Driving Change When Everything Around You is Changing
Over the last month we have been thrust into a situation which is completely unprecedented and is forcing businesses to rapidly change. People have changed the way they work, businesses have changed the way they operate and families have changed the way they live. While we know a lot of these changes are temporary, there will certainly be changes that stay forever.
At Slalom we have spent the last few months speaking about how to create a modern culture of data (if you haven’t done so already, then I’d recommend reading our Data & Analytics Lead Richard Fayers’ excellent blog, or this one by the fantastic Alice Hansen). I feel this is something that a lot of organisations would like to create but some may never get around to. However, many companies will now be forced into creating a modern culture of data, so it’s important to understand how to proactively manage the process so the culture is deliberately and sensitively created, rather than thrown together out of necessity.
As a recap, we consider an effective modern culture of data to encompass these elements:
At the heart of an effective culture is a bold vision, which sets your north star for what you want to achieve in your organisation and how your data culture aligns with your overarching strategic business objectives.
People are at the heart of a modern culture, both in terms of data literacy for employees and customers to develop a data enabled mind set, and in terms of your ways of working so you are structured to use data effectively. In addition, the element of guardianship is critical, so that people have trust in the data, tools and practices that run throughout the organisation.
Finally, access and transparency ensures that you have the right technology in place to scale and be flexible to future requirements. I find it interesting that these elements closely resemble the classic ‘people, process and technology’ that we learned many years ago and just like then, technology is still the lowest priority for enabling change, and typically the easiest to implement.
So, what can you do if you suddenly feel forced into a revolutionary change and you’re too busy to even know where to start?
Use a structured approach
Particularly when business is challenging and you need to see results quickly, it can be tempting to just start doing without having a clear plan of what to do. I can say from experience that if you go down that route you will have an unnecessarily tough road ahead and may not realise the full impact that you could.
My recommendation is to use the framework above and gather relevant colleagues to perform an assessment of where you currently are with respect to each of the five elements, and where you feel you need to be. Once you have taken the time to do that you can start to create your plan.
Start with small changes for a big impact
Create a list of the discrete tasks or projects that need to take place against each of the elements, in order to allow you to move from where you currently are to where you need to be. For each of these make sure they are timeboxed, have an owner and a process to know when they are complete. Now for prioritisation! You can use any method you like, but we usually look at the business impact of the projects and the effort required to deliver them, along with any dependencies. Hopefully you will see some projects which are reasonably low effort to implement but will generate a substantial impact on the business. These, alongside one longer term project which is more effort to deliver, are great to start with in order to demonstrate the impact of your work.
Ask for help
It may be that you need help in understanding what would create a huge impact on your business, in creative thinking around the types of projects that could be undertaken or in smarter ways to deliver the same outcome with less effort. It is useful to invite someone new into this process, as a fresh pair of eyes, to provide some challenge and ensure that every project you are proposing is critical, well defined and will really add value to the business.
Accept that things won’t be perfect
Enabling change of this nature is a constantly evolving process. You’ll try something and it won’t give the desired outcome or priorities will shift. The important thing is to keep open lines of communication, and to continually reference the framework and your approach to keep on track. I also recommend documenting your projects and the business outcomes routinely so you can understand the impact your work has had. It may not be perfect, but you will see that you have come a long way and lots of imperfect things add up to fundamental change.
I hope you find these tips helpful and I wish you every success on your journey towards a modern culture of data!
If you have found this blog useful and would like to know more then please check out: https://www.slalom.com/modern-culture-data
Catherine Wilks is a Data & Analytics practice area lead based in Slalom’s Manchester, UK office. Speak with Catherine and other Data & Analytics leaders at Slalom by reaching out directly or learn more at slalom.com.
