Collaboration
One of the first signs of a strong data culture is noting that there is a consistent flow of information and conversation between different teams, eradicating silos. When there is good collaboration, there will often be someone evangelising about the use of data and the benefits it can bring, as well as enhancing storytelling skills among data practitioners.
To identify how strong this collaboration is across the organisation, a data leader needs to examine the directions of these conversations and connections. For example, there could be someone within a team that focuses on being an interpreter to non-data professionals and building bridges. There may be other teams that actively recruit someone from another department to utilise their skills, insight and background to improve the connection between departments. Furthermore, is the senior leadership actively engaged with the conversation and taking part, or simply speaking down the hierarchy rather than absorbing suggestions from below?
As a data leader, it is imperative that data champions are selected across all areas of the business and different departments. This can be difficult to do, particularly in business operations that are more removed from data than others, but it can be achieved through education, regular presentations on the benefits of data and additional compensation.
Leadership drives data
Arguably one of the most prominent ways of gauging the strength of a business’s data culture is noting the relationship non-data leaders have with data. If the business leaders and department heads regularly discuss the benefits of data for their objectives and actively owns sets of data, that is a very positive sign. There should be consistent request pulling data into different business operations, rather than the data office having to push data findings onto individuals and departments.
The use of dashboards has been instrumental in improving data literacy and heightening data culture within organisations. Data leaders should use dashboards to see who is regularly monitoring data, taking ownership of data and asking questions of readily accessible data. The more data becomes a common conversation, the stronger the data culture is.
The main hurdle for data leaders is achieving the buy-in from business leaders about the value of data. This can be achieved using quick data wins, improved access to data (such as dashboards) and regular presentations demonstrating how data sets have progressed business or departmental objectives.
Data literacy is an essential skill
Data literacy is at the heart of everything data-related for an organisation. Without data literacy, there is no data culture, and the chances of utilising data-led decisions is minimised. When data literacy is embraced by a business as a core skill for the majority (if not all) roles, the strength of the data culture drastically increases.
With data literate individuals throughout an organisation, the rate of data literacy will continue to increase even outside of the data team as skills are shared and new operations take place. This is a slow process, but it can be measured with regular data literacy questionnaires that take just a few minutes to complete.
When it comes to recruitment, departments such as HR should be aware of the importance of data literacy skills for new talent. If a basic level of data literacy is sought after for all positions within a business, the data culture will solidify and evolve. There is no need to expect an advanced knowledge of data literacy for non-data roles, but an eagerness to better understand data and its benefits should be looked for.
Data access
Data should be available to those that need it on a daily basis. This is not to say that everyone should have access to the behind-the-scenes aspects of collecting and maintaining data, but if someone has a need for information it should be available to them. This can be achieved through dashboards for more simple day-to-day data requests, or through a request to the data team for long-term complex projects.
Data leaders and their team need to ensure that there are clear channels of contact for everyone in the organisation to reach out and request data. A strong data culture can be seen by people outside of the data team pulling for more data, rather than having it pushed onto them. When this tipping point happens, a data team must be prepared to embrace more requests and people asking questions.
It is the job of the data team to monitor and maintain the quality of data, but it can become the responsibility of different departments and data stewards to collect data and utilise it effectively. Data access should eventually permeate all aspects of the organisation when the data culture is strong.
Proactive, not reactive
A sure sign of a strong data culture is noting the proactiveness of different business leaders and departments when it comes to data. There should be a shift from fixing problems when they are spotted to creating systems that prevent the problems from ever happening. This will take time and investment as it may include having to change architecture for legacy organisations, but it is possible to achieve for all businesses.
Data quality is essential to informed data-driven decisions and the importance of ensuring data quality through proactive projects and education indicates a strong data culture. Quick fixes to problems rarely address data quality issues which impact the effectiveness of decisions to be made in the future and leave a business open to more risks in the future.
There needs to be an open conversation about data within the organisation – one that does not shy away from difficult topics and noting problems. When people can communicate and address issues actively, it rapidly improves the way data is utilised within a business and improves data culture. Data leaders need to encourage these conversations and approaches, reflect on the things said and then note opportunities that avoid past mistakes.
A strong data culture is something all data leaders aspire to achieve for their business – but what are the signs of success? With DataIQ membership, you can learn what is required to gauge, monitor and accelerate data culture. Find out more: https://www.dataiq.global/
