Getting Your Team Excited About Data

At Metis Associates, we believe that the most powerful predictor of a team’s success with data can’t be found in spreadsheets and dashboards alone but must be accompanied by the same enthusiasm that fuels your team’s work.

Cultivating a culture of what we term data excitement (trademark pending!) takes time and dedicated effort. This involves shifting the perception of data as an insurmountable “chore” to a key tool for discovery and growth. This mindset shift results in undeniable impact and transformative results – teams that can use data to improve programs, target their programmatic activities, demonstrate impact, and much more. If moving your team from data apprehension to data passion sounds like a distant vision, you are in the right place! Let’s help you spark your team’s data potential and make data something to celebrate. 

Diagnosing Your Team’s Data Apprehension

Programs across a range of education, youth development, and human services areas have much to gain from collecting and reporting data about their work—learning ways to better serve participants, advocating for support from existing or potential funders, and motivating staff are just a few benefits. Staff members throughout your organization, including those who work in direct service delivery and those who handle administrative duties, all have an important role to play in making sure your organization is collecting quality and meaningful data about your program. But what if your staff members don’t seem to buy into the importance of collecting data? What if they’re just not excited about it?

An unfortunate reality for many programs, the absence of data excitement amongst your team might be the result of many factors including a lack of time, a fear of data, or limited training in data collection and analysis. In many education and non-profit settings, staff are already very busy with their duties and see data entry as an extra task they simply don’t have time for. Further, to many, the word “data” conjures a dizzying array of numbers and statistics that they may find intimidating.

The last concern, the lack of data training, can be manifested in two distinct ways. First and foremost, your staff may not know why they are collecting certain data or reviewing them, impacting the quality of data collected and thus lessening the validity of related findings. Second, if your team does collect the most relevant data and knows why they are collecting them, they still may not know how to leverage them! Staff may not understand how data indicators such as program attendance, hours of service, satisfaction rates, and more can be used to investigate trends, improve their offerings, and highlight their successes. Regardless of the cause, insufficient data monitoring creates challenges attracting partners, clients, or participants, and may jeopardize financial support for the future of the program.

Building Your Team’s Data Excitement

So how should you address your team’s apprehension about and understanding of data collection and analysis? Below, we outline four strategies designed to tackle these challenges.

Building Purpose

Let’s start with the “why” of data collection and analysis, addressing how to create a shared understanding amongst your staff about the importance of data. The basics, like maintaining funding or satisfying reporting requirements, are important. Be specific and show them what indicators you are required to report on for specific funders, for example.

But there is so much more to data than meeting requirements, and certainly to building data excitement. Data can be used to demonstrate growth and impact, which is an effective method of showing your team the fruits of their labors. This approach can not only motivate your team but can also transform their fear of data into a genuine enthusiasm for their potential.

For example, using a data walk or data placemat to share recently collected data is a fun and engaging way to share your findings and get staff excited about what these data reveal. You can ask them to discuss questions including:

• What do these data tell you?
• What surprises you about these data?
• Are these outcomes good enough? What should the targets be?
• What factors may explain some of these trends?
• Does this lead to any new questions that you’d like to explore going forward?

Whenever possible, demonstrate how the data that staff are collecting will be used. For example, if staff are asked to collect data on student program attendance, show them how these data are ultimately used to produce charts showing any potential correlation between attendance and grades.

Once staff have had the opportunity to personally engage with these findings and understand data’s potential—its “why”—they are more likely to value and support data collection efforts. Consider scheduling regular data talks to keep the conversation going.

Building Staff Data Literacy

Next, we address the “how” of data collection: invest in staff training on evaluation and the use of data collection tools. Don’t be afraid to start with the basics. Data systems and tools are complicated, so ensuring a shared understanding is essential. This could mean including an introduction to Excel or Google Sheets, sharing benefits as well as common mistakes (think: filtering, hiding columns, and the like.) There’s a lot of room for error when managing quantitative data, and staff might not know things you think they do.

Provide staff with ongoing technical training and assistance and ensure that training in both data collection and use is not just a one-time event. Importantly, ensure that new hires receive adequate training in the why and how of data collection as part of their orientation process. Trainings might include the following topics:

• Definitions of evaluation and data (quantitative and qualitative)
• An overview of the project’s goals and measurable objectives (both required and internal)
• The importance of accurate data collection
• The basics of the data collection tool(s) being used (e.g., Excel, Google Sheets, Salesforce, paper forms, etc.)
• Common data collection mistakes and how to avoid them
• Interactive sharing exercises (e.g., ask staff to share their challenges collecting data and brainstorm solutions)

Interpreting and Using the Data

Just as important as data collection is the need to train your team members on how they can interpret and use data. Having a list of statistics or findings about your program doesn’t mean you know how to use that information to make improvements or demonstrate impact. Staff need to learn to get into the habit of applying data to their programmatic planning and implementation.

For example, Metis recently presented a data training for a client, which helped staff understand how they can apply data findings to their work with youth. Metis outlined different ways we can “use” data, including to:

• Identify unmet needs
• Improve programming
• Personalize support
• Demonstrate impact

Staff were then presented with samples of data findings and were asked to discuss in small groups how they would use that finding in their own work, drawing from the above bullet points. This exercise engaged staff in the practice of thinking through how research and evaluation are relevant to them and can impact their future practices.

Building a Data Infrastructure

There are many competing demands on staff members’ time. Create clear, standard data collection tools and processes to reduce the time your staff needs to devote to this work. These four steps may be helpful in building a data infrastructure in your organization:

1. Develop data collection templates to ensure that everyone knows exactly what they need to collect, how often, and how it should be structured. Make sure you have templates in place that capture everything you need, taking into consideration all funding and reporting requirements. 
2. Standardize data collection processes. Documenting clear and consistent guidelines for data collection eliminates stress and confusion, allowing staff to focus their time on interpreting and using data instead of clarifying expectations or processes. A standard operating procedure or an instruction guide for data entry can be great resources towards this end. 
3. Encourage staff to put dedicated time on their calendar to do data entry, or schedule it for them. Having data entry as a designated item on their calendars ensures that staff not only have allotted time for it, but it also impresses upon them that it is required as part of their job. Setting aside time also demonstrates to staff that leadership prioritizes data work and recognizes that it takes time. 
4. Setting regular deadlines for data input (e.g., the first Tuesday of the month) helps foster data habits in staff, creating a sustainable ecosystem for ongoing data work.

These strategies take time and intention to develop and put into practice. Some organizations have an already-excited team member who can lead the charge on these approaches, while others can benefit from an external partnership to support their team’s journey toward data excitement.

Talk to us about your organization’s need to build data excitement

If you are interested in learning more about how we could help your team get excited about data, please reach out so we can start a conversation.