Business Intelligence vs Rest of the World: challenging communication with other departments

BI specialists usually stay in the middle between business and development. The role of an analyst is technical but it requires excellent communication skills for gathering task requirements.

1. Language of speaking

Analytics domain terms could be a bit tough for anyone not using them on a daily basis. Being on the same page with the stakeholders may require developing an internal dictionary of the most popular terms with definitions and examples. This approach could help to:

• Create a knowledge base for new joiners.
• Define the company’s KPI as a glossary.
• Quickly go back to the existing metrics in order to refresh the knowledge.

Sometimes communication between different departments reminds speaking in the same language but with various dialects. Particular words could be not clear or even have completely opposite meaning. There is no surprise: two colleagues with expertise in their domains live in different ecosystems.

2. Sharing the knowledge within the organisation

For the last couple of years, companies are thinking about extracting more beneficial information from the collected data. Using machine learning technologies predictions has become more efficient in terms of resources.

The quick appliance of technologies requires a high educational level within the organisation. Otherwise, innovations might be avoided or even plainly ignored.

The ultimate solution for internal change advocates is to conduct the gradual program in order to ensure a smooth transition to the new solution.

3. Mindset

On the one hand, BI specialists should be open to new information. It helps be up to date with the constant changes and to have a keen eye for trends.

On the other hand, the BI specialists often have a reputation for introverts. They naturally have excellent skills of observation and concentration.

The balance between high focus and open-minded approach is challenging to achieve but essential.

4. Wrong data interpretation

Organisations become more and more data-driven. The side-effect of this tendency is that every person in the company could interpret the data in their own way. Subsequently, the company as a whole might face the following:

• Interpreting and calculating data without conducting preliminary structural analysis.
• The specialist sees only one small piece of the puzzle instead of the entire big picture;
• The outcome of the analysis might have no statistical significance.

Experienced analysts answer data requests containing “Why” questions. Understanding the context of the request helps to define the real needs. While testing the hypothesis, analysts should avoid looking for proof of their own initial assumption.

“If you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything.” © Ronald Coase

However, searching for a sample confirming the hypothesis does not lead to positive results in the long run. Therefore data is supposed to serve as a source of truth not merely as proof.

5. Follow the Roadmap

Roadmap project shows the direction to be followed during the cooperation. It includes key projects containing deadlines and statuses divided into time slots. This approach helps to keep the focus on the main areas and avoid getting lost in a daily routine. Stakeholders need to be aware of any changes in the priorities. Therefore a roadmap is a reliable tool to keep everyone on the same page.

Also, working with the analysts from other departments receive the ad-hoc tasks more often than understanding of the project. Figuring out the bigger picture is fruitful: analysts could add information that brings value. Asking the “why” question is key in terms of considering the context of the task.

Summary

The key point in the communication with other departments for BI specialist is understanding the context of request. Collaboration between departments is similar to the conversation between people speaking different dialects: the language is the same but there could be issues in understanding particular terms.

Nevertheless, both in conversation and collaboration, respecting each other and following the roadmap inevitably leads to common success.