I remember working for a state government agency in 2018 as their lead analyst  in research and policy. This was my first job after changing careers. I had just graduated from grad school with my MBA with an emphasis in Management Information Systems and landed the role with the state department. The great part about this role is that previously I worked for one of the private agencies that the state was subcontracting its services with. This made me intimately familiar with the mission, requirements and deliverables of the contract.

Recalling one project in particular, a fellow analyst and I were tasked with understanding the poor outcomes for youths involved in a program designed to help them transition to adulthood with the help of a case manager, resources, referrals etc. As with most government funded programs there tends to be an idea of maintaining the status quo. Assuming that since the program has been around a descent length of time, it must be helping people and be effective.

As my colleague and I dived into this project we were able to assess rather quickly that the data governance was shaky at best. I won’t go into the details but a myriad of issues from data entry, timetables, eligibility parameters were in need of attention. Probably the most concerning part about all this was that the final decision makers based their recommendations for youth entering the program on their own subjective opinions about the youth’s ability to complete the program.

By the end of the project we were presenting both to the state department and the contractors, concerns of areas that lack reliance on actual data. Because I was intimately familiar with the contract and the mission, I was able to translate for stakeholders what the research results meant in relation to how they were executing the ask. My colleague relied on me heavily as he was able to interpret numbers, but was not able to tell the story that this particular audience needed to hear and understand. The conclusion was not what they wanted to hear as data revealed that certain demographics of youth were not being referred to the program based on personal biases rather than eligibility, but it was the story nonetheless.  In the end the parameters around the program; eligibility, youth engagement, timelines, were all called into account and forced leaders to look at years of outcomes a lot differently. The best dashboard is the one that tells your audience a story they can understand so that they can make decisions that have real impact on their business. My advice…make sure you understand what the company is really about. What is their mission? What are they trying to do? Only then can you lend tools and wisdom to put decision makers in the best position to succeed.