You may find there’s not a day that goes by where leadership at your association isn’t asking for more data. It’s no surprise, given the technological landscape we live in today. However, as your company evaluates its solutions, the pressure your employees feel to provide accurate insight with lightning speed might actually have a negative impact across the organization.

This is especially true of revenue and membership. Though there are good tools to sort out piles of data, what you may find is that they don’t provide the full story. Why? Because only a limited few at the top are involved in data-driven conversations and decisions.

Dream Big

Now imagine an organization that inspires all of its employees to be data-driven. Where teams are aligned, trained, and well-versed in reviewing and analysis. They have regular and organized communication and processes around data, and as a result, leadership receives the full and accurate picture of a every story.

You may think that this can be impossible to achieve; however, when you empower your employees at all levels to play an active role in data-driven activities, your organization can more confidently make strategic and operational decisions that are not solely backed by limited perspectives or intuition, but by everyone in your organization.

Consider an organization that continues to see drops in membership and engagement. While customer service teams interact with members and nonmembers all day, their observations are often not included or taken seriously. They could be providing the most important insight into operational and strategic decisions as they are the sole department regularly getting to the core of your issues and opportunities.

However, they may have never felt part of the solution, and you may have missed out on the exact data you were looking for before a board or budget meeting. According to MIT Sloan Management Review, “To build a data-driven culture, leaders must take everyone along. Organizations need to empower all individuals by giving them not just access to data but also the ability to use it effectively. To get an organization ready, this empowerment must occur at three levels: data readiness, analytical readiness, and infrastructure readiness.”

Make Change

So how do you get started? Your first move is to train teams to review, report, and make informed decisions without fear. It’s not uncommon that information we receive is inaccurate for a multitude of reasons, ranging from personal to simply a misunderstanding of the data. What you may find is that by trusting everyone with data, not only are you receiving better insight and suggestions from your employees, but you can have confidence that the information isn’t only based on intuition.

Think about investing in training that will guide your teams. Assured Strategy notes, “A robust data literacy program is essential for empowering your team to make informed decisions based on data insights. Start by evaluating your team’s current data skills and knowledge gaps. This will help you tailor the program to meet their specific needs. Next, provide thorough training that covers data analysis techniques, visualization tools, and interpretation of data trends. Use real-life examples relevant to your industry to make the learning experience engaging.”

But how do you make your employees feel confident enough to participate? Create an engaging and safe environment for staff to come together as part of each short-term and long-term goal. According to a recent TechTarget article, “Leadership should communicate about how the vision, mission and goals of the data and analytics strategy support the business strategy. Demonstrate how data and analytics can create new sources of customer, product, service and operational value.”

Move Forward

Cadence and process will also be essential. Create a monthly meeting with your staff to openly talk about data. You may find this removes the “telephone game” of data that often occurs as information is spread upward and downward. In the first meeting, ask your employees some key questions, such as how they are currently collecting data, how they are reporting and acting on data they receive, and what is lacking in terms of tools or information they need in order to do their jobs successfully. Make it easy and enjoyable to participate.

You can start by creating several organization-wide reports that are easy to grasp by all employees and can be seen in real time. Have them present the data in a later meeting, find themes, and discuss openly about interpreting what it means. This will help your organization draw accurate conclusions, leading to quick wins and better long-term strategic decisions and investments. More importantly, this will send a message to your employees that they are partners in driving your organization forward.