Businesses today strive to be ahead of the market to gain any possible advantage over their competitors. Gathering data and analyzing it in a way that illustrates patterns and trends is one of the surest ways to get a step up on the competition.
Properly utilizing data can take quite a bit of the workload off a company’s shoulders. Data analytics can improve cross-function efforts, it can show a clearer path to better business decisions and it can also relieve a little stress throughout the business cycle. Imagine having better collaboration between departments and information to make immediate decisions with less anxiety and tension. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?
How Data Analytics Can Improve Cross-Function Efforts
Companies are not perfect, and neither are the people who work for them. When projects come up that require more than one department to handle the load, sometimes the process doesn’t go as smoothly as it should. Different departments look at aspects of any project differently. The accounting department may be fixated on the project’s budget, while the engineers may be focused on the project specs being perfect. So how do we get different departments to adjust their sights from certain aspects of the project to the project as a whole? Data analytics can help align everyone towards a common goal.
When projects require a cross-function effort within a company, sometimes the departments involved are only given pieces of the puzzle. Centralizing the project data is one of the easiest ways to improve teamwork between departments. Once everyone involved has access to anything they may need to complete tasks for the project, the reliance on variables (people, email, etc.) to obtain information is eliminated. This frees up time and eliminates tedious communication tasks. With all of the data organized in one spot, it allows anyone involved with the project to pull reports with ease, it prevents duplicate data input and is usually more cost effective.
How Data Analytics Can Lead to Better Decisions
One of the biggest benefits for companies that have greater access to data analytics is the improvement in business intelligence (BI) reporting. BI reporting allows end-users to both see and understand the data, as well as properly use it. BI reporting puts the underlying figures in the hands of the end-users to back up their actions and explain their decisions. Companies no longer need to hire a team of scientific data analysts because their users can now access and understand any information with ease through a data-driven analytics platform. These platforms have tools like a relational search engine, which give users the ability to build their own reports and dashboards in no time at all.
Another benefit of data analytics is the improvement of time-to-answer. What used to take hours may now only take minutes. This allows more time for the decision makers to choose their plan and adapt to the market.
How Data Analytics Can Reduce Stress
Companies have mass amounts of data and looking at all of those figures and reports can be quite overwhelming. It doesn’t have to be that difficult with data-driven analytic platforms. Companies can customize data into a format that’s best suited for the task at hand. The customizable dashboards give users the ability to ask the right questions, so to speak, instead of pulling reports and not getting the desired results. Once you’ve asked the right questions in the data-driven platforms, then your output is simple, accurate and most importantly, easily applicable. Having the correct information quickly eliminates the trial-and-error process, which leaves you in the best position possible. It might even put a big smile on your face in the process.
Adaptability is key for companies looking for a leg up on their competition and the use of data analytics and data-driven platforms can give you the edge you’re looking for. Using these data-driven tools can improve teamwork in cross-collaboration projects, enhance business decisions and reduce stress. In other words — happier employees, happier customers and a happier you!
