Investing in data-driven stories is an important step to building engagement and productivity among important stakeholders in a company. At this point in the business revolution, where the highest form of communication is around insights gleaned from data, companies must intentionally foster a culture of data-driven communication to improve internal engagement among employees and other important stakeholders.
A successful business thrives on clarity and an understanding of goals, which data-driven stories help to achieve. According to research by Effectory, nearly 50% of employees are working without a clear understanding of their roles in meeting the company’s goals. And this reduces their performance and leads to frustration in their workplace.
High stakeholder engagement, employee productivity, and employee satisfaction are built on the strength of clear communication and an understanding of the company’s trajectory, which data-driven stories help to achieve. Following are more insights on data storytelling and how it helps improve internal communication.
Data-driven stories are narratives that rely on data to deliver information, insights, or messages. They use the power of narrative in conjunction with data analytics to make information more relatable, intelligible, and engaging to a broad audience.
As opposed to presenting raw data or statistics in a dry and disjointed manner, data-driven stories convert these data points into a coherent and appealing narrative using words, charts, and diagrams.
Examples of data-driven stories could be:
It helps the mind to logically and emotionally connect with the goals and objectives of the company. One of the most significant benefits of data-driven stories is their potential to break down organizational silos. That is, departments that do not contact each other directly can establish common ground through similar storylines. The accomplishments of a finance team can be linked to the efforts of a marketing team, generating a sense of oneness and joint accomplishment. This, in turn, fosters teamwork and a comprehensive grasp of the organization’s objectives.
In addition, employees are more inclined to take ownership of their roles when they can see the bigger picture and how they fit into it. Data-driven stories empower employees by showing them the impact of their work and how it contributes to the company’s success. This feeling of ownership and success encourages productivity and an ambitious drive toward success.
We’ve, all along, been explaining the importance of data-driven stories in improving internal engagement; however, there’s a responsibility companies have to take to enjoy these benefits. To harness the power of data-driven stories, companies must invest their resources in the following:
When everyone in a company understands data and can communicate with it, better productivity is achieved. With the rate of competition in business at this time, companies that are not quick to adopt this revolution of data literacy will achieve very little and will not be able to effectively engage stakeholders that are important to the growth of the company. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt the use of data-driven stories for maximum productivity and success.
