The beginning of the process of coming up with an insight should be focused on the “so what?”. This is the main rule that you should follow when it comes to defining what your goal is, determining what the great insight is and delivering that insight to the people who can use it for further purposes. Here are the more specific details of this process and how you should take each one of them:
1. What is the value of your insights?
The beginning of this process means being sure on what you need to analyse. Understand the value that your insights will bring to the company. Ask how will your analysis help. What will it do for the organisation? How will it be significant? Then you can know what to expect from the insight you are supposed to deliver.
2. Find an expert
To deliver better insights, you should ask someone who understands that specific area expertly. Someone who had hands-on experience with the topic in hand. Share your issue with them and ask for their opinion. Ask for their experience and ask them to highlight what may be risky and what works. Ask good questions and listen to what they have to say.
3. Hypothesis
When doing your analysis it’s very important not to delve too deep into all of the data because this takes too long. You should form a hypothesis which will help you understand the specific relations between your data and what each information means. It should end with you forming an opinion on the subject matter which will be the basis of your delivery. A clear hypothesis can give you a clear indicator on what to look for and help you stay focused without wasting time. Run it by your expert.
4. Visualise
Before you start analysing your data, make sure you are clear about what you need to analyse. This means visualising what your analysis will look like when you are done. Sketch out your data.
5. Collect data
Develop a plan on when you will collect the data and ensure you have everything you need to start analysing. Before you begin, make sure that the data is accurate and that it’s complete in the right format. Unclean data will deteriorate your insights. Stay in touch with your expert.
6. Analyse
Every analysis is very important. Adapt your approach by letting the data lead you to your insight. If there is something unclear or too obvious, be more detailed, go deeper into the data to find what is behind it and look for something not as obvious. Focus on trends rather than on single data points. Verify which variables are linked.
7. Make a conclusion
“Once you have your insights, explain what will happen and how to respond to those insights. This can be a bit complex and suggesting things can put you under lots of pressure but you should discuss things with your team and the expert. Ground your suggestions in your insights. Ensure that you have done every step beforehand properly,” says Johnny Bell, a tech writer at State of writing and Academized.
8. Prepare a message
Your message needs to be clear and based on clear conclusions. Build a message that you can deliver and that your audience can understand. Message is just a part of the project. You need to present it in an engaging and compelling way. Be succinct as well. No one wants to listen for too long – rather, leave time for discussion.
9. Make it engaging
Logic is often not enough. Engagement requires you to connect to their emotions. You need great visuals, right stricture and so on. Build an emotional connection with your tone of voice. Focus on the benefits of your message. Tell a story.
10. Create an insight-led culture
“Have a framework which can help you generate a good insight quickly.. Embed it in the beliefs of people that work in your company. Engage your teams with these principles and adapt those principles to fit each situation,” says Rory Hanks, a CFO at Big Assignments and OX Essays.
Delivering strong insights is a hard job but one that brings many rewards. You should focus on making your insights well-suited and powerful so that your company can benefit from them.
