Data-driven tips: impact

We have already arrived at the final installment of the top 5 data-driven tips for 2023: number 5. This time Data Strategy Leader Louis de Roo talks about impact. In this blog he tells you more about why it is so important to find out where your data makes the most impact within your company.

Where to start?

Once you have decided to start working in a data-driven way, there are quite a few choices to make. Not only have you thought about the goals your organization wants to achieve with data, but just as important is how you are going to land this within your company. It is not easy to get the entire organization on board with data at the same time, so you will have to implement in phases. That raises the question: where do I start?

Many organizations then instinctively choose the department where data and figures are already part of everyday life, and where working with data will not cause a big shock: Finance. After all, the finance department is used to numbers, data-driven decisions, reports and forecasts. Wrong, unfortunately! Indeed, your finance department will not be shocked by your decision to work data-driven. But the question is whether this will contribute to the success of your implementation.

Impact

We have previously written about the head start that holds finance back, but that is not the only reason to think twice if you believe finance is the ideal starting point for your journey toward a more data-driven organization. The main reason to start working with data is: Impact. Where does your data make the difference? And where do you expect to gain the most benefits from working with data?

If your data strategy is well developed, you know how data can help your organization achieve its goals. Chances are that improving the financial reports is not your main goal. And that the time you will save by improving those reports is relatively limited.

Operational processes

The real impact of data lies, generally, in your operational processes. And often precisely in those places where working with data is relatively far off. Not only is there more to gain there by starting to work with data, the visibility of this innovation is also much greater. And thanks to that visibility, it also becomes easier to bring the rest of the organization along in your change process. So choose the department within your organization that has the most to gain as the pioneer to kick-start your data-driven innovation. Of course this route is harder, but because of the impact of the change, the return is also much greater.

Data strategy

It is therefore essential to choose the 'champion' within your company carefully. After all, you only get one chance to make a first impression. A well-thought-out data strategy helps you identify the benefits of data for your organization. And thereby helps you choose which part is best to start with. Look for the department that suffers most from a lack of data. Where the benefits to be gained are greatest. Where you can really improve the process with data.

By choosing impact with your data, you create a data-driven culture within your organization, causing more colleagues to wonder whether there is something to be gained by doing more with data. And with that, demand arises for data, for analysis and insight. And an organization that learns to improve itself using data. All benefits you miss out on if you choose to let data be, and remain, a 'finance party'. They already know the benefits there. Now for the rest of your organization!

Getting started with your data strategy?

Want to know more about a data strategy and how to formulate one? Then the data strategy workshop is definitely something for you. Find more information via the button below.

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