A data culture introduction for non-data professionals

What is data culture? 

In the simplest form, data culture refers to an organisational mindset and environment where data is deeply integrated into everyday processes, decision-making, and strategy. The aim is to have data being considered (and become a core part) of every operation in the business as data drives success.  Data culture transforms data from being just a resource into a core part of how the organisation operates and grows. 

An organisation that demonstrates strong (sometimes called mature) data culture, employees at all levels understand, value, and use data to drive actions, solve problems, and improve performance. This includes top decision makers, C-suite executives, team leaders, seasoned team members, and new hires.  

Why is data culture important? 

Data culture can help organisations in many different ways, particularly achieving organisational or departmental objectives. Data culture has definitively been shown to: 

• Improve efficiency and decision-making at all levels of a business. 
• Innovate by identifying trends and opportunities. 
• Foster transparency and accountability. 
• Increasing competitiveness by adapting quickly to market changes. 

There is no escaping that technology and data are the driving forces for business in the current era, and with the margins for success against competition so tight businesses need to ensure they have all the tools to come out on top. Data culture is critical for teams – including non-data teams – to thrive in new tech-centric environments, and there are a few key building blocks that need to be emphasised which, when formed together, create a strong data culture. 

Data culture components 

For non-data professionals looking to evolve their data culture, there are some core parts of data culture to understand: 

1. Data-driven decision-making: Decisions are made based on data insights rather than intuition or personal opinion. The strongest decisions are those that follow the results of recent and real time data, rather than gut instinct or an outdated methodology. 
2. Leadership support: Leaders who champion the use of data and set an example by relying on it for decision-making. They encourage a mindset across their team and peers where data is seen as essential for achieving business goals. A top-down approach is the best way to demonstrate that data-driven approaches are an integral part of business operations.  
3. Accessibility to data: Team members must have the correct level of access to the right data tools, dashboards, and reports to explore insights. The data team will work on an appropriate level of democratisation and ownership, meaning the data will be available to those who need it, not siloed in specific departments. 
4. Data literacy: Team members need to be trained to understand, analyse, and interpret data. A data-literate workforce will be able to ask questions, derive insights, and tell stories with data – all of which accumulate into success.  
5. Collaboration around data: Teams across the organisation will be able to more seamlessly work together to share findings, solve problems, and drive outcomes using a common data language. 
6. Trust in data: A strong data team that supports and explains how and why data should be used, as well as ensuring a clean data is accessible. For a data culture to thrive, users up and down the organisation need to trust that the data is accurate, relevant, and timely. This is achieved with improved communication and education from the data team.  
7. Continuous improvement: A data culture embraces experimentation, learning from data trends, and using insights to iterate processes and strategies. This attitude should be embraced by all teams, even non-data teams, and encouraged by business leaders. 

Building a solid data culture 

Organisations that are on their data culture journey need to be led by the data leaders but also have non-data professional team leaders supporting them.  

• Educate team members, regardless of seniority, on data tools and analysis. 
• Lead by example: Leaders must showcase the value of data and explain why they have been using a data-led strategy at every opportunity. 
• Provide tools: There must be generous investment in data infrastructure, platforms, and training, with an understanding that training is a continuous process.  
• Encourage curiosity: Leaders and data teams should create a safe space for individuals to ask questions and experiment with data insights. 

Data culture transforms data from being just a resource into a core part of how the organisation operates and grows. By creating a culture where data is valued and used effectively, organisations of all shapes and sizes can make better decisions, improve operations, and achieve strategic goals.  

Examine the factors that make up data culture and your organisation’s capabilities with the DataIQ assessments.