As a leader working with other teams and people across the organization, you likely need to leverage data. There are five basic principles that everyone in the organization can adhere to, and that help fosters and encourage a more data-driven approach to making decisions. These guiding principles are foundational to the concept of data and how to use it. They help leaders and their teams focus on different tasks, strategic planning, and decision-making. When data becomes a regular discussion and part of the culture, the organization is well on its way to becoming data-driven and data-led.
By following these principles, you influence every part of the organization to effectively use data in accordance with its primary strategies, ultimately protecting the interests of its customers and improving performance.
- Valuable Asset: Data should be valued as a material asset. Choosing to stop seeing data as a useless “by-product” of doing business is also part of it. This needs the right kind of data control, which includes setting aside resources for maintenance, security, and lifetime management. When data is seen as an asset, it becomes an integral part of the balance sheet and raises the company’s overall value. This point of view makes sure that data is treated with the same care as any other valuable resource, which helps the business reach its goals.
- Reliable Delivery: Users should be able to count on getting data in the proper format and using the correct methods. Stakeholders can get the necessary data without any unnecessary delays or problems because it is always available. They need to know when and how to get it. Consistently accessible data makes daily tasks easier, helps plan projects more efficiently, and enables data-driven processes to be automated.
- Easily Consumed: Anything that is hard to understand is not worth anything. For data to be understandable, it needs to be presented in a clear, concise, and easy-to-find way that takes into account its context. A lot of the time, this means using the organization’s ordinary language and ideas and using tools for data presentation. Comprehensible data facilitates improved decision-making because more team members can connect with it helpfully and gain insights without needing specialized knowledge.
- Open by Default: Adopting an ‘open by default’ stance means allowing all relevant parties to access the organization’s data, with the exception of special situations like privacy or security concerns. This openness makes it easier to use data in new products, services, or improvements. It also encourages a transparent culture, makes it easier to work with partners inside and outside the company, and speeds up growth. In an open setting, data can be shared between departments. This breaks down the walls between departments and lets everyone work together to solve business problems.
- Strategic Quality: Data should be ‘fit for purpose’. This means collecting and keeping data that does what it’s supposed to do. It also means having up-to-date, correct, reliable, high-quality data. Data that is suitable for its intended use meets the specific needs and objectives of different business activities. This raises the chances of success and lowers the risks that come with poor data quality.
Data is not just generated by or added to processes; it’s a vital resource that can improve any business if used correctly.
