Tackling Self-guided Learning
I Spent a Month Learning about KPIs to Advance My Skills in Startup Analytics
Hi! My name is Rachel Pemelton and you’ve found the landing page for my work this month. Keep reading to find out what I set out to do, why I did it, my outcomes, and more. I hope you enjoy it!
My Approach
My main goal this month was to gain a basic understanding of the metrics startups use to measure their performance (Key Performace Indicators). To do this, I took a self-guided approach by researching the topic online, reaching out to professionals in the fields of operations and startup analytics, and learning some of the tools used. See my full project outline here.
My weekly progress updates
What I learned
Check out these blog posts to see more about what I was able to learn on this topic!
Start-up Metrics for Beginners
The Metric Cheat Sheet You’ve Been Looking For!
How to Network on LinkedIn for Career Advice
Two Ways to Use Google Analytics Effectively
How to Create a Comparison Bar Chart in Tableau
How to Create a Simple KPI Dashboard in Excel
How to Choose KPIs That Matter
Plus a few things that helped me along the way:
Choosing the Task Manager for You
How I Use Trello for Project Management
What I Accomplished
Did I meet my original goal for this month? Yes. I can confidently say that I have gained basic proficiency in both the knowledge and tools for understanding, setting, and tracking KPIs.
So, what did I do this month?
- Researched and gained proficiency in start-up analytics
- Learned how to use three tech tools for specific applications related to KPIs
- Researched best LinkedIn practices and reached out to seven professionals in fields related to my area of interest (operations and analytics)
- Wrote seven blog posts documenting and summarizing what I learned
- Created four videos with accompanying written documentation to teach others
What I Gained
Beyond the knowledge gained through research, this project provided an opportunity to gain new skills and improve on others.
This project showcases my ability to:
- Use Excel, Tableau, and Google Analytics
- Teach myself new information and tools on demand
- Write clearly and demonstrate concepts in writing
- Use documentation through video (using Loom) and writing to teach others
- Implement Trello as a project management system
- Create a plan for a set period and see it through
What I would have done differently
Although I’m glad I was able to meet my overall goals this month, I did hit a few stumbling blocks along the way. These hangups kept me from completing some of the specific tasks I had in mind, but I wouldn’t count that as a total failure. Instead, it has taught me quite a bit and shown me room for improvement and where I could make adjustments.
Learning Tech Tools
The biggest adjustments in my schedule were made around the extra time I needed to learn each tool. One of my frustrations was that I felt I was not able to become as proficient as I had hoped in each of these tools.
An alternate approach would have been to focus solely on one tool so that I could achieve the depth I wanted in the amount of time I set for myself. I also learned a little about setting more realistic and tangible goals for myself, so I would keep that in mind next time as well.
Time Management
This month highlighted some points for improvement in my time/project management. I frequently took longer than expected to complete some of the tasks I set, and I let my work from one task bleed into the time I had allotted for other things.
This lag soon caught up to me and smacked me upside the head. Once again, this taught me a lesson in how I plan and set goals. In this case, rather than assigning hefty tasks to long time blocks, I think it would be more helpful to me to break it down into smaller blocks with very specific goals for each day.
Final thoughts
Overall I am very satisfied with the results of my work this month. It showcases my abilities relevant to roles in operations and analytics and also demonstrates that I can hit the ground running and learn quickly.
The fun won’t stop here! This project has already taught me a lot, but it’s also shown me new things to explore and how to improve myself. If you want to see where this takes me or have any questions, follow me here or connect on LinkedIn. Thanks for reading!
