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There are a number of ways to go about training: internal workshops, webinars, technology overviews, or topic-specific events hosted by experts. However, after attending MeasureCamp London I have a new perspective on effective training practices and the value of bringing people together to share their knowledge and expertise. MeasureCamp is an ‘unconference’ event where attendees are encouraged to interact or even present on topics of their choice, in order to learn, share or simply network with fellow industry professionals.
MeasureCamp’s attendees represented all sorts of industries and positions. We were analysts, vendors, agencies, consultants and even a few B2B marketers to round out the bunch. No matter what your experience is, at MeasureCamp you have the opportunity to hold your own session, or participate in others on just about every interest (surprisingly, cooking and gardening included).
While my colleague and I had the opportunity to present, and we loved sharing challenges we’ve seen faced when attempting to bring data and people together to generate actionable insights, what we enjoyed the most was hearing from some of our Sweetspot partners and attendees speaking on their biggest pain points.
Throughout the event, questions were raised and people thoughtfully shared their ideas openly and debated different strategies in the spirit of learning. We’d love to continue some of those conversations and open up today’s blog post to discuss what we noted as common issues in the analytics field.
This question provoked one of the most controversial conversations. Do KPIs fall more on the tech or strategic side? Everyone’s point of view differed, of course. One attendee gave us some valuable insight into the KPI ownership rules of their organization by sharing the RACI matrix, a responsibility assignment system used to delegate task and decision making by roles:
R: Responsible: Those in charge of achieving a task.
A: Actionable: Those who are accountable for the outcome and completion of a task.
C: Consulted: Those engaged in two-way communication around the task.
I: Informed: Those who receive a notification of the task.
This system is used to assign joint ownership across various roles by function. Do you agree that KPIs should have multiple owners or should each have one singular owner responsible for its performance?
There was a point of contention, however, between analysts who believe they should have total ownership to those who felt like the owner should be the team or person responsible for the actual behavior of said KPI. What do you think? Do KPIs have to be ‘owned’ by one side or the other, or is there more room for collaboration?
The overall consensus was that KPIs must be actionable. Whereas a great majority will relate to the bottom line, they should all have some sort of strategic relevance. By associating KPIs to achievable objectives, organizations can fine-tune their KPI definition so that they become the greatest possible indicators of performance.
We also heard some discussion around the value of percentage or ratio KPIs. Some individuals in our sessions highlighted that these types of KPIs that can provide more isolated context than absolute value KPIs are an excellent indicator of performance improvements. Do you agree?
This is a tricky question. It is dependent partially on how your information is presented: PPTX, email, dashboard, or what have you, and how explanatory or supporting context is provided. Data delivered without context is inconsequential, and stakeholders who act solely as data consumers should have it delivered in a format that is clear and comprehensive.
Why not add text snippets with additional details so that the KPI’s relevance is clear? Short explanatory text can go a long way. For example, a colleague of mine likes to replace acronyms with questions on her report. This helps her to understand the significance of metrics and ensure she is correctly interpreting the information each KPI is presenting.
This was a hot topic and rightfully so. We’ve spoken countless times on the need to adopt a data-driven culture, but it was refreshing to hear about it from the point of view of those actively seeking adoption or those who have already achieved it.
Personal anecdotes were both comical and frustrating to hear. It seems as though one of the most useful tactics for achieving this shift in culture is to continuously educate your organization on the reasons why you are making the change, what is expected, and how they can introduce it into their everyday work.
On the bright side, there were many attendees who have successfully moved past this stage and we’re already boasting the benefits of their shift. If you’ve got some tips on making the culture shift, we’d love to see your comments below.
Personalization? Culture? Data Delivery? Communication? As you can imagine answers ranged greatly between those whose organizations are just in the initial stages of a digital transformation and those who are now testing new technologies and avenues to reach their target audience.
As the final question in today’s post, we’d love for you to share what areas you find the most challenging, or jump in on any of the topics above!
Sweetspot Marketing Director. Wakeboarder & travel enthusiast. Communication Studies graduate of Texas State University, San Marcos.
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