helping you master customer insight leadership

Which is the loneliest position in your Data Science Team?

The loneliest position

Continuing our theme of roles within Analytics or Data Science teams, let’s consider the loneliest position.

We are all human beings, no matter how technically gifted. We all make mistakes. Have you had the experience of realising you messed up? Perhaps you risked the reputation of your team, through a mistake in the data or your analysis. How did you handle that?

Based on his experience of watching Milwall play (a braver man than me), guest blogger Tony Boobier returns to discuss what this role means. What does he mean about the loneliest role…

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Human dimensions in coaching at Welsh Coaching Conference 2019

Human dimensions

Do you focus sufficiently on human dimensions when coaching?

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of delivering a Masterclass at the largest Coaching Conference in Europe. In that, we focussed on making effective use of video conferencing in coaching, but more about that later.

You may be surprised to hear, that the event is the Welsh Coaching Conference. Now in its sixth incarnation, this 2019 event was widely rated as the best yet.

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Data Artist role: do Data Visualisation analysts mean no tools required?

data visualisation analysts

In this post, we consider the emerging role of Data Artist or Data Visualisation analyst.

Building on our popular post about the need for Product Manager roles, this month we turn our attention to other roles. Given the perennial interest in Data Visualisation from our readers, I am delighted to welcome back guest blogger Ryan Den Rooijen.

You may recall Ryan from both his audio interview and the guest post he shared on hackathons. This time, Ryan turns his attention to data visualisation and whether the Data Artist role means less emphasis on tools.

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Agile working in practice, more tips to help Analytics teams transition

Agile working in practice

Continuing our series reviewing how data, analytics and insight teams can achieve Agile Working in practice.

In my first post on how to achieve Agile Working in practice, I focussed on four principles that were needed. Principles of attitude and culture, in order to have the right mindset and approach to working this way.

Continuing with this series has been driven by the feedback I have heard from a variety of data & analytics leaders. Those working in business today are telling me that this challenge is still very much a work in progress. Senior leaders want a more agile business, but it’s not a quick fix to achieve.

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Audio interview with Tom Lloyd, MD of MetaMetrics

Tom Lloyd interview

A return to our series of audio interviews with customer insight & analytics leaders, this time my guest is Tom Lloyd.

Tom is the Managing Director of MetaMetrics. As you hear in our conversation, his agency focusses on applying Econometrics and helping clients measure what drives their sales. With so much experience of applying marketing analytics & modelling for clients, Tom has plenty of practical advice to share with us.

This interview follows on from our interview with Sameer Rahman at EDIT. Like Sameer, Tom offers us the perspective of an agency-side leader. Tom shares a research or customer insight background with Elsbeth Kottelenberg from UBM, to balance those I’ve interviewed from a Data Science background. As Managing Director, Tom also brings the perspective of a business leader.

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Using Hackathons to go from zero to business impact in a week

hackathons

We’ve shared before the lessons that can be learnt from Design Thinking and the potential benefit of Hackathons.

Although previously reserved to tech companies or the most technology literate businesses, I am seeing more and more clients use this approach. When hearing about placements from Data Science graduates, I even heard of a hackathon with no coding at all.

So, I thought it time for us to explore this phenomenon, to see if it could help leaders like you. As a trusted guide, I am delighted to welcome Ryan den Rooijen as a new guest blogger. Ryan is Global Director of Data Services for Dyson. You may also recall that he was a very engaging interviewee on this audio post.

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Why your project needs less planning and more collaboration

less planning

Could it be that project management needs less planning, to achieve flexible collaboration?

During our month focussed on projects & project management, it’s time for a contrarian view. Last month, guest blogger Tony Boobier suggested we give up setting goals. In this post, guest blogger William Buist takes a shot at planning.

Over to William to explain why he is sharing a useful idea, not just playing devils advocate…

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