a better idea
of what their competitive advantage could
be over time and offers a clear, realistic
and achievable target that should appeal
and help to drive change.
Having your senior leadership on board
with the value of data is absolutely
key to developing a sustainable and
scalable data culture. These methods
may seem simple, even surprising,
but they have worked for a number of
customers at companies that are leading
the competition thanks to being data
driven. So be bold, try something new
and take the first step to changing your
company’s culture. n
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