12 Explore & Engage: From Consumer to Translator
Once you’ve built a solid foundation as a data consumer, you’ve got material to help kick-start your translator journey. Here are three key strategies that can help you bridge the gap between data and action.
- Mine Your Data-Consumer Journey: Remember those notes you’ve been keeping throughout your exploration of people analytics? Pull them out! Revisit the notes from each article, video, meeting, presentation, or discussion you’ve had. For each one, identify potential applications for your current situation and consider future possible scenarios in which this might apply.
- Bonus activity: Flex your systems thinking muscles by categorizing your notes by applicability. Which ones can be implemented directly at your organization? Which require a cautious approach and potential adaptation? And which ones, due to differences in context or culture, should be treated with a healthy dose of skepticism?
- Befriend the Data Do-ers: Don’t underestimate the power of collaboration! Most analysts are eager to see their work used. Find a data friend, share your business goals and information needs, and watch their eyes light up. They can guide you towards relevant data sources, suggest analytical approaches, and even lend a helping hand. Remember, you’re not asking them to do your job, you’re simply tapping into their expertise to amplify yours.
- Build Your Analytics Toolkit: While you don’t need to become a data scientist to be an effective translator, basic knowledge of analytics will help you be a better information consumer, requestor, and translator. Learn the basics of data collection, analysis, and visualization (more on all of this in step 3!). This awareness will expand your understanding of what’s possible, allowing you to ask more informed questions and navigate the data landscape with confidence.
Taking these steps will help transform you from a passive consumer of information to a skilled people analytics translator and will provide opportunities for you to build your people analytics translator skills of business acumen, communication, and storytelling skills.