Data Strategy Steps: Engage The Business Stakeholders


As a continuation of yesterday we are going to look at the next data strategy step today, engaging and keeping the business stakeholders engaged throughout the execution of the data strategy.

Business stakeholders are anyone that has direct connection to a business outcome. Some may argue that you would need to talk and work with parts of the business that just support business units that have direct connection to the business outcome, but I argue that if you are involved in the process, you play a key role. If the whole does not work together then no one succeeds. This does mean that your list of key business stakeholders is rather large, so as with anything we do in data, you will need to prioritize. They may not all get the same level of attention in the project meetings, but the following step will still apply to them.

These stakeholders will span the business process that will be impacted by the data strategy. For instance, if your business outcome is to get information to your customer website faster you will have to evaluate how that information is gathered. If you are focused on orders, your business stakeholders would start where the customer has first contact and end at final approval of the order. In a lot of cases this is the same department and usually the same person. But for more complicated situations it can span more than one. No matter what your business process is it is up to you to identify these touch points and include them in your data strategy. Even if you have no intention of impacting their day-to-day processes they still need to be in the loop.

For this reason, it is best to focus on one or two business outcomes at a time. Your data strategy may intend to cover more but we must do this work in manageable sizes. This is where communication with the business is critical. Everyone must know what page in the play book we are on.

So where do you start? Here are 4 different ways to engage with key business stakeholders when building out a data strategy:

  1. Meet with them regularly. This is the most important way to keep the lines of communication open and to get their input on the data strategy. Make sure to meet with them regularly, even if it's just for a short time, to discuss the progress of the data strategy and to get their feedback.
  2. Create a communication plan. This plan should outline how you will communicate with key business stakeholders throughout the development and implementation of the data strategy. The plan should include the frequency of communication, the methods of communication, and the topics that will be discussed.
  3. Use visuals. People are more likely to remember information that is presented visually. Use charts, graphs, and other visuals to help you communicate the data strategy to key business stakeholders.
  4. Tell stories. People are more likely to be engaged by stories than by dry facts and figures. Use stories to illustrate the benefits of the data strategy and to show how it will help the organization achieve its goals.

It is also important to keep the business stakeholders engaged throughout the implementation of the data strategy. This means keeping them updated on the progress of the project, addressing their concerns, and getting their feedback.

Here are some tips for keeping the business stakeholders engaged:

  • Use clear and concise language.  If they do not understand the words you use they will lose interest fast.
  • Avoid using technical jargon or acronyms.  Remember at the end of the day you are impacting a business process.  No one cares about how many external delta lake tables you needed to make it happen.
  • Focus on the benefits of the data strategy and how it will help the organization achieve its goals.  This will help them stay focused on the greater good that the inconvenience you are created will provide.  And yes, any time you cause change you are causing inconvenience even if you do not perceive it.  
  • Be patient and persistent. It takes time to build trust and credibility with business stakeholders.

You also need to remember that the business stakeholders need to see that you have skin in the game as well. The IT team is responsible for implementing the data strategy, so it is important to keep them accountable for their progress.

How do you show the business that the IT team is being held accountable?

  • Set clear goals and objectives. This will help the IT team to understand what they need to achieve and how their work will contribute to the overall success of the data strategy.
  • Provide regular feedback. This will help the IT team to identify any areas where they need to improve.  And again, I cannot stress how important this step of communication is.  Communication is the main thread that weaves through the entire data strategy.  
  • Track their performance. No one likes being watched, but this step will help you to see how they are progressing and to identify any problems early on.

Tracking the progress of the data strategy is also very important. It involves much more than dates on a calendar. We need to use metrics to track the progress of the data strategy. What are some other things to measure when you are implementing your data strategy?

  • Number of data sources collected.  If you know that you will need 5 data sources to deliver on the business objective of moving data faster the the customer website knowing how many you have accomplished would be a good measurement as to where you are in that task.  
  • Amount of data analyzed.  Understanding how much data you have processed through not only highlights how well you are analyzing data but when you combine that with insights gathered you can get a total ROI from the project.  
  • Number of insights generated.  This metric is the other half of ROI generated from data.  When you combine it with the amount of data you have analyzed (you should have a general idea of how much it cost you in dollars and human capital) you will have a general idea how much it cost to give business stakeholders choices on how to make business processes better.  
  • Number of decisions made based on data.  This is the other side of the equation.  Once you know how much it cost to provide choices, then you can gather what the choice was and what value it brought to the company.
  • ROI of the data strategy.  And once you know the cost to gather the data and present decisions and the decision that was made with its outcome you can then evaluate if it brought any lasting value.  This is not going to always be a dollar amount.  Customer sentiment can be more valuable than saving $20 on producing a widget.  Sometimes you will lose money and still have a positive ROI it all depends on your unique situation.

Engaging your business stakeholders is no simple task. You will need a team dedicated to this process from start to end. Their tasks need to include communicating how the IT team is being held accountable as well as what is expected of the business. You can see why this is such a major pillar of your data strategy.

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