The Data and Analytics (D&A) that a data scientist can provide for your organization are very valuable and can contribute to the success of the organization. To implement the D&A that you collect, either from a consultant, part of your team, or technology, you must develop a plan that spans the breadth of your organization — from the bottom to the top — so that every part of the company is on board.
If you own a small business, this might be simpler than if you own a larger company. In this post, I want to cover how to handle integrating D&A successfully into a large organization. Just know that if you are a part (or head of) a smaller organization, you can follow the same steps, and it will likely be much simpler.
The first thing that you have to do is to set out a clear goal. Terry Bandy, senior data scientist, states that D&A can help you with many aspects of your business, from discovering growth potential through unmet market opportunities to discovering how your employees can work with more efficiency. When you think about how you will integrate your D&A into the company as a whole, you have to know what the overarching aim is. For many companies, that will be increased profit. Be specific about this, and decide how much you would like your profit to increase, and by what date. If you aren’t specific, you can not judge the success of your integration efforts.
Once you have established a clear goal, appoint a project manager. Integrating D&A throughout an entire organization is a large task, and should be done by someone who has the time and space to complete it successfully. The head of an organization may take on the role of Project Manager, or it could be someone else.
The project manager then has the responsibility of breaking the entire initiative, which is “integrating our D&A company-wide” into bite-sized pieces which directly lead toward the stated goal. One strategy that Terry Bandy suggests for organizing this seemingly daunting task is to utilize a RACI Matrix Model.
“RACI” stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consult, and Inform. The matrix consists of a chart, in which vertically you list all tasks involved in the project. Horizontally, you list all members involved in the project. For integrating D&A company-wide, this needs to include every member of the organization (though some members will be spoken of in bulk, and will likely simply be kept “informed” about the progress of the initiative). Assign an R, A, C, or I for every task in the project. For example, a task may be to design advertisements that reflect data mined in your D&A. Who is responsible for the design of the ads? Who is accountable? Only one single person can be held accountable. Who will be consulted, and who will be informed? Take every bite-sized task, and delegate it in this manner.
An important aspect of working towards a goal, which people often forget, is to evaluate progress at given increments. If you have a goal of doubling the companies profits after five years, you must evaluate your progress each year. Systematize this so that it becomes routine. Integrating your D&A into daily operations will take some getting used to, and you may make mistakes. Trial and error is only useful if you learn and grow from your mistakes. The crucial step of evaluating your progress will help you see the places where your efforts are not paying off. Learn from these situations, and change direction before too much time goes by. The longest that you should go between evaluations is 90 days.
By breaking down a very large and involved project like integrating your data and analytics into every part of your business, you produce a project that is manageable. This sets the organization up for success.