The Day No One Turned Up For the Tracking Meeting
He checked his phone for the time. It was quarter past and the only people in the tracking meeting were the intern and himself. He was used to people being late for these meetings, but this was ridiculous.
Ken worked in the Insights and Analytics department of a large organisation and he was ready to present the quarterly tracking. Stakeholders were often late to the reporting of tracking data. Sometimes they didn’t come at all, preferring to read the document in their own time. Well, he presumed they read it.
That didn’t stop him from doing his job thoroughly. He cut all the data and compared it with historical results on all the subjects they could possibly want. He could tell them where demographics over and underindexed. He ensured all the statistically significant figures were identified. And, in the 150 page deck, he’d used 20 different icons to brighten it up.
But on this day, the only person who turned up for the debrief was the intern. It turned out Ken had not been invited to the UX workshop which was happening at the same time on the 6th floor.
To be honest, he didn’t understand why interest in tracking had dwindled. Perhaps the tracking data was not as important to the business these days. He wasn’t sure what the business goals were for this year, perhaps the tracking wasn’t what they needed. He’d have to ask someone.
Poor Ken, not only had he missed out on the opportunity to play with coloured sticky notes on the 6th floor, but nobody told him that it wasn’t the data that mattered. It was what he did with it.
We all have golden insight to offer. Knowledge can make or break companies but the executive team doesn’t want to wade into the river and pan for it themselves. They want to be guided to the doors of opportunity and handed the right golden key at exactly the right time, in the right way.
Stakeholders ain’t got time for all that data! They just want keys. And not all the keys! Just the keys to the right doors.
Top Tips to Increase Your Influence
Don’t fall into the same trap as Ken!
Here’s 3 Top Tips to increase your relevance and influence when presenting your wisdom to stakeholders:
- Identify the best doors (opportunities) and explain why you have selected them – sell them those doors.
- Craft the keys perfectly out of the golden data you have.
- Present the keys with instructions on use and offer to accompany them to the doors if required.
Lastly, make it so clear that your stakeholders would understand and be inspired even if their 2 year old kept them up the whole night before. You’ll find the meetings can be shortened (hurray!) and more people will attend. You might consider finding a role for some sticky notes though.
If you’re an insights professional and want more on increasing your relevance and influence, you’re in luck!
I’ve written a White Paper just for you. Power Up: From Inform to Influence is an in-depth analysis with a view to securing the greatest influence for Insights functions. Click here to receive your copy as well as my fortnightly newsletter on all things influence.
