Knowledge is Power
Every day we’re faced with decisions. Some with greater consequences than others. For businesses to successfully navigate the current economic climate, informed decision making has never been more critical. This article looks at how research, analysis, and insight can empower your proposition.
Very few businesses can afford to make decisions based on a hunch or gut feel these days. Even when there is a sense of what’s right, most companies will need the data to validate a decision. As tempting as it is to focus on data that supports your hypothesis, it’s important to approach research with an open mind. That’s why contracting independent parties can be helpful in examining your ‘problem’ from all angles (without an agenda).
Whilst the resulting research data might reinforce your original thinking, it may also provide additional nuanced detail that helps you to refine your strategy for optimal success. Where the data contradicts your natural leaning, the analysis will help you to understand what the alternatives are and why they may be better.
Data, data everywhere
Recent stats show that the volume of data is increasing at an exponential rate (virtually doubling every few years). Whilst it may seem like progress, this information overload poses its own challenges. Being able to differentiate between data that’s strategically valuable or simply a distraction has become an art. That’s why, from start-ups to publicly listed corporates, many companies now outsource the collation, analysis, and interpretation of data.
Delivering actionable insights
Data and insight can be very transient, and teams are often tasked with making strategically informed decisions quickly. Our rapid-fire research approach has been designed to meet the needs of companies working in an accelerating world.
Our 4-phase approach to delivering actionable insights incorporates the following components:
- Collation
For this we triangulate data using a combination of qualified industry data sources (whilst that might sound boring, we find it fascinating!). Depending on the nature of the research project, these sources can include: regulatory and financial reports, network insight, as well as qualitative and quantitative primary research. - Analysis
Whilst data has inherent value, it’s only really unlocked through the process of analysis. This is where things get interesting as we start to drill down into the detail and identify the juicy findings. We use a number of statistical methods to make observations and identify trends including qualitative analysis techniques, such as thematic analysis to draw conclusions. - Visualisation
We know that data and its analysis are only as valuable as the understanding gained from them. We like to find creative ways to represent chunky data in ‘pretty pictures’ and use a number of visualisation methods to communicate key findings. This makes the insight more engaging and ‘natural’, enabling audiences to absorb the results and ask challenging questions. - Interpretation
Often clients find it beneficial for us to walk through the interpretation and research with their teams to contextualise the feedback. The resulting insight can inform strategic decision making across many areas, such as: effective and appropriate go-to-market strategy, concept or product/service offering validation, or the success potential of a new market. Although COVID changed the world somewhat, we still like to be human and meet face-to-face to discuss our findings in more detail. Doing so provides excellent opportunity for further discussion and probing questions!
Call for back-up
If you’re faced with making some big, potentially difficult strategic decisions, ensuring they’re data-driven should hopefully help reduce stress. Having a secondary professional opinion can both help to buoy confidence and ensure that the data analysis and interpretation is impartial and unbiased.
Empathy is at the heart of business design, so our team utilise a human-centred approach when working with businesses. The research we conduct is carefully analysed and checked against industry knowledge and experience. When we share insight with clients, we’ve carefully considered the context, people impact, wider implications, and risk factors. We do this to ensure, as far as possible, that our input is both data-driven and appropriate. That’s why our clients trust us to partner with them in building their businesses.
If you would like to find out more about how research could benefit your business please email jack.garnham@rokker.co.uk.
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