What language is being used?
As mentioned, there are frequently terms that are lingua franca for different departments, but these are specialist and unique terms that can easily be misunderstood by non-specialists. Do non-tech professionals truly understand what is meant by generative AI? Can someone easily define what a data mesh is? A CDO must keep this in mind and understand it is irresponsible to assume that the audience will always know the technical aspects of data work – this is true for new hires, senior decision makers and other department leaders.
As a CDO, you have been hired for your expertise, knowledge and skills. Although this may come naturally to you and be something you are passionate about, it is remiss to apply this approach to other areas of the operations. In the same way you may not be an expert in HR or finance, you audience is not an expert in data. It is a part of your position as CDO to make data understandable for other departments through storytelling and common ground language. Not only will this improve the standing of the data office within the organisation, but it will allow other niches to truly comprehend what it is the data office does.
Think back to when you were learning the ropes of data practices – how were these terms explained to you? Were there any metaphors that can work to showcase a concept? How can you easily explain the differences between databases, data warehouses, data lakes and their uses? Try your best to make your explanations relatable to the day-to-day operations of that specific department and, if you have the time, delve into a project they are working on and demonstrate how data can be used within this concept.
CDOs should also think outside of the box and realise that there are in fact limits to language – so supplement these shortcomings with visualisation. Visualisation arguably the strongest addition to storytelling as it can help keep attention and interest from the audience as well as making complex terminology easier to understand. It is also excellent at providing examples, such as highlighting how there are often hidden patterns or emerging trends which are best seen through graphs. The audience is more likely to connect and absorb the information being presented if they can see how data storytelling is beneficial for their departments.
Creating a narrative
It was mentioned by more than a third of DataIQ members that they have weak data storytelling capabilities within their organisation. Storytelling is a difficult topic to navigate as it is a skill that does not come naturally to all CDOs – but there are simple steps that can be taken to drastically improve storytelling.
Firstly, CDOs need to take the time to understand real-world examples and comparisons from different departments that can form the base for highlighting how digital data concepts can be utilised to achieve different objectives. Data is often non-tangible as a concept which can make it difficult to explain to non-professionals, so the CDO needs to understand that they will have to put effort and resources into ensuring that the audiences can always digest the information being provided. This will further raise the profile of the data team within the organisation and improve developing the legitimacy of the data department.
Data literacy as a whole will always need to be prioritised for people to truly understand different data concepts, but different teams only require a certain amount of data literacy to be able to accomplish their tasks efficiently and effectively. There is no need to force the same data literacy training on the sales team that is required by the finance team as their objectives are different. This needs to be accurately described by the CDO to the department leaders. Unfortunately, this will require time and monetary investment, but the results will be highly beneficial. Improved data literacy has been shown repeatedly to result in improved support from organisational decision makers, larger budgets and more weighting for the data team in the top-end discussions.
Recent years have seen organisations culling their jargon and unnecessary abbreviations which is a great step in the right direction, but data teams need to do more and take the lead to improve communications across an organisation. Communication leads to collaboration and collaboration leads to multiple successes. With more success comes improved backing and support which will eventually lead to a data-led business and improved data culture – and this is a very positive result. DataIQ members frequently discuss the development of data practices, culture and literacy across an organisation as a constant problem, but improved storytelling will start to remedy this.
CDOs frequently come up against obstacles when demonstrating their value and capabilities and these are often discussed at DataIQ monthly roundtables. Read about the upcoming roundtable topics and, if you are a DataIQ member, register to take part in the leading data peer conversation.
