nicole mills, suffolk construction presentation at cdao winter 2017

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Building a Bridge: When Data and Analytics aren’t Enough January 26, 2017

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SUFFOLK OVERVIEW

1,700 STRONG

#31 ENR Top 400 General Contractors

$2.5 BILLION

Revenue in 2016

OVER

200 Completed or in-progress projects leveraging Virtual Design &

Construction, totaling $6 bil and 43 million square feet.

10 YEARS

As one of Boston’s Top Places to Work!

15th Largest General Building Contractor in the US

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TODAY’S DISCUSSION

I. UNDERSTANDING THE GREAT DIVIDE – THE BUSINESS VS. THE ANALYST

II. BREAKING DOWN THE ANALYTICS SILO AND ESTABLISHING RELEVANCE THROUGH A BUSINESS OPERATING SYSTEM

III. 5 STRATEGIES TO TRANSITION YOUR “PUSH” EFFORTS INTO A “PULL” DEMAND

IV. BUILDING YOUR OWN BRIDGE

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THE BUSINESS VS.

THE ANALYST

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IT’S IN OUR DNA… LITERALLY

Thinking/Analyzing Sensing/Doing

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Leadership is often closely associated with action oriented language

Many Leaders have been hugely successful in relying upon intuition, which naturally puts them at odds with the notion of “data driven decisions”.

BEING ABLE TO SEE OUR DIFFERENCES

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BEING ABLE TO SEE OUR DIFFERENCES

Analysts are often closely associated with meaning oriented language

For business leaders who are “action oriented”, there can be skepticism that data could out-perform their own intuition. The notion of “time” to “test”, “model”, “estimate”… can be a trigger point!

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WE CAN CHANGE THE DYNAMIC!

We can’t change others, but we can modify our approach: • Recognize our differences… it’s ok!

• Try to communicate using language preferences of others (action vs. meaning)

• Constantly Evolve until you find what works!

• Incorporate Analytics into core business processes to add value & boost ROI

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MAKE ANALYTICS PART OF THE

BUSINESS OPERATING SYSTEM

Data &

Analytics

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?

ARE YOUR ANALYTICS CORE, OR PERIPHERAL?

?

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EXAMPLE APPROACH ANALYTICS AS A PART OF THE

STRATEGY OPERATING SYSTEM

Advantages: • We lead the research & planning efforts on new growth

opportunities (vision & growth).

• We know the long-term and annual goals of the enterprise (planning)

• We know the pain points of every function & business line (plan management)

• We know the questions the business is trying to answer.

• We are positioned to develop & deliver the analytics insights that answer the right questions to the right areas of the business.

• We incorporate analytics reviews as a part of learning, improvement, and managing performance to plan.

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5 STRATEGIES TO TRANSITION FROM A PUSH TO A PULL DEMAND

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1. ANSWER RELEVANT QUESTIONS

Do your Analytics provide the right, useful insights to the business?

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PHILOSOPHY – WE DON’T TAKE ON A PROJECT UNLESS THERE IS A RELEVANT QUESTION TO ANSWER!

How

Discern between what is “Interesting

to know”

vs.

What drives Action/Decisions

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2. MAKE THEM A PART OF IT!

Are your analytics developed in isolation, or in partnership?

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PHILOSOPHY – WE TAKE A PMO APPROACH TO EVERY NEW ANALYTICS SOLUTION

How

The analytics client is a part of the project governance model and has

decision rights.

How

Solution development is reviewed 1/week in a PM Meeting w/ the client. We can iterate based upon feedback.

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3. VISUALIZATION MATTERS!

Are your analytics legible to everyone?

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PHILOSOPHY – WE HAVE STANDARDIZED THE LOOK AND FEEL OF ALL ANALYTICS SOLUTIONS

How

We partnered with Slalom Consulting to establish an

Analytics Brand Guide.

This ensures a simple, legible, and consistent experience for all

end users!

Complex visualizations (dual axes, multi-dimensional charts…)

are prohibited.

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4. USER EXPERIENCE MUST BE INTUITIVE!

Are your analytics easy to navigate?

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PHILOSOPHY – WE USE THE SAME UX FOR EVERY SOLUTION!

How

We partnered with Slalom Consulting to establish an

Analytics User Experience Guide.

This was developed with end user input, and ensures a consistent, simple, user friendly interface on

all analytics solutions!

Drop downs, drills, and additional

levels of insight are always designed the same way so training

is not required each time a new solution launches!

1 2

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5. COACH TO IMPROVE DATA LITERACY

Do you play a role in coaching those around you?

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PHILOSOPHY – WE DON’T JUST PRODUCE ANALYTICS, WE ARE PART OF THE SOLUTION!

How

We put user guides together on regularly updated/produced solutions, and coach on the questions that leaders and

manager should ask.

We meet with Functions and Business lines on regular

frequencies to discuss analytics insights, and engage in action

planning.

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RESULTS FROM STRATEGIC APPROACHES

1. Analytics are engrained in existing business processes and are viewed as a part of management & decision making.

2. We have been able to strengthen credibility by focusing on relevant business questions, and not getting distracted by “data R&D”.

3. We have built strong internal relationships through our PMO approach, and are seen as true business partners.

4. Analytics consumption has increased because visualizations and UX are simple, consistent, legible, and intuitive.

5. Data literacy continues to strengthen across the organization as we coach on root cause insights, continuous improvement, and corrective action planning.

WE ARE SEEING HUGE PULL DEMAND FROM THE BUSINESS FOR MORE!!!

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BUILDING YOUR OWN BRIDGE

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WITH LEADERSHIP, WE CAN STRENGTHEN PARTNERSHIPS & INCREASE THE VALUE ADD FROM ANALYTICS!

Main Takeaways • Most managers & analysts have naturally conflicting models (action orientation vs. meaning/thought

orientation)

• We can change how we communicate to increase understanding & adoption

Things you can do

1. Make analytics core to a Business Operating System

2. Narrow the focus to relevant business questions

3. Partner with the end user on the development process

4. Don’t take visualization and UX for granted! Make it core!

5. Be part of the solutions coach & help drive actions

How will you build your own bridge???

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Thank you for listening!

Any questions?