At a recent DataIQ roundtable, contributors pointed to language and communication being a major player in the misunderstanding of data platforms and data’s role outside of an IT department. There is no doubt that data is an essential part of modern business, but have the technologies, platforms and investments for data management been communicated clearly enough to enhance the status of data?
Business language
When discussing how a data officer communicates, “we need to be able to talk the business language,” said one member addressing the issue that each business has its own specific culture and way of communicating. They argued it depends entirely on the business and the day-to-day language used in that sector to find a way for clear and accurate communication: there is not a one-size-fits-all approach for ‘business talk’. This can of course take time to learn and understand when joining an organisation, but it was agreed by participants that this is an essential part of clear communication and cohesion between teams.
It was also agreed that getting consistent levels of data literacy across the organisation was a struggle, but there are usually pockets of strong levels of literacy in an organisation. It was agreed that it would take time and stronger communication of the role of data within an organisation and its benefits to specific sectors to upskill data literacy across a business evenly. Once the ‘business talk’ has been understood and adopted by the data team, the upskilling elsewhere would become easier to communicate and promote. As several members pointed out, there is regular pushback when implementing new platforms and technologies, often from a perceived fear of change, so being able to ‘speak the language’ of the business is an effortless way to improve communication.
One member described how, when they started in the data position a decade ago, they were the only data officer in the organisation and were seen as a part of the IT team. They completed a data audit which showed incredible levels of duplication and a complete lack of data strategy. Following this, they devised a data strategy from their position within the IT function of the business, but the strategy collapsed very quickly. The business consumers were not prepared to listen, and the chief information officer said they did not understand the strategy in the way it had been presented. The fallout of this was to revise the strategy in a way that would fit with the business culture and level of literacy within the business, which often involved converting data and findings into economic metrics and adopting a ‘new language’ to present the data. This led to the development of data and analytics strategies and the growth of a data science team where the challenge then became navigating the data agenda within the architecture of the business and its culture. Part of the success of this new strategy was the use of ‘business language’. It is not a complete fix, but it helps make the concepts more accessible to those outside of data and analytics.
Building a case
Money talks in business, so data offices need to make sure they are talking the right way to achieve their own agendas. “We need to think like stakeholders because they hold the purse strings,” said one contributor from the oil and gas industry. Agreeing with this, another participant said they need to “identify the quick wins for [the stakeholders]” and be able to communicate them clearly in a way that can be understood with tangible benefits for the stakeholders. “Data is an asset, but how do you create a valuable asset; you do it by creating a want for that asset,” added a contributor from the insurance sector. They then explained that the value of data must be communicated to the stakeholders and customers as they are the ones ultimately benefitting from the value of data.
One member described being told that problems within data and analytics would not be addressed until the “the wheels have fallen off and everything has stopped moving” which demonstrates either the lack of awareness about data’s importance in a business or a misfire in the way in which data is communicated. If it is the latter, then being able to incorporate the business language into interdepartmental conversations is required; if it is the former, then the ways in which data’s benefits are being demonstrated are missing the decision-making targets within an organisation. Either way, building a case that is understandable and shows how stakeholders and customers will benefit is needed.
Data fragmentation remains a risk, particularly for businesses that are early on in their data journey. To combat fragmentation, the introduction of new processes and technologies can be the answer, however, this requires investments in time, finances and training which leads to the need for data offices. But, as was previously mentioned, pushback is a common hurdle which needs to be addressed and, aside from utilising the company language, a clear and understandable case needs to be presented to show staff what can be gained.
A maritime shipping member spoke about an earlier employment experience and how their team needed to build a new platform to replace and improve the current solution, due in part to fragmentation, but this of course required time and finances and was not able to show its worth during the development stage. It was therefore imperative that the first key deliverable held data sets that had not been available to the team under the old platform. Once presented, these new data sets were explained to the leadership teams in ways that they could readily understand and appreciate in the context of the business which provided smooth adoption of the new platform across different departments.
However, as one member from the air transport industry pointed out, there is a continuous need for investment in innovative technologies and platforms to enhance data capabilities. To be able to convince stakeholders that investment needed once is good, but it needs to be repeated to ensure data can be analysed efficiently and competently for years to come. In the air industry, this is particularly important for predictive analytics to be able to forward plan operations in the safest and most efficient ways possible. “This approach must be driven by a business need, not just a technological need,” said the maritime representative. “This will give the request for investment more credibility”.
To achieve continuous investment, data offices need to upskill their abilities to communicate clearly and effectively in a way that is appropriate for the organisation they represent. This involves needing to ensure a certain level of data literacy for stakeholders, a certain level of value within the data being presented and an understanding of the business language. With this achieved, data offices will be able to enhance the status of data beyond the technological function in a way that can be grasped by all players and stakeholders within an organisation.
