This week, Forrester published Data Communications Will Make Or Break Your Data Literacy Efforts. In this first research report on this topic, clients will discover how closing gaps in communication can ignite insights-driven decision-making. This content will resonate most with people leaders or change agents who are struggling to transport insights-related messages from the top of the leadership chain to the “boots on the ground” employees and vice-versa.

While the core audience of this research is Forrester Decisions’ clients in the roles of: Chief Technology Officers (CTOs), Chief Information Officers (CIOs), Chief Analytics Officers (CAOs), and Chief Data Officers (CDOs); many other organizational roles in Technology Architecture & Delivery (TAD), Enterprise Collaboration (EC) software, and Internal Communications (IC) policy makers and Employee Experience (EX) curators will benefit from understanding why DataComs matters in their roles. If you have any type of product (data or otherwise), read this report to reconsider how you address internal communications across various levels within your organization to drive adoption.

Here’s a quick preview of what DataComs is, why should you care, why you should read the report, and next steps.

So, What Is DataComs?

Forrester defines Data Communications (DataComs) as:

The understanding and optimization of communication channels and mediums that insight professionals can leverage to change user perceptions and behaviors in a psychologically safe environment. It includes a collaborative mix of internal, external, and interpersonal company communications, committees, and communities.

Why Should You Care About DataComs?

Awareness & optimization of how well your insight team members communicate and collaborate is a precursor to enterprise data literacy, user adoption, and every other business process that includes the word “data” in front of it. According to Forrester’s Future Of Work Survey, 2021, 40% of employees disagreed when asked if they thought they communicated well with colleagues about technology, and only 29% agreed. As insight professionals’ chase 20% revenue growth from insight-driven decision making, data & analytics leaders cannot afford to ignore potential gaps in communication.

What Pain Points Does DataComs Address?

We find that employees are not effectively using the internal insight products teams are deploying, despite investment in data literacy and data storytelling training. This results in a game of telephone, a lack of adoption of dashboards and insights content and the blame game when it comes to business results. This gap between data literacy and data storytelling is what DataComs can plug to ensure that the last mile of insights-driven decision making is well thought through. Our research further explores:

Now What? Potential next steps.

Connect with me through an inquiry to discuss data communications and how it relates to your data storytelling and data literacy improvement efforts. Fail forward my friends!