One the most overlooked and under appreciated parts of assuring a successful analytics implementation is getting the participation of end users. End users being defined as the consumers of either the data, the analysis and/or the reports that come out of the project.

I can tell you countless horror stories about stacks of reports that go unread, email summaries that are never opened and business dashboards that are rarely clicked on. In most cases, all because the end user was not involved in the project or its development process.

One example of this is when the ones who need the reports are not asked what they need in the report.  This is more common than you might think. Requirements, no matter how well thought out, will always overlook something someone needs. Another reason is not finding out how the end users want it to look. They often are omitted from the design phase and just left to use it. Worse it’s possible that what is delivered in not even compatible with other things they do. This leads to failure by not being useful, a complete waste of time and resources, especially yours.

The best way to assure end user use is to have them involved at the earliest stages of the project. If you are selecting the project team or have influence on the team makeup, make sure you get an end user who can speak for that audience. It might be more than one person.

Another way is to keep the end-users informed and allow for feedback. Finding ways to work feedback into your project is another place you would be surprised by how often it is not done.

And finally make sure you build in a testing period before your project goes into production. In some cases this might include the feedback phase, but in big projects there is often a need for end user testing. If you don’t shepherd this effort, who will?

If you are no sure how to go about involving the end users and/or are not sure of who all the end users might be, then you should really answer those questions as early as possible. No one wants to see their hard earned work just end up in the trash bin because it does not fit the need it was designed for.

The key to using analytics in a business is like a secret sauce. It is a unique combination of analytics talent, technology and technique that are brought together to enrich and empower an organization. A successful analytics culture is not easy to create, but DMAIPH can show you how. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly so we can build a strategic plan to turn your company into analytics driven success story.

Analytics Culture – The key to using analytics in a business is like a secret sauce that fuels Data-Driven Decison-Making. It is a unique combination of analytics talent, technology and technique that are brought together to enrich and empower an organization.

A successful analytics culture is not easy to create, but DMAIPH can show you how. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly so we can build a strategic plan to turn your company into analytics driven success story.