Making Data Human

By Elise Bajohr, CPHQ

How do you make decisions for your organization, staff, and services? Decisions rarely please everyone, so leaders try to make decisions that help the most people and meet the biggest needs. All amidst reduced funding. Easy, right?

That’s where Data comes in to save the day! Data with a capital "D". We will simply make data-driven decisions, and everyone will be on board. Yes? Unfortunately, no.

Tell me if this sounds familiar: You are trying to shift an organization to be more data-driven, while employees’ (and sometimes senior managements’) eyes glaze or roll over because the jargon and math make them zone out. Or you were on the other side, thinking that the person presenting just doesn’t understand the reality of the work.

While I’ve seen this play out within organizations from mid-sized non-profits to statewide government, it really boils down to humanity and organizational culture.

If you hear an organization saying they are “data-driven,” but they are not, this article is for you.

Data-driven versus Data-informed

Some push-back in non-profit organizations against actually being data-driven stems from the nomenclature.

“Data-driven” has a push connotation, a force pushing data into decisions. IBM describes data-driven decision-making as “using data and analysis instead of intuition to inform business decisions.” While many non-profits are enthusiastic about the impact their services and efforts have on a community, there is a quintessential incongruity when you omit “intuition” from decisions within organizations focused on helping humanity.

Instead, we have “data-informed” decision making, which does not depend solely on quantitative data. Data-informed decisions include qualitative data through a more iterative, continuous process. In essence, it more closely mimics humanity by including change, growth, and the depth of experience.

Strategically and in practice, data-informed decision-making is more in tune with human service organizations. For non-profits, this approach is usually more easily embedded into organizational culture than being "data-driven."

The Human Connection

Ask not what your data can do for you, ask how you can communicate your data.

Here are four basic, easy tips for having meaningful conversations about data with staff of all levels in human service organizations.

• Tell stories: Humans are anecdotal creatures, we tend to feel more impacted by a single, poignant story than a list of statistics. Weave them together. Provide quotes, mix your media, give that anecdote.

  • Result: People tend to feel more connected to the data and how it is used.

•  Listen to your audience: Perfection can get in the way of progress, and using data-informed decision-making approaches helps reduce any impulses to stagnate through the dynamic and iterative nature of it. Ask open-ended questions about what matters to the groups they serve, to themselves, to the purpose of the work and why they do it. Use what they say to show them what the data can do to improve those outcomes, lives, and goals.

  • Result: A more engaged audience who start to see data as more meaningful and useful.

• Talk the talk: Take the time to tailor your work to be in the language and level of the audience. Make messaging clear, use simple language when possible, and avoid jargon (unless it is specific to the group, but confirm that - do not assume everyone is at the same level). Use examples that are relatable to the work that the audience does. If you do not have any, ask during presentations or in advance.

  • Result: Less eyes glazing over or rolling, less zoning out, more understanding and comprehension.

• Considerate follow-up: Continue the conversations and weave what you heard into interactions (take care not to push it forcibly), meetings, emails, newsletters, whichever methods your organization prefers. Use it in supervision to not blame anyone, but to focus on the goals and purpose. Even if the data tells a story of reduced outcomes or declining health, that is a starting point for brainstorming what to try next. People are usually not the problem, but a gap in a process or system. Try and try again.

  • Result: Data becomes more integral in informing decisions and inspiring action.

Try these steps and see if they help. Use these tips as a starting point to making data less sterile for caring professionals. Let me know what you think and if you have found adjustments or other ways to make data more accessible.

One of my favorite moments was when a director of older adult services told me that she was no longer afraid of data because I “made it human.” I carry that with me because ultimately, we are using the data to support our programs and organizations to help even more.

Bynes Consulting Group is here to assist you develop, demonstrate, and improve outcomes for human service providers and non-profit organizations. Our team has expertise in change management, process improvement, and human-centered design. If you are struggling with data, culture, evaluation, presentation right-sizing, or you can’t quite explain the problem yet, but you know it exists, give us a call!