nicole mills, suffolk construction presentation at cdao winter 2017
TRANSCRIPT
1
Building a Bridge: When Data and Analytics aren’t Enough January 26, 2017
2
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
3
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
4
THE BUSINESS VS.
THE ANALYST
5
IT’S IN OUR DNA… LITERALLY
Thinking/Analyzing Sensing/Doing
6
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
7
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!
8
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
9
MAKE ANALYTICS PART OF THE
BUSINESS OPERATING SYSTEM
Data &
Analytics
10
?
ARE YOUR ANALYTICS CORE, OR PERIPHERAL?
?
11
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.
12
5 STRATEGIES TO TRANSITION FROM A PUSH TO A PULL DEMAND
13
1. ANSWER RELEVANT QUESTIONS
Do your Analytics provide the right, useful insights to the business?
14
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
15
2. MAKE THEM A PART OF IT!
Are your analytics developed in isolation, or in partnership?
16
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.
17
3. VISUALIZATION MATTERS!
Are your analytics legible to everyone?
18
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.
19
4. USER EXPERIENCE MUST BE INTUITIVE!
Are your analytics easy to navigate?
20
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
3
2
3
1
21
5. COACH TO IMPROVE DATA LITERACY
Do you play a role in coaching those around you?
22
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.
23
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!!!
24
BUILDING YOUR OWN BRIDGE
25
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???
26
Thank you for listening!
Any questions?