Why employ one chief data officer when you can have many

For some business owners, tackling spreadsheets and making sense of the tech stack and the data it generates comes down to finding the right professional with the subject matter expertise to handle all duties related to data management.

This particular individual is usually bestowed with the title “chief data officer” and becomes the go-to person for addressing issues with integrating, sharing and interpreting data. And sure, why not? A great chief data officer has the education, experience, and passion for collating data, building spreadsheets, and ensuring accuracy.

As competition in most business sectors increases, however, and more people are required to make decisions quickly based on up-to-the-minute information, executives are coming to a shared conclusion: business data should no longer belong to a single individual.

Regardless of your sector, offering your team the ability to tap into the value of high-quality business data is one of the most significant steps you can take towards turning data silos into actionable business intelligence. Data should be viewed as a precious asset by every person on your team.

How businesses can integrate data officers into everyday workflows

The idea of turning every team member into a data officer can seem daunting to many business owners. When it comes to IT, expanding access to resources is often expensive. Funds are limited, staffing is limited, and most likely, every department has its own critical needs and project wish-lists to fulfill by the end of the fiscal year.

Despite these understandable concerns, implementing new software and training your team isn’t anything new. Perhaps your business uses an online platform to file timesheets, view paystubs, and apply for positions in-house.

After providing some basic instruction, managers expect every team member—not only the HR director and his/her team — to learn how to complete these required HR tasks with little to no assistance, nor confusion.

Businesses can certainly take a similar approach to data management. In fact, it shouldn’t be all that much different.

Data officers are typically tasked with handling data management and ensuring that your business data is up-to-date, high quality, and accurate. Today’s successful businesses, however, understand that such duties could easily be added to the job descriptions of most of their staff members regardless of their specific department.

Consider taking these four steps towards encouraging every team member to find the hidden data officer within as you replace your current data generation management process with a modern data analytics solution.

1.Making it a true team effort

Migrating your business data to a single data analytics solution should be introduced as a business-wide initiative. Everyone needs reliable data, not just your finance department. Talk to your staff and share your vision for creating a data-driven organization.

2.Provide training opportunities

Any new solution comes with a learning curve. While some team members may enthusiastically embrace the idea of adding data analytics skills to their resumes, others may not be so confident. Work closely with your solution provider to address all concerns and inspire every team member to rise to the occasion.

3.Celebrate success

Every mid-sized business owner or executive team member has had those people who insist that making sense of numbers in a spreadsheet just isn’t their thing. Once your team members have mastered a data analytics platform, they may be eager to demonstrate how they’re putting this new skill to use by pinpointing new business opportunities. Reward them.

4.Empower your staff and enhance your data analytics capability

Promoting a culture that values data as an essential ingredient for success is one way to ensure that every person is empowered with the resources to achieve the best results and broaden their business skills. For individual departments, emphasizing the value of data is priceless when establishing Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs.

Every department within your organization — finance, sales, marketing, and HR — needs quality data to measure its KPIs accurately. Offering access to business data via an intuitive solution is one of the most effective ways to help them meet their KPIs.

With a carefully planned implementation process, comprehensive training, collaboration, and the desire to have a data-driven culture, every member of your team may discover their own hidden talent when it comes to understanding data and using it to create new efficiencies and generate profit.