Creating a Data Driven Business Culture - Part 2

Filed under: Analytics, Education and Training on Thursday, February 14th, 2008 by Nate Linnell

My last post began laying out the process of creating a data driven business culture. This is part two of the series and deals with what needs to take place after the analytics managers have met and have gotten buy in from each department head.The next step is meeting with each stakeholder. This is a very important step as these are the individuals who will be using this data not just in reports, but they will be using it to make site changes that will improve the company’s bottom line. During the meetings with each stakeholder it is important to not only determine what each stakeholder is interested in tracking, but also to help determine the goals and resulting metrics that will need to be tracked. This will enable the analytics manager to determine how best to setup dashboards for each stakeholder so that they will have all the necessary data at their fingertips. During the process it is also imperative to address any issues that each stakeholder may have so that they will not be skeptical of the changes that are taking place.

After all the issues and reservations of each stakeholder have been adequately answered and all the required information has been gathered from each stakeholder it is then time to begin to configure the analytics package to report on all the necessary metrics. During this time it is also important to create dashboards for each stakeholder so that the relevant data can be delivered to each of them in a web analytics report that is easy to understand.

This, however, is not the last step of the process. The analytics manager can not do this alone, but instead will need the help of certain individuals in the company. To get the required help they will need to diligently work on building relationships with these individuals. They include the marketing manager, developer, database administrator, customer support manager, finance analyst, and product managers. These are the individuals who will be able to make the job of the web analyst easier by providing the necessary support and resources. It is important to have their buy in so that they are not continually pushing back as the web analyst tries to move the company towards being a data driven company. The web analytics manager should meet with each of them and explain how being a data driven company will benefit them and the company as a whole, but that it will require them to work closely with the analytics manager. Being a key part of changing the culture will raise each of these individuals profile within the company by showcasing their skills in the process of transforming the company. Since they will be intimately involved they will also have a big impact in the future success of the company.

Once this process has taken place the company should be ready to move forward towards being a data driven company. Since all the background work had already been done to lay the framework, it will make the process of implementing and beginning to use the data seem much more seamless. There will of course be issues that come up along the way, but since the analytics manager had already made sure they had the buy in from all levels of the company it will not derail the project. Instead the company will be in position to more easily work through the issues and come out of the process with all the pieces in place to begin to use the data. The process will not, however, end there. The analytics manager will then need to spend time training each stakeholder on how to use the data they are receiving. This is especially important for those stakeholders who will be using the data to improve the site. Since the stakeholders will likely use the data to run various tests it is important to make sure they understood that failure is ok. As long as they learn from what did not work it does not matter that mistakes are made since in the long run the company will end up in a stronger position.

Once the process is complete and each stakeholder has been empowered to make data driven business decisions there will be a dramatic change in how the business is run. No longer will the company rely solely on gut instincts from the key decision makers, but instead it will rely on hard data that will be used by all levels of the company.

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1 Comment


  1. [...] to your target demographic, and now you have another way to integrate demographics while becoming a data-driven organization. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and [...]

    Quote | Posted March 28, 2008, 1:12 pm

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