Your mantra for data team success

We’ve been talking about measuring success for data teams for a few days. Catch up here, here and here.

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Most teams struggle to understand how to pick a Destination Metric. They can’t determine if they should be Inside the Box, on the Edge of the Box, or Outside the Box.

Asking where you “should” be is the wrong question right now. Start with what is already true about your data team.

Which of the following data teams best describes you?

Enablers:

This data team creates reports and ensures data is accurate and available when needed. They throw the data over the fence for the business teams to use. Their focus is on responding to tickets, optimizing data infrastructure, and providing quality data. This is a team of DBAs and Data Engineers.

Success of these teams is measured by the delivery of good data fast. They define success inside the box. Their mantra? “Here’s the data. Go be successful”

Advisors:

This data team accomplishes the same tasks as the enablers, but they have a focus on engaging with stakeholders, providing context around the data, and offering analytical insight. This team includes Data Analysts, BI Developers, and Data Scientists.

Success of this team is measured by making the stakeholders happy. They define success on the edge of the box. Their mantra? “Let me help you be successful”.

Partners:

This data team provides accurate data, and offers context, advice, and strategic perspective around the data. But, uniquely, they attach themselves to business objectives outside their data team. They are partners with the business and at the decision-making table.

Success of this team is measured by the success of the organization as a whole. They define success outside their box. Their mantra? “We win or lose together”.

Before you can pick a Destination Metric for your team, you have to understand what kind of team you are. An Enabler data team can’t set an Outside the Box metric without creating confusion and frustration.

It’s possible to move up from Enabler to Advisor. Or from Advisor to Partner. But that’s a conversation for another time.

Tomorrow, we will talk about setting your Waypoint, Turn Signal, and Guage Metrics.

It was good to see you today,

Sawyer