Book Image

Building Analytics Teams

By : John K. Thompson
4 (2)
Book Image

Building Analytics Teams

4 (2)
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

Know how to say it

People ask me, with fair regularity, why analytics teams, analytics projects, and all things related to analytics are unique. As we have described along the way in our discussion, analytics initiatives rely on a mind-boggling array of moving and interrelated parts: technologies, corporate strategy, functional tactics, data, external suppliers, executives, senior managers, and the analytics team.

This constantly moving collection of elements is complex to understand, manage, and drive in a coherent direction.

It is even more complex for people who have little to no understanding of any of the component parts, let alone the whole of the ecosystem. You need to assume that the executives you are engaging with have little to no knowledge of any part of this environment, and at the same time, they have very little interest in the topic. They may have a strong interest in the possible outcome(s) and changes that can be driven through analytics, but it may be dangerous...