Previously, I talked about being a leader, even when you are not the boss. I believe a good leader is a person that people want to follow. They are honest and have a high level of integrity. These traits are important to get people to buy into the strategy and the journey. A leader has a clear vision, and a path to get there. They inspire others and make sure everyone knows their importance to achieve the vision. As a result, they must have great communication skills. These are the people that lead by example, that people gravitate towards.
How To Lead A Remote Workforce
So, now the question is how do you be a great leader with a remote workforce? Given the changes created with COVID-19 and working remote, how does a leader continue to be successful? From what I have observed, communication and availability are key ingredients. Managing remotely changes the dynamic of leadership and requires an additional set of skills.
The best leaders engage remote employees in frequent and authentic conversation. They put time aside to make sure they are communicating frequently and effectively. They dig for real information by asking direct questions including “What’s frustrating you? or What’s getting in your way?” They also ask the very simple, but important question of “How are you doing?” Some remote leaders may set aside time for virtual team coffees and social conversations. No matter what method is chosen, being mindful to communicate often and openly is very important. Be transparent.
Clear Boundaries and Guidelines
Leaders should also prioritize the development of clear boundaries and guidelines. At its most basic level, this involves assisting employees in defining their availability. Clearly define when the employee will be working. What is the best way to reach the employee at home. If additional personal challenges such as childcare and home schooling are involved, how will the employee address these challenges.
The typical leadership characteristics still apply. A good leader will still need to understand team dynamics. He or she needs to create and communicate a clear vision. Provide coaching and mentorship when needed. One must understand the implications and effective use of technology. These are all still very important.
Distance Impact
They require an awareness of how distance and a lack of frequent physical interaction impact how a team works together. When you’re not together, how do you read the signs of team interactions? Do your teams continue to work effectively? This goes back to frequent and open communications. One needs to really listen to what people are saying and how they say it. Providing and using technology effectively to communicate with the team and each other is critical. Sending people remote to work is not enough. You must provide them the tools they need to work remote. In addition, being a great communicator around a conference table isn’t the same as delivering an effective webinar. It is every bit as critical wherever one is communicating.
I saw a quote the other day that I truly believe. “Leadership is not about being the best. Leadership is about making everyone else better.“
The success of any service oriented business depends largely on how effective its employees communicate the value they provide their customers. This becomes paramount for Big Data / Analytics service providers where identifying and communicating “actionable insight” to their customers is the value. The ability to communicate analytics and insight effectively drives the quality of the relationship between the provider and client. Effective communication has become part of the job for any tech savvy analyst.
Whether working with internal or external customers, an analyst’s ability to communicate clear messages about the data and actions needed is crucial. The quality and clarity of communication about the insight found can have a tremendous influence to drive the actions that were identified from the analysis. From my experience being in the insight business at iWeSocial and working with clients across many different industries – communicating insights effectively will dictate the success or failure of any project.
An effective analyst will be able to combine visual (show the supporting data) and verbal (communicate the insight) messages to convey the findings, empowering the end user to act on the insight.
How Do You Communicate Insight Effectively?
Effective insight communication refers to the ability to tell a story through data to address business challenges. To be able to answer these questions:
- What happened?
- What is currently happening?
- What’s going to happen?
Communicating insight involves connecting the dots between the overall business challenge down to what we identify as corrective action. No matter what the deliverables, to communicate insight effectively starts with setting clear goals for the analysis.
Another key factor of successful insight communication is to know your audience. Are you speaking to an executive team focused on overall business drivers or the head of marketing or sales? Each will have their own set of questions they are wanting the data to help answer. For example, the sales executive may want to understand how to increase sales productivity or increase customer acquisition. Meanwhile, the marketing executive will want to know about marketing effectiveness and customer engagement.
From my experience in delivering insight to a variety of clients, I have noticed several themes. Specifically, to be able to communicate your insight effectively, I recommend that you keep the following in mind:
Know your audience
- Their pain-points
- Business challenges they face
- Questions they are trying to answer
Keep it simple
- Avoid technical jargon
- Simple, actionable findings
- Leverage clear visualization
Connect Insight to the Bottom Line
- Increase in revenue
- Reduction of cost structure
- Increase in average spend per customer
In summary, effective insight communication is the ability to convey your findings to key stakeholders to drive action – so they can do something differently than the way they’ve been doing it. With effective insight communication, always try to provide a clear answer to a business questions, not merely providing another piece of data. The insight should focus on the business impact; if the insight doesn’t lead to an action, then question whether to include it at all.
The success of any business depends largely on how effective they are at using data that’s turned into insight to drive their business forward. The question is: “How can we communicate these insights more effectively for greater business return?”
