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Metadata
- Author: Taylor Brownlow
- Full Title:: Driving Operational Clarity
- Category:: 🗞️Articles
- URL:: https://count.co/blog/driving-operational-clarity?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=operational_clarity&utm_content=button
- Finished date:: 2024-06-06
Highlights
“We were always so frustrated when we got asked for similar things over and over. At some point we realized that in order to get a holistic view of the business, leaders had to make sense of data spread across 6 or 7 different reports. It was a lightbulb moment for us. We realised what’s really needed is a clear sense of what is going on, and alignment on the biggest problems.” (View Highlight)
The most celebrated teams we spoke to oriented themselves around ruthlessly adding more clarity to the rest of the business. They make sure the work they do - each project and their larger presence - continually turns noise and complexity in to clear and transparent signals for the rest of the organization. (View Highlight)
This means both a strict process for what new reports get built but also an audit process that ensures there’s no confusion from stakeholders about which reports should be used when. (View Highlight)
A common theme in operational clarity is owning more and more of the company metrics. For one company this meant the data team was responsible for holding quarterly OKR reviews with each department. (View Highlight)
Data teams aren’t responsible for setting goals or making sure the business leaders do their job. You would be right, but the reality is the best-performing data teams we’ve worked with make it their job. (View Highlight)
“You have this moment where you sit down and think ‘Why am I doing this? Shouldn’t our leaders have been able to work this out? Why is it my job to tell them how their business works.’ And that voice will always be there. But an unavoidable part of our role is understanding other people’s challenges, and helping them do that better.” (View Highlight)
So many leaders we speak to say something like “We can do so much more.” (View Highlight)
In each of the examples above, the data team was working in partnership with the business. So a simple rule of thumb is if you’re doing this but still feeling like a service team, you might need to readjust your approach. (View Highlight)
start by hunting down the biggest sources of anxiety from your manager, the marketing lead, the CEO, etc. When you have this list, work out where you’re best poised to make the biggest difference by providing some much-needed clarity. (View Highlight)