Book Image

Building Analytics Teams

By : John K. Thompson
5 (1)
Book Image

Building Analytics Teams

5 (1)
By: John K. Thompson

Overview of this book

In Building Analytics Teams, John K. Thompson, with his 30+ years of experience and expertise, illustrates the fundamental concepts of building and managing a high-performance analytics team, including what to do, who to hire, projects to undertake, and what to avoid in the journey of building an analytically sound team. The core processes in creating an effective analytics team and the importance of the business decision-making life cycle are explored to help achieve initial and sustainable success. The book demonstrates the various traits of a successful and high-performing analytics team and then delineates the path to achieve this with insights on the mindset, advanced analytics models, and predictions based on data analytics. It also emphasizes the significance of the macro and micro processes required to evolve in response to rapidly changing business needs. The book dives into the methods and practices of managing, developing, and leading an analytics team. Once you've brought the team up to speed, the book explains how to govern executive expectations and select winning projects. By the end of this book, you will have acquired the knowledge to create an effective business analytics team and develop a production environment that delivers ongoing operational improvements for your organization.
Table of Contents (14 chapters)
12
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13
Index

The rhythm of work

As discussed in Chapter 1, An Overview of Successful and High-Performing Analytics Teams, high-performing analytics professionals are different, in a good way, but it is also true that high-performing analytics teams are the same as all teams; no one wants to work hard and see a team member who does not. However, that is not to say that everyone needs to be and should always be working at 100% utilization; no one can sustain that level of work or that pace of delivery. Such an expectation is unrealistic and can be cruel if pushed too far.

After working for approximately 5 years, about the time that I completed my MBA, I began to view my career as a marathon that requires a moderate and steady pace. Before that realization, I worked full out, all the time; each day was a sprint. Let's be clear: I am not a marathon runner and I am only using the marathon as a metaphor; I am not commenting on people who run marathons competitively or even as an area of casual...