By Felix C. Veroya
For the first two (2) months of 2022, I have been invited to be a resource speaker across the Philippines on several occasions already. Thanks to the digital capability and acceptance that we have today. Whenever I take on the virtual stage, I am always happy to share my experience and expertise in the areas of Continuous Improvement, Innovation, Analytics, Sustainability, Project Management, Lifelong Learning and of course, Industrial Engineering.
With all the talks for this year, a common question from young and future professionals always surfaces and that is, “How to determine if you are a data – drive decision maker?”.
Inspired by this very relevant question in today’s digital and data age, I am sharing a simple checklist that we can use to assess whether we are data-driven decision-makers or not.
- I push decisions down to the lowest possible level.
- I bring as much as diverse data and as many diverse viewpoints to any situation as I possibly can.
- I use data to develop a deeper understanding of the business context and the problem at hand.
- I develop an appreciation for variation.
- I deal reasonably well with uncertainty.
- I integrate my understanding of the data and its implications with my intuition.
- I recognize the importance of high – quality data and invest to make improvements.
- I conduct experiments and research to supplement existing data and address new questions.
- I recognize the decision criteria can vary with circumstances.
- I realize that making a decision is only the first step, and I revise decisions as new data comes to light.
- I work to learn new skills and bring new data and data technologies into my organization.
- I learn from my mistakes and help others to do so as well.
- I strive to be a role model when it comes to data, and work with leaders, peers, and subordinates to help them become data driven.
Once you finish this simple assessment, check your total. If your score is less than or equal to seven (7), you need to continuously improve your data – driven decision making. If your score is greater than seven (7), you are showing good signs of being data – driven in your decision-making process.
This is just a simple way to assess your capability as a data – driven decision maker. I am recommending that if you want to better improve your skill set and eventually become an analytics manager, you can use these four (4) general steps when there is a need to be decided upon.
- Understand what needs to be answered.
- Gather the right information.
- Analyze the data using the right tools.
- Communicate your findings to persuade action.
There are a lot of things you can do to acquire the necessary skill in this area – taking free courses, enrolling in paid training programs, getting a seasoned mentor, joining relevant groups, etc. Having the skill to drive decisions based on data and facts is one way to build a strong reputation that your decisions are worth pursuing both in personal and professional aspects. We have a lots of data in this age, so let us make the most out of it by learning how to use them to our advantage most importantly when we are asked to decide on critical matters.
Let’s continue to be #significantlybetter data – driven decision makers, together!
Do you want to talk? Get in touch with me thru fcveroya@asklexph.com.