Scaling Analytics: Process, Content Changes and Buying In

If you think you are super smart because you can come up with data solutions to analyze performance – think again. If the organization refuses to use your tool – everything that you have created will be put to waste. The solution here is to co-create. You do not have a monopoly on all the knowledge and expertise. If you co-create, your data solution would be a lot better because the most interesting and innovative ideas will be brought to the table by different people in the organization.

In a webinar hosted by KISSmetrics and presented by Moz.com‘s Alyson Murphy, Convert gained insights on how to scale analytics in a maturing organization. One of Alyson’s topics took us through process and content changes.  When it comes to scaling analytics, she took us through the process, the content changes, and buying in.

You can only design but when it comes to the KPIs and things that the people will want to measure to judge the success of their projects – let them decide, it is not entirely your call.

Let them Decide for Themselves

You might be able to see the importance of the tool from your end but not from the people that you designed it for. One of the greatest lessons Alyson Murphy shared is not to force people into a way of thinking about measuring their projects. You can only design but when it comes to the KPIs and things that the people will want to measure to judge the success of their projects – let them decide, it is not entirely your call. The result, a dashboard built out of their needs – exactly what the team wants to have and use. In creating a dashboard, you play the role of an architect in charge of the master plan.

[Tweet “To create a dashboard: have a planning phase then ship an MVP, learn about it, and automate it.”]

Getting Their Commitment

Loyalty to the new system is important because that will determine the success or failure of your project. If you managed to co-create, the buying in part will be as easy. There has to be consistency and in order to achieve that, the end users must be a loyal customer of the new system that you are implementing. In an article posted by Harold Scharlatt for Forbes, he mentioned that: “True commitment means you have succeeded in influencing people so that they’ll endorse and truly support you or your task or plan.

There has to be consistency and in order to achieve (Buying in), the end users must be a loyal customer of the new system that you are implementing.

To do that, here are things you need to keep in mind:

• Review the KPIs – every KPI must measure what the team wants to measure. Evaluate if you are able to cover every items on the list.
• Proper training – to use the system effectively, you need to provide the training that the people needs. The training needs to be more than just an introduction to the system but should cover scenarios like the basic trouble shooting if something in the dashboard goes wrong.
• Empowerment – this means training your people to become more than just the end-users. Train them to think outside of the box and become the next data analysts that your company needs.

Co-creation and people’s commitment are the basic tools you need before you can approach the final stage of your plan – shipping the change in the organization. Then, you can do a minimum viable product or an MVP or you can ship everything all at once. This is not going be a walk in the park. There will be challenges along the way so be patient and get ready.