Week 4: Always remember the stakeholder

Hey, welcome back. So far you’ve learned about
things like spreadsheets, analytical thinking skills,
metrics, and mathematics. These are all super
important technical skills that you’ll build on throughout your Data Analytics career. You should also keep in mind that there are some
non-technical skills that you can use to create a positive and productive
working environment. These skills will help
you consider the way you interact with your colleagues as well as your stakeholders. We already know that
it’s important to keep your team members’ and
stakeholders’ needs in mind. Coming up, we’ll talk
about why that is. We’ll start learning
some communication best practices you can use
in your day to day work. Remember, communication is key. We’ll start by learning all about effective
communication, and how to balance team
member and stakeholder needs. Think of these
skills as new tools that’ll help you work
with your team to find the best possible solutions. Alright, let’s head on to the next
video and get started.

Introduction

As a data analyst, you will often be working with a team of people with different needs and expectations. It is important to be able to balance these needs and expectations in order to be successful.

The importance of communication

The first step to balancing needs and expectations is to communicate effectively with your team. This means being clear about your own needs and expectations, as well as the needs and expectations of others. It also means being respectful of everyone’s input and being willing to compromise.

The importance of understanding the big picture

It is also important to understand the big picture when balancing needs and expectations. This means understanding the goals of the project or team, as well as the constraints that everyone is working under. When you understand the big picture, you can make better decisions about how to balance everyone’s needs.

The importance of compromise

In some cases, it may not be possible to perfectly balance everyone’s needs and expectations. In these cases, it is important to be willing to compromise. This means being willing to give a little on your own needs in order to meet the needs of others.

Tips for balancing needs and expectations

Here are some tips for balancing needs and expectations in data analytics:

• Be clear about your own needs and expectations.
• Be respectful of everyone’s input.
• Be willing to compromise.
• Understand the big picture.
• Be proactive in communicating with your team.
• Be flexible and adaptable.

Conclusion

Balancing needs and expectations is an important skill for data analysts. By following the tips in this tutorial, you can improve your ability to balance the needs and expectations of your team and be more successful in your career.

Here are some additional things to keep in mind when balancing needs and expectations:

• Be aware of your own biases. Everyone has biases, and it is important to be aware of them so that they do not cloud your judgment when balancing needs and expectations.
• Be patient. It takes time to build trust and rapport with your team, and it takes time to find the right balance.
• Be willing to learn and grow. As you gain experience, you will learn new ways to balance needs and expectations.

People who hold a stake in the outcome of a data analysis project are called stakeholders. In what ways do they hold a stake in the outcome?

They invest time and resources into the project.

Stakeholders are people who invest time and resources into a project.

As a data analyst, you’ll be required to focus
on a lot of different things, And your stakeholders’
expectations are one of the most important. We’re going to talk about why stakeholder expectations
are so important to your work and look at some examples of stakeholder
needs on a project. By now you’ve heard me use
the term stakeholder a lot. So let’s refresh ourselves
on what a stakeholder is. Stakeholders are people that have invested time, interest, and resources into
the projects that you’ll be working on
as a data analyst. In other words, they hold
stakes in what you’re doing. There’s a good
chance they’ll need the work you do to
perform their own needs. That’s why it’s so
important to make sure your work lines
up with their needs and why you need to communicate effectively with all of the stakeholders
across your team. Your stakeholders will want to discuss things like
the project objective, what you need to reach that goal, and any challenges or
concerns you have. This is a good thing. These conversations help build trust and confidence
in your work. Here’s an example of a project with
multiple team members. Let’s explore what
they might need from you at different levels to
reach the project’s goal. Imagine you’re a data
analyst working with a company’s human
resources department. The company has experienced an increase in its turnover rate, which is the rate at which
employees leave a company. The company’s HR department
wants to know why that is and they want you to help them figure out potential solutions. The Vice President of
HR at this company is interested in identifying
any shared patterns across employees who quit
and seeing if there’s a connection to employee
productivity and engagement. As a data analyst, it’s your job to focus on the HR department’s question and help find them an answer. But the VP might be
too busy to manage day-to-day tasks or might
not be your direct contact. For this task, you’ll be updating the project manager
more regularly. Project managers are in charge of planning and executing a project. Part of the project manager’s
job is keeping the project on track and overseeing the
progress of the entire team. In most cases, you’ll need to
give them regular updates, let them know what you
need to succeed and tell them if you have any
problems along the way. You might also be working
with other team members. For example, HR administrators will need to know
the metrics you’re using so that they
can design ways to effectively gather
employee data. You might even be working with other data analysts who are covering different
aspects of the data. It’s so important
that you know who the stakeholders and
other team members are in a project so that you can communicate with
them effectively and give them what they need to move forward in their own
roles on the project. You’re all working
together to give the company vital insights
into this problem. Back to our example. By analyzing company data, you see a decrease in
employee engagement and performance after their first
13 months at the company, which could mean that employees started feeling demotivated or disconnected from their work and then often quit
a few months later. Another analyst who focuses on hiring data also shares that the company had a large increase in hiring around 18 months ago. You communicate this information with all your team members and stakeholders and they provide feedback on how to share this
information with your VP. In the end, your VP decides
to implement an in-depth manager check-in with
employees who are about to hit their 12
month mark at the firm to identify career growth
opportunities, which reduces the employee turnover starting at the
13 month mark. This is just one example
of how you might balance needs and expectations
across your team. You’ll find that in
pretty much every project you work on as a data analyst, different people on your team, from the VP of HR to your
fellow data analysts, will need all your focus and communication to carry
the project to success. Focusing on stakeholder
expectations will help you understand
the goal of a project, communicate more effectively
across your team, and build trust in your work. Coming up, we’ll discuss how to figure out where you
fit on your team and how you can
help move a project forward with focus
and determination.

A data analyst at a delivery company is working on a logistics project. The goal is to use data to create more efficient routes so trucks travel fewer miles on the road when delivering parcels to customers. Who is the primary stakeholder most likely to be?

The vice president of logistics

The primary stakeholder is the vice president of logistics.

So now that we know the
importance of finding the balance across
your stakeholders and your team members. I want to talk about
the importance of staying focused on the objective. This can be tricky when you find yourself working
with a lot of people with competing needs
and opinions. But by asking yourself a
few simple questions at the beginning of each task, you can ensure that you’re able to stay focused on your objective while still
balancing stakeholder needs. Let’s think about our
employee turnover example from the last video. There, we were
dealing with a lot of different team members and
stakeholders like managers, administrators, even
other analysts. As a data analyst, you’ll find that
balancing everyone’s needs can be a little chaotic sometimes but part of your
job is to look past the clutter and stay
focused on the objective. It’s important to concentrate on what matters and
not get distracted. As a data analyst, you could be working on
multiple projects with lots of different people but no matter what project you’re working on, there are three things you can focus on that will
help you stay on task. One, who are the primary
and secondary stakeholders? Two who is managing the data? And three where can you go for help? Let’s see if we can apply those questions to
our example project. The first question you can ask is about who those stakeholders are. The primary stakeholder of this project is probably
the Vice President of HR who’s hoping to use his project’s findings to make new decisions about
company policy. You’d also be giving updates to your project manager,
team members, or other data analysts who are depending on your work
for their own task. These are your
secondary stakeholders. Take time at the beginning
of every project to identify your stakeholders
and their goals. Then see who else is on your team
and what their roles are. Next, you’ll want to ask
who’s managing the data? For example, think about working with other
analysts on this project. You’re all data analysts, but you may manage different
data within your project. In our example, there
was another data analyst who was focused on managing
the company’s hiring data. Their insights around
a surge of new hires 18 months ago turned out to be a key part of your analysis. If you hadn’t communicated
with this person, you might have spent
a lot of time trying to collect or analyze hiring data yourself or you may not have even been able to include
it in your analysis at all. Instead, you were able to communicate your
objectives with another data analyst and use existing work to make
your analysis richer. By understanding who’s
managing the data, you can spend your time
more productively. Next step, you need to know where you can go
when you need help. This is something
you should know at the beginning of any
project you work on. If you run into bumps in the road on your way
to completing a task, you need someone who is best positioned to take down
those barriers for you. When you know who’s able to help, you’ll spend less time worrying
about other aspects of the project and more time
focused on the objective. So who could you go to if you ran into a problem
on this project? Project managers support you and your work by managing
the project timeline, providing guidance and resources, and setting up
efficient workflows. They have a big picture
view of the project because they know what you and the rest of the
team are doing. This makes them a great resource if you run into a problem in the employee turnover example, you would need to
be able to access employee departure survey data to include in your analysis. If you’re having trouble getting approvals for that access, you can speak with your
project manager to remove those barriers for
you so that you can move forward
with your project. Your team depends on you to stay focused on your task
so that as a team, you can find solutions. By asking yourself
three easy questions at the beginning of new projects, you’ll be able to address
stakeholder needs, feel confident about who is
managing the data, and get help when you need it so that you can keep your
eyes on the prize: the project objective. So far we’ve covered the importance
of working effectively on a team while maintaining your
focus on stakeholder needs. Coming up, we’ll go over some
practical ways to become better communicators
so that we can help make sure the team
reaches its goals.

Introduction

Clear communication is essential in all aspects of life, but it is especially important in the workplace. When you are able to communicate clearly, you are able to:

• Get your message across effectively.
• Build relationships with colleagues and clients.
• Solve problems more easily.
• Make better decisions.
• Be more productive.

Why is clear communication important?

There are many reasons why clear communication is important. Here are a few of the most important ones:

• It helps to avoid misunderstandings. When you communicate clearly, you are less likely to be misunderstood by others. This can help to prevent misunderstandings and conflict.
• It builds trust. When you communicate clearly, you show that you are confident and reliable. This can help to build trust with others.
• It is more efficient. When you communicate clearly, you can get your message across more quickly and easily. This can save you time and energy.
• It is more persuasive. When you communicate clearly, you are more likely to persuade others to see things your way.
• It is more engaging. When you communicate clearly, you are more likely to keep your audience’s attention.

How to communicate clearly

There are many things you can do to communicate clearly. Here are a few tips:

• Be concise. Get to the point quickly and avoid rambling.
• Be specific. Use clear and specific language that is easy to understand.
• Be organized. Present your information in a logical and easy-to-follow way.
• Be aware of your audience. Tailor your communication to your audience’s needs and understanding.
• Use visuals. Visuals can help to make your communication more engaging and easier to understand.
• Be active. Ask questions, encourage feedback, and be open to discussion.

Conclusion

Clear communication is a skill that can be learned and improved with practice. By following the tips above, you can become a more effective communicator and achieve your goals in the workplace and beyond.

Here are some additional tips for clear communication:

• Listen carefully. When someone is speaking to you, take the time to listen carefully and understand what they are saying.
• Be respectful. Even if you disagree with someone, be respectful of their point of view.
• Be patient. Sometimes it takes time for people to understand your message. Be patient and don’t give up.
• Be open to feedback. Be willing to listen to feedback and make changes to your communication if necessary.

By following these tips, you can improve your communication skills and become a more effective communicator.

Welcome back. We’ve talked a lot about understanding
your stakeholders and your team so that you can
balance their needs and maintain a clear focus on
your project objectives. A big part of that is building good relationships with the
people you’re working with. How do you do that? Two
words: clear communication. Now we’re going to learn
about the importance of clear communication with your stakeholders
and team members. Start thinking about
who you want to communicate with and when. First, it might
help to think about communication
challenges you might already experience
in your daily life. Have you ever been in
the middle of telling a really funny joke only to find out your friend already
knows the punchline? Or maybe they just didn’t
get what was funny about it? This happens all the time, especially if you don’t
know your audience. This kind of thing can
happen at the workplace too. Here’s the secret to
effective communication. Before you put together
a presentation, send an e-mail, or even tell that hilarious
joke to your co-worker, think about who your audience is, what they already know, what they need to
know and how you can communicate that
effectively to them. When you start by thinking
about your audience, they’ll know it and
appreciate the time you took to consider them
and their needs. Let’s say you’re working
on a big project, analyzing annual
sales data, and you discover that all of the
online sales data is missing. This could affect
your whole team and significantly delay the project. By thinking through
these four questions, you can map out the best way to communicate across your
team about this problem. First, you’ll need to think
about who your audience is. In this case, you’ll
want to connect with other data analysts
working on the project, as well as your project manager and eventually the VP of sales, who is your stakeholder. Next up, you’ll think through what this group already knows. The other data analysts
working on this project know all the details about which data-set you
are using already, and your project manager knows the timeline you’re
working towards. Finally, the VP of sales knows the high-level
goals of the project. Then you’ll ask yourself what they need to know
to move forward. Your fellow data analysts need to know the details of
where you have tried so far and any potential
solutions you’ve come up with. Your project manager would need to know the different teams that could be affected and the implications for the project, especially if this problem
changes the timeline. Finally, the VP of sales will
need to know that there is a potential issue that would
delay or affect the project. Now that you’ve decided
who needs to know what, you can choose the best way
to communicate with them. Instead of a long,
worried e-mail which could lead to lots
back and forth, you decide to quickly
book in a meeting with your project manager
and fellow analysts. In the meeting, you let
the team know about the missing online sales data and give them more
background info. Together, you discuss how this impacts other
parts of the project. As a team, you come
up with a plan and update the project
timeline if needed. In this case, the VP of sales didn’t need to be
invited to your meeting, but would appreciate
an e-mail update if there were changes to the timeline which
your project manager might send along herself. When you communicate thoughtfully and think about your
audience first, you’ll build better
relationships and trust with your team
members and stakeholders. That’s important because
those relationships are key to the project’s success
and your own too. When you’re getting
ready to send an e-mail, organize some meeting, or
put together a presentation, think about who your audience is, what they already know, what they need to
know and how you can communicate that
effectively to them. Next up, we’ll talk more about communicating
at work and you’ll learn some useful
tips to make sure you get your message
across clearly.

Introduction

Effective communication is the ability to share information and ideas in a way that is clear, concise, and understandable. It is a critical skill for success in both personal and professional life.

There are many different aspects of effective communication, but some of the most important include:

• Active listening: This means paying attention to what the other person is saying and understanding their point of view.
• Clear and concise language: This means using language that is easy to understand and avoids jargon or technical terms.
• Nonverbal communication: This includes things like body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice.
• Feedback: This means being open to feedback and being willing to change your communication style if necessary.

Tips for effective communication

Here are some tips for effective communication:

• Be clear and concise. Get to the point quickly and avoid rambling.
• Use specific language. Avoid using vague language that can be interpreted in different ways.
• Be organized. Present your information in a logical and easy-to-follow way.
• Be aware of your audience. Tailor your communication to your audience’s needs and understanding.
• Use visuals. Visuals can help to make your communication more engaging and easier to understand.
• Be active. Ask questions, encourage feedback, and be open to discussion.
• Listen carefully. When someone is speaking to you, take the time to listen carefully and understand what they are saying.
• Be respectful. Even if you disagree with someone, be respectful of their point of view.
• Be patient. Sometimes it takes time for people to understand your message. Be patient and don’t give up.
• Be open to feedback. Be willing to listen to feedback and make changes to your communication if necessary.

Conclusion

Effective communication is a skill that can be learned and improved with practice. By following the tips above, you can become a more effective communicator and achieve your goals in the workplace and beyond.

Here are some additional tips for effective communication:

• Be aware of your body language. Your body language can communicate a lot about you, so be aware of how you are positioned and what your facial expressions are saying.
• Use active listening skills. This means paying attention to what the other person is saying, not just waiting for your turn to talk.
• Pay attention to the other person’s needs. Are they understanding what you are saying? Are they comfortable with the pace of the conversation?
• Be willing to compromise. Sometimes you may not get everything you want, but it is important to be willing to compromise in order to reach an agreement.

By following these tips, you can improve your communication skills and become a more effective communicator.

No matter where you work, you’ll probably need to communicate with
other people as part of your day to day. Every organization and every team in
that organization will have different expectations for communication. Coming up, We’ll learn some practical ways to help
you adapt to those different expectations and some things that you can
carry over from team to team. Let’s get started. When you started a new job or a new
project, you might find yourself feeling a little out of sync with the rest of
your team and how they communicate. That’s totally normal. You’ll figure things out in no time. if you’re willing to learn as you go and ask questions when you
aren’t sure of something. For example, if you find your team uses
acronyms you aren’t familiar with, don’t be afraid to ask what they mean. When I first started at google,
I had no idea what L G T M meant and
I was always seeing it in comment threads. Well, I learned it stands for looks
good to me and I use it all the time now if I need to give
someone my quick feedback, that was one of the many
acronyms I’ve learned and I come across new ones all the time and
I’m never afraid to ask. Every work setting has
some form of etiquette. Maybe your team members appreciate
eye contact and a firm handshake. Or it might be more polite to bow, especially if you find yourself
working with international clients. You might also discover some specific
etiquette rules just by watching your coworkers communicate. And
it won’t just be in person communication you’ll deal with. Almost 300 billion emails are sent and
received every day and that number is only growing. Fortunately
there are useful skills you can learn from those digital
communications too. You’ll want your emails to be just as professional
as your in-person communications. Here are some things that can help you do
that. Good writing practices will go a long way to make your emails professional and
easy to understand. Emails are naturally more
formal than texts, but that doesn’t mean that you have
to write the next great novel. Just taking the time to write complete
sentences that have proper spelling and punctuation will make it clear you took time and consideration in your writing. Emails often
get forwarded to other people to read. So write clearly enough that
anyone could understand you. I like to read important emails out
loud before I hit send; that way, I can hear if they make sense and
catch any typos. And keep in mind the tone of your
emails can change over time. If you find that your team is
fairly casual, that’s great. Once you get to know them better,
you can start being more casual too, but being professional is always a good
place to start. A good rule of thumb: Would you be proud of what you had written
if it were published on the front page of a newspaper? If not revise it until you are. You also
don’t want your emails to be too long. Think about what your team member needs
to know and get to the point instead of overwhelming them with a wall of text.
You’ll want to make sure that your emails are clear and concise so
they don’t get lost in the shuffle. Let’s take a quick look at two emails so
that you can see what I mean. Here’s the first email. There’s so much written here that it’s kind of hard
to see where the important information is. And this first paragraph doesn’t give me a
quick summary of the important takeaways. It’s pretty casual to the greeting is just, “Hey,” and there’s no sign off. Plus I can already spot some typos. Now let’s take a look at
the second email. Already, it’s less overwhelming, right? Just a few sentences,
telling me what I need to know. It’s clearly organized and
there’s a polite greeting and sign off. This is a good example of an email; short
and to the point, polite and well-written. All of the things we’ve
been talking about so far. But what do you do if, what you need
to say is too long for an email? Well, you might want to
set up a meeting instead. It’s important to answer
in a timely manner as well. You don’t want to take so long replying to emails that your coworkers
start wondering if you’re okay. I always try to answer
emails in 24-48 hours. Even if it’s just to
give them a timeline for when I’ll have the actual
answers they’re looking for. That way, I can set expectations and
they know I’m working on it. That works the other way around too. If you need a response on something
specific from one of your team members, be clear about what you need and when you
need it so that they can get back to you. I’ll even include a date
in my subject line and bold dates in the body of my email, so it’s really clear. Remember, being
clear about your needs is a big part of being a good communicator. We covered some great ways to improve our
professional communication skills, like asking questions, practicing good writing
habits and some email tips and tricks. These will help you
communicate clearly and effectively with your team
members on any project. It might take some time, but you’ll find a
communication style that works for you and your team, both in person and online. As long as you’re willing to learn,
you won’t have any problems adapting to the different communication
expectations you’ll see in future jobs.

We discussed before how
data has limitations. Sometimes you don’t have
access to the data you need, or your data sources aren’t aligned or
your data is unclean. This can definitely be a problem
when you’re analyzing data, but it can also affect your communication
with your stakeholders. That’s why it’s important to balance your
stakeholders’ expectations with what is actually possible for a project. We’re going to learn about the importance
of setting realistic, objective goals and how to best communicate with
your stakeholders about problems you might run into. Keep in mind that a lot of
things depend on your analysis. Maybe your team can’t make
a decision without your report. Or maybe your initial data
work will determine how and where additional data will be gathered. You might remember that
we’ve talked about some situations where it’s important to
loop stakeholders in. For example, telling your project manager if you’re on
schedule or if you’re having a problem. Now, let’s look at a real-life example
where you need to communicate with stakeholders and what you might
do if you run into a problem. Let’s say you’re working on a project for
an insurance company. The company wants to identify common
causes of minor car accidents so that they can develop educational
materials that encourage safer driving. There’s a few early questions you and
your team need to answer. What driving habits will you
include in your dataset? How will you gather this data? How long will it take you to collect and clean that data before you can use
it in your analysis? Right away you want to communicate clearly with your
stakeholders to answer these questions, so you and your team can set a reasonable
and realistic timeline for the project. It can be tempting to tell your
stakeholders that you’ll have this done in no time, no problem. But setting expectations for a realistic
timeline will help you in the long run. Your stakeholders will know what to
expect when, and you won’t be overworking yourself and missing deadlines
because you overpromised. I find that setting expectations early
helps me spend my time more productively. So as you’re getting started, you’ll
want to send a high-level schedule with different phases of the project and
their approximate start dates. In this case, you and your teams
establish that you’ll need three weeks to complete analysis and
provide recommendations, and you let your stakeholders know so
they can plan accordingly. Now let’s imagine you’re further along in
the project and you run into a problem. Maybe drivers have opted into sharing data
about their phone usage in the car, but you discover that some sources count GPS
usage, and some don’t in their data. This might add time to your
data processing and cleaning and delay some project milestones. You’ll want to let your
project manager know and maybe work out a new timeline
to present to stakeholders. The earlier you can flag
these problems, the better. That way your stakeholders can make
necessary changes as soon as possible. Or what if your stakeholders want to add
car model or age as possible variables. You’ll have to communicate with them
about how that might change the model you’ve built, if it can be added and
before the deadlines, and any other obstacles that
they need to know so they can decide if it’s worth changing at
this stage of the project. To help them you might prepare a report on how their
request changes the project timeline or alters the model. You could also outline the pros and
cons of that change. You want to help your stakeholders achieve
their goals, but it’s important to set realistic expectations at
every stage of the project. This takes some balance. You’ve learned about balancing the needs
of your team members and stakeholders, but you also need to balance
stakeholder expectations and what’s possible with the projects, resources, and limitations. That’s why it’s important to be realistic
and objective and communicate clearly. This will help stakeholders
understand the timeline and have confidence in your ability
to achieve those goals. So we know communication is key and we have some good rules to follow
for our professional communication. Coming up we’ll talk even more about
answering stakeholder questions, delivering data and
communicating with your team.

Introduction

In any project, it is important to balance the expectations of the stakeholders with the realistic goals that can be achieved. This can be a challenging task, as there are often competing interests and priorities. However, by following some simple steps, it is possible to achieve a successful outcome.

Steps to balancing expectations and realistic project goals

1. Understand the stakeholders’ expectations. The first step is to understand what the stakeholders are hoping to achieve from the project. This can be done by conducting interviews, holding workshops, or simply asking questions.
2. Assess the realistic goals. Once you understand the stakeholders’ expectations, you need to assess whether they are realistic. This involves considering the available resources, the time constraints, and the technical complexity of the project.
3. Negotiate a compromise. In many cases, it will not be possible to meet all of the stakeholders’ expectations. In these cases, you need to negotiate a compromise that everyone can agree on.
4. Communicate the goals to the stakeholders. Once you have agreed on the goals, it is important to communicate them clearly to the stakeholders. This will help to avoid any misunderstandings or disappointments down the road.
5. Track progress and make adjustments as needed. As the project progresses, it is important to track progress and make adjustments as needed. This will help to ensure that the project stays on track and meets the agreed-upon goals.

Tips for balancing expectations and realistic project goals

• Be clear and transparent about the project’s goals and limitations.
• Build trust and rapport with the stakeholders.
• Be flexible and willing to compromise.
• Communicate regularly and keep the stakeholders updated on progress.
• Be prepared to adjust the goals as needed.

Conclusion

Balancing expectations and realistic project goals is an essential skill for any project manager. By following the steps outlined above, you can increase your chances of success.

Here are some additional tips for balancing expectations and realistic project goals:

• Be realistic about the time and resources available.
• Break the project down into smaller, more manageable tasks.
• Set realistic deadlines and milestones.
• Be prepared for unexpected challenges.
• Communicate regularly with the stakeholders.
• Be flexible and willing to make changes.

By following these tips, you can increase your chances of success in any project.

When starting a new data analysis project, setting expectations for a realistic timeline might involve which of the following? Select all that apply.

• Communicating clearly with the project manager and other team members
• Creating a schedule with project phases and their approximate start dates
• Sharing a high-level schedule with stakeholders so they can plan accordingly

Setting expectations for a realistic timeline might involve sharing a high-level schedule with stakeholders, creating a schedule, and communicating clearly with team members.

I’m Sarah and
I’m a senior analytical leader at Google. As a data analyst, there’s going
to be times where you have different stakeholders who have no idea about
the amount of time that it takes you to do each project, and in the very beginning
when I’m asked to do a project or to look into something, I always try
to give a little bit of expectation settings on the turn around
because most of your stakeholders don’t really understand what you do
with data and how you get it and how you clean it and
put together the story behind it. The other thing that I want to
make clear to everyone is that you have to make sure that
the data tells you the stories. Sometimes people think that
data can answer everything and sometimes we have to acknowledge
that that is simply untrue. I recently worked with a state to figure
out why people weren’t signing up for the benefits that they needed and
deserved. We saw people coming to the site and where they would sign up for those
benefits and see if they’re qualified. But for some reason there was something
stopping them from taking the step of actually signing up. So I was able to look into it using
Google Analytics to try to uncover what is stopping people from taking the action of
signing up for these benefits that they need and deserve. And so I go into Google Analytics, I see people are going back
between this service page and the unemployment page back to the service
page, back to the unemployment page. And so I came up with a theory that hey,
people aren’t finding the information that they need in order to take the next step
to see if they qualify for these services. The only way that I can actually know why someone left the site without
taking action is if I ask them. I would have to survey them. Google Analytics did not give
me the data that I would need to 100% back my theory or deny it. So when you’re explaining
to your stakeholders, “Hey I have a theory. This data is telling me a story. However I can’t 100% know due
to the limitations of data,” You just have to say it. So the way that I communicate that
is I say “I have a theory that people are not finding the information that
they need in order to take action. Here’s the proved points that I
have that support that theory.” So what we did was we then made it
a little bit easier to find that information. Even though
we weren’t 100% sure that my theory was correct, we were
confident enough to take action and then we looked back, and we saw all the metrics
that pointed me to this theory improve. And so that always feels really good when
you’re able to help a cause that you believe in do better,
and help more people through data. It makes all the nerdy learning about
SQL and everything completely worth it.

We live in a world that
loves instant gratification, whether it’s overnight
delivery or on-demand movies. We want what we want
and we want it now. But in the data world, speed can sometimes be
the enemy of accuracy, especially when
collaboration is required. We’re going to talk
about how to balance speedy answers with
right ones and how to best address these issues by re-framing questions
and outlining problems. That way your team members and stakeholders understand
what answers they can expect when. As data analysts,
we need to know the why behind things
like a sales slump, a player’s batting average,
or rainfall totals. It’s not just about the figures, it’s about the context
too and getting to the bottom of these
things takes time. So if a stakeholder comes
knocking on your door, a lot of times that person may not really
know what they need. They just know they
want it at light speed. But sometimes the
pressure gets to us and even the most experienced
data analysts can be tempted to cut
corners and provide flawed or unfinished data
in the interest of time. When that happens, so much of the story in
the data gets lost. That’s why
communication is one of the most valuable tools
for working with teams. It’s important to start with structured thinking and a
well-planned scope of work, which we talked about earlier. If you start with a
clear understanding of your stakeholders’
expectations, you can then develop
a realistic scope of work that outlines agreed
upon expectations, timelines, milestones,
and reports. This way, your team always has a road map to
guide their actions. If you’re pressured for something that’s outside of the scope, you can feel confidence setting more realistic
expectations. At the end of the day, it’s your job to balance fast answers with
the right answers. Not to mention figuring out what the person is really asking. Now seems like a good
time for an example. Imagine your VP of HR shows
up at your desk demanding to see how many new hires are completing a training
course they’ve introduced. She says, “There’s no way people are going through
each section of the course. The human resources team
is getting slammed with questions. We should probably
just cancel the program.” How would you respond? Well, you could log
into the system, crunch some numbers, and hand
them to your supervisor. That would take no time at all. But the quick answer might
not be the most accurate one. So instead, you could
re-frame her question, outline the problem, challenges, potential solutions,
and time-frame. You might say, “I can certainly check out the rates
of completion, but I sense there may be
more to the story here. Could you give me two days to run some reports and learn
what’s really going on?” With more time, you
can gain context. You and the VP of HR decide to expand the
project timeline, so you can spend time gathering anonymous survey data from new employees about
the training course. Their answers provide data
that can help you pinpoint exactly why completion
rates are so low. Employees are reporting that the course feels
confusing and outdated. Because you were able to take time to address the
bigger problem, the VP of HR has a better idea about why
new employees aren’t completing the course and can make new decisions
about how to update it. Now the training course is
easy to follow and the HR department isn’t
getting as many questions. Everybody benefits. Redirecting the conversation
will help you find the real problem which leads to more insightful and
accurate solutions. But it’s important
to keep in mind, sometimes you need
to be the bearer of bad news and that’s okay. Communicating about problems,
potential solutions and different expectations
can help you move forward on a project
instead of getting stuck. When it comes to communicating answers with your teams
and stakeholders, the fastest answer and the most accurate answer aren’t
usually the same answer. But by making sure
that you understand their needs and setting
expectations clearly, you can balance
speed and accuracy. Just make sure to be clear and upfront and you’ll find success.

In data analysis, there is often a tradeoff between speed and accuracy. This means that the faster you want to analyze the data, the less accurate the results may be. And the more accurate you want the results to be, the longer it may take to analyze the data.

There are a few factors that can affect the speed and accuracy of data analysis. These include:

• The size of the dataset: The larger the dataset, the longer it will take to analyze it.
• The complexity of the analysis: The more complex the analysis, the longer it will take to complete.
• The computing resources available: The more computing resources you have, the faster you can analyze the data.
• The data analysis tools you use: Some data analysis tools are faster than others.

There are a few things you can do to improve the speed and accuracy of data analysis. These include:

• Use a smaller dataset: If you can, use a smaller dataset to analyze. This will reduce the amount of time it takes to analyze the data.
• Simplify the analysis: If you can, simplify the analysis. This will also reduce the amount of time it takes to analyze the data.
• Use more computing resources: If you have access to more computing resources, you can use them to speed up the analysis.
• Choose the right data analysis tools: Some data analysis tools are faster than others. Choose the tools that are best suited for your needs.

The best way to improve the speed and accuracy of data analysis is to find the right balance between the two. This will depend on the specific needs of your project.

Here are some additional considerations when making the speed-accuracy tradeoff in data analysis:

• The cost of errors: If inaccurate results could have serious consequences, then it is important to prioritize accuracy over speed.
• The urgency of the analysis: If the analysis needs to be completed quickly, then speed may be more important than accuracy.
• The availability of resources: If you have limited resources, then you may need to sacrifice accuracy in order to complete the analysis in a timely manner.

Ultimately, the decision of whether to prioritize speed or accuracy in data analysis is a judgment call that should be made on a case-by-case basis.

A data analyst reframes a question. Then, they outline the problem, challenges, potential solutions, and timeframe. This is done to achieve what goals? Select all that apply.

• Balance speed with accuracy
• Communicate expectations so stakeholders understand how long it will take to provide accurate information
• Put the data in context, and find the story it’s telling

A data analyst would use these techniques in order to put data into context, balance speed with accuracy, and keep stakeholders informed.

When you are working on a data analytics project, it is important to think about both your process and your outcome. Your process is the steps that you take to analyze the data, and your outcome is the results of your analysis.

Your process should be well-defined and reproducible. This means that you should be able to explain the steps that you took and why you took them. It also means that you should be able to repeat the analysis and get the same results.

Your outcome should be relevant and actionable. This means that your results should be meaningful and useful. They should also be something that you can act on.

Here are some tips for thinking about your process and outcome in data analytics:

• Start with a clear goal. What do you want to achieve with your data analysis? Once you know your goal, you can start to develop a process to achieve it.
• Choose the right tools. There are many different data analysis tools available. Choose the tools that are best suited for your needs and your budget.
• Clean your data. Before you start analyzing your data, you need to make sure that it is clean and accurate. This means removing any errors or inconsistencies in your data.
• Explore your data. Once your data is clean, you need to explore it to get a better understanding of it. This means looking at different visualizations of your data and asking questions about it.
• Build a model. Once you have explored your data, you can start to build a model. A model is a mathematical representation of your data. It can be used to make predictions or to understand the relationships between different variables.
• Test your model. Once you have built a model, you need to test it to make sure that it is accurate. This means using your model to make predictions on new data and comparing those predictions to the actual results.
• Communicate your results. Once you are satisfied with your results, you need to communicate them to others. This could involve writing a report, giving a presentation, or creating a visualization.

By following these tips, you can ensure that your data analytics projects are well-defined, reproducible, relevant, and actionable.

Here are some additional considerations when thinking about your process and outcome in data analytics:

• The quality of your data: The quality of your data will have a big impact on the outcome of your analysis. Make sure that your data is clean and accurate before you start analyzing it.
• The complexity of your analysis: The more complex your analysis, the longer it will take to complete and the more likely it is that you will make errors. Make sure that your analysis is appropriate for the amount of data that you have and the resources that you have available.
• The audience for your results: Who will be reading your report or presentation? What do they need to know? Tailor your communication to your audience.

Ultimately, the best way to think about your process and outcome in data analytics is to consider the specific needs of your project. By taking the time to plan your work and communicate your results, you can ensure that your data analytics projects are successful.

Data has the power to change the world. Think about this.
A bank identifies 15 new opportunities to promote a product,
resulting in $120 million in revenue. A distribution company figures out
a better way to manage shipping, reducing their cost by $500,000. Google creates a new tool that can
identify breast cancer tumors in nearby lymph nodes. These are all amazing achievements, but
do you know what they have in common? They’re all the results of data analytics. You absolutely have the power to
change the world as a data analyst. And it starts with how you
share data with your team. In this video, we will think through all of the variables
you should consider when sharing data. When you successfully
deliver data to your team, you can ensure that they’re able to
make the best possible decisions. Earlier we learned that speed can
sometimes affect accuracy when sharing database information with a team. That’s why you need a solid process
that weighs the outcomes and actions of your analysis. So where do you start? Well, the best solutions
start with questions. You might remember from our last video,
that stakeholders will have a lot of questions but it’s up to you to
figure out what they really need. So ask yourself, does your analysis
answer the original question? Are there other angles
you haven’t considered? Can you answer any questions that may
get asked about your data and analysis? That last question brings up
something else to think about. How detailed should you be
when sharing your results? Would a high level analysis be okay? Above all else, your data analysis
should help your team make better, more informed decisions. Here is another example: Imagine
a landscaping company is facing rising costs and they can’t stay
competitive in the bidding process. One question you could ask
to solve this problem is, can the company find new suppliers
without compromising quality? If you gave them a high-level analysis, you’d probably just include the number
of clients and cost of supplies. Here your stakeholder might object. She’s worried that reducing quality
will limit the company’s ability to stay competitive and keep customers happy. Well, she’s got a point. In that case, you need to provide a more
detailed data analysis to change her mind. This might mean exploring how
customers feel about different brands. You might learn that customers
don’t have a preference for specific landscape brands. So the company can change to the more
affordable suppliers without compromising quality. If you feel comfortable using the data
to answer all these questions and considerations, you’ve probably
landed on a solid conclusion. Nice! Now that you understand some of the
variables involved with sharing data with a team, like process and outcome, you’re
one step closer to making sure that your team has all the information they need
to make informed, data-driven decisions.

Meeting best practices in data analytics

Data analytics meetings are essential for sharing insights, collaborating on projects, and making decisions. However, poorly run meetings can be a waste of time and resources. By following some simple best practices, you can ensure that your data analytics meetings are productive and effective.

Before the meeting:

• Set a clear agenda. What do you want to achieve in the meeting? What topics need to be discussed? What decisions need to be made? Once you have a clear agenda, share it with the meeting participants in advance so that they can come prepared.
• Invite the right people. Only invite people who are essential to the meeting and who have something to contribute. This will help to keep the meeting focused and avoid wasting time.
• Prepare your materials. If you will be presenting or leading a discussion, make sure to prepare your materials in advance. This will help you to stay on track and deliver your presentation effectively.

During the meeting:

• Start and end on time. Respect the time of your meeting participants by starting and ending the meeting on time.
• Encourage participation. Make sure that everyone has a chance to participate in the meeting. This may involve asking open-ended questions, facilitating discussion, and encouraging dissenting opinions.
• Stay on track. It is easy to get sidetracked in data analytics meetings. However, it is important to stay on track and focus on the agenda. If a discussion gets off track, gently redirect it back to the main topic.
• Document the meeting. Take notes or record the meeting so that you have a record of what was discussed and what decisions were made. This will help you to follow up on action items and ensure that everyone is on the same page.

After the meeting:

• Send out meeting notes. Send out meeting notes to all participants as soon as possible after the meeting. This will help to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that any action items are clear.
• Follow up on action items. Make sure to follow up on any action items that were assigned during the meeting. This will help to ensure that progress is made and that the team is on track to meet its goals.

By following these best practices, you can ensure that your data analytics meetings are productive and effective.

Here are some additional tips for running successful data analytics meetings:

• Use data visualization tools. Data visualization tools can help to make your presentation more engaging and easier to understand.
• Be clear and concise. Avoid using jargon and technical terms that your audience may not understand.
• Tell stories. Stories can be a powerful way to communicate your insights and engage your audience.
• Be open to feedback. Encourage your audience to ask questions and share their thoughts.

By following these tips, you can run data analytics meetings that are informative, engaging, and productive.

Now it’s time to
discuss meetings. Meetings are a huge
part of how you communicate with team
members and stakeholders. Let’s cover some easy-to-follow
do’s and don’ts, you can use for meetings
both in person or online so that you can use these communication best
practices in the future. At their core, meetings make
it possible for you and your team members
or stakeholders to discuss how a project is going. But they can be so
much more than that. Whether they’re
virtual or in person, team meetings can build
trust and team spirit. They give you a chance
to connect with the people you’re working
with beyond emails. Another benefit is that knowing who you’re
working with can give you a better perspective of where your work fits into
the larger project. Regular meetings also make it easier to
coordinate team goals, which makes it easier to
reach your objectives. With everyone on the same page, your team will be in the
best position to help each other when you
run into problems too. Whether you’re leading a
meeting or just attending it, there are best practices you can follow to make sure your
meetings are a success. There are some
really simple things you can do to make
a great meeting. Come prepared, be on time, pay attention, and ask questions. This applies to both meetings you lead and ones you attend. Let’s break down
how you can follow these to-dos for every meeting. What do I mean when
I say come prepared? Well, a few things. First, bring what you need. If you like to take notes, have your notebook and pens in your bag or your
work device on hand. Being prepared also means you should read the
meeting agenda ahead of time and be ready to provide
any updates on your work. If you’re leading the meeting, make sure to prepare your
notes and presentations and know what you’re going
to talk about and of course, be ready to answer questions. These are some other tips that I like to follow when
I’m leading a meeting. First, every meeting
should focus on making a clear decision and include the person needed to
make that decision. And if there needs to be a
meeting in order to make a decision, schedule
it immediately. Don’t let progress stall by waiting until next
week’s meeting. Lastly, try to keep the number of people at your meeting
under 10 if possible. More people makes it hard to have a collaborative discussion. It’s also important to respect
your team members’ time. The best way to do this is
to come to meetings on time. If you’re leading the meeting, show up early and set up beforehand so you’re ready
to start when people arrive. You can do the same thing
for online meetings. Try to make sure your technology
is working beforehand and that you’re watching
the clock so you don’t miss a meeting
accidentally. Staying focused and attentive
during a meeting is another great way to respect
your team members’ time. You don’t want to miss something important
because you were distracted by something
else during a presentation. Paying attention also means asking questions when
you need clarification, or if you think there may be a problem with a project plan. Don’t be afraid to reach
out after a meeting. If you didn’t get to
ask your question, follow up with the group
afterwards and get your answer. When you’re the person
leading the meeting, make sure you build and send
out an agenda beforehand, so your team members
can come prepared and leave with clear takeaways. You’ll also want to
keep everyone involved. Try to engage with all
your attendees so you don’t miss out on any insights
from your team members. Let everyone know
that you’re open to questions after the meeting too. It’s a great idea to take notes even when you’re
leading the meeting. This makes it easier to remember all questions
that were asked. Then afterwards you can follow up with individual team
members to answer those questions or
send an update to your whole team depending on
who needs that information. Now let’s go over what
not to do in meetings. There are some
obvious “don’ts” here. You don’t want to
show up unprepared, late, or distracted for meetings. You also don’t want to
dominate the conversation, talk over others, or distract people with unfocused discussion. Try to make sure you give
other team members a chance to talk and always let them finish their thought before
you start speaking. Everyone who is attending your meeting should be
giving their input. Provide opportunities
for people to speak up, ask questions, call
for expertise, and solicit their feedback. You don’t want to miss out on their valuable insights.
And try to have everyone put their phones or
computers on silent when they’re not speaking,
you included. Now we’ve learned some
best practices you can follow in meetings
like come prepared, be on time, pay attention,
and ask questions. We also talked about
using meetings productively to make
clear decisions and promoting collaborative
discussions and to reach out after a meeting to address questions you or
others might have had. You also know what not to do in meetings: showing up unprepared, late, or distracted, or talking over others and
missing out on their input. With these tips in mind, you’ll be well on your way to productive, positive
team meetings. But of course, sometimes there will be conflict
in your team. We’ll discuss conflict
resolution soon.

When you’re leading a meeting, what are some ways to make sure all participants have a positive experience?  Select all that apply.

• Take notes on what’s discussed during the meeting.
• Prepare notes, a presentation, and an agenda to share with attendees.
• Test out any technology you plan to use ahead of time to make sure it’s working properly.

When leading a meeting, testing out technology, taking notes and preparing supporting materials will help you ensure all participants have a positive experience.

[MUSIC] Joining a new team was definitely
scary at the beginning. Especially at a company like
Google where it’s really big and everyone is extremely smart. But I really leaned on my manager
to understand what I could bring to the table. And that made me feel a lot more
comfortable in meetings while sharing my abilities. I found that my best projects start off
when the communication is really clear about what’s expected. If I leave the meeting
where the project has been asked of me knowing exactly where
to start and what I need to do, that allows for me to get it done faster,
more efficiently, and getting to the real goal of it and maybe going an extra step further
because I didn’t have to spend any time confused on what I needed to be doing. Communication is so important because
it gets you to the finish line the most efficiently and
also makes you look really good. When I first started I had a good
amount of projects thrown at me and I was really excited. So, I went into them without
asking too many questions. At first that was an obstacle,
because while you can thrive in ambiguity, ambiguity as to what the project
objective is, can be really harmful when you’re actually trying
to get the goal done. And I overcame that by simply taking
a step back when someone asks me to do the project and
just clarifying what that goal was. Once that goal was crisp, I was happy to go into
the ambiguity of how to get there, but the goal has to be really objective and clear. I’m Ximena and I’m a Financial Analyst.

It’s normal for conflict to
come up in your work life. A lot of what you’ve
learned so far, like managing expectations
and communicating effectively can help
you avoid conflict, but sometimes you’ll run
into conflict anyways. If that happens,
there are ways to resolve it and move forward. In this video, we will talk
about how conflict could happen and the best ways you can practice
conflict resolution. A conflict can pop up
for a variety of reasons. Maybe a stakeholder misunderstood the possible outcomes
for your project; maybe you and your
team member have very different work styles; or maybe an important deadline is approaching and
people are on edge. Mismatched expectations
and miscommunications are some of the most common
reasons conflicts happen. Maybe you weren’t clear
on who was supposed to clean a dataset and
nobody cleaned it, delaying a project. Or maybe a teammate sent out an email with all of your
insights included, but didn’t mention
it was your work. While it can be easy to
take conflict personally, it’s important to
try and be objective and stay focused on
the team’s goals. Believe it or not,
tense moments can actually be opportunities to re-evaluate a project and
maybe even improve things. So when a problem comes up, there are a few ways you
can flip the situation to be more productive
and collaborative. One of the best
ways you can shift a situation from
problematic to productive is to just re-frame
the problem. Instead of focusing on what went
wrong or who to blame, change the question
you’re starting with. Try asking, how can I
help you reach your goal? This creates an opportunity for you and your
team members to work together to find a
solution instead of feeling frustrated
by the problem. Discussion is key to
conflict resolution. If you find yourself
in the middle of a conflict, try to communicate, start a conversation
or ask things like, are there other important
things I should be considering? This gives your team members or stakeholders a chance to
fully lay out your concerns. But if you find yourself
feeling emotional, give yourself some time
to cool off so you can go into the conversation
with a clearer head. If I need to write an email
during a tense moment, I’ll actually save it to drafts and come back to
it the next day to reread it before sending to make sure that I’m
being level-headed. If you find you don’t
understand what your team member or stakeholder
is asking you to do, try to understand the
context of their request. Ask them what their end goal is, what story they’re
trying to tell with the data or what
the big picture is. By turning moments of
potential conflict into opportunities to collaborate
and move forward, you can resolve tension and get your project
back on track. Instead of saying, “There’s
no way I can do that in this time frame,” try to
re-frame it by saying, “I would be happy to do that, but I’ll just take
this amount of time, let’s take a step back so I can better understand
what you’d like to do with the data and we
can work together to find the best path forward.” With that, we’ve reached
the end of this section. Great job. Learning how to work with new team members can be a
big challenge in starting a new role or a new project but with the skills you’ve
picked up in these videos, you’ll be able to start on the right foot with
any new team you join. So far, you’ve learned
about balancing the needs and expectations of your team
members and stakeholders. You’ve also covered
how to make sense of your team’s roles and focus
on the project objective, the importance of clear communication
and communication expectations in a workplace, and how to balance the limitations of data
with stakeholder asks. Finally, we covered how to have effective team meetings and how to resolve
conflicts by thinking collaboratively with
your team members. Hopefully now you
understand how important communication is to the
success of a data analyst. These communication skills
might feel a little different from some of the other skills you’ve been
learning in this program, but they’re also an
important part of your data analyst toolkit and your success as a
professional data analyst. Just like all of the other skills you’re
learning right now, your communication
skills will grow with practice and experience.

From conflict to collaboration in data analytics

Data analytics teams often work on complex and challenging projects. This can lead to disagreements and conflict, which is normal. However, it is important to manage conflict effectively in order to maintain a productive and collaborative work environment.

Here are some tips on how to move from conflict to collaboration in data analytics:

1. Acknowledge the conflict. The first step is to acknowledge that there is a conflict. Don’t try to ignore it or pretend that it doesn’t exist.
2. Identify the root cause. Once you have acknowledged the conflict, try to identify the root cause. What are the underlying issues that are causing the disagreement?
3. Be respectful. Even if you disagree with someone, it is important to be respectful. Avoid personal attacks and focus on the issues at hand.
4. Listen actively. When the other person is speaking, listen actively. Try to understand their perspective and why they feel the way they do.
5. Be open to compromise. It is unlikely that you will get everything you want in a conflict. Be open to compromise and finding a solution that works for everyone.
6. Focus on the common goal. Remember that you are all working towards a common goal: to produce high-quality data analytics. Focus on this common goal when trying to resolve the conflict.

Here are some additional tips that can be helpful in data analytics teams specifically:

• Use data to support your arguments. Data can be a powerful tool for resolving conflict. When you are making an argument, try to support it with data. This will help to ensure that your argument is well-reasoned and persuasive.
• Be willing to admit when you are wrong. Everyone makes mistakes. If you are wrong about something, be willing to admit it. This will help to build trust and respect within your team.
• Celebrate successes. When you successfully resolve a conflict, take the time to celebrate your success. This will help to reinforce positive behavior and build a more collaborative team culture.

By following these tips, you can help to manage conflict effectively and create a more collaborative data analytics team.

To shift a situation from problematic to productive, data analysts can reframe a problem and start a constructive conversation. Which of the following statements are effective for doing that? Select all that apply.

• I would be happy to do this project. I will consider the necessary steps and get back to you soon with a time estimate.
• There may be some other important things I should consider. I’m going to look into that.
• I’d like to help you reach your goal. Let’s discuss how I can do that.

Asking questions such as these will give everyone the chance to share their viewpoints in a productive manner. This leads to a more successful project.

[MUSIC]
Hey, I’m Nathan. I’m a principal data analyst in the Trust
and Safety Organization at Google. I joined the Marine Corps Reserves
when I was attending college, and the reserve unit I joined
was a field artillery unit. So after a challenging
Marine Corps boot camp, I went to field artillery fire direction
control school. And for those of you that might
not know, fire direction control is considered the brains
of field artillery, and we use all sorts of computers to
do our artillery calculations. But just in case the computers went down, we also were trained how to
use slide rules as a backup. And then, a year later,
I had the opportunity to be activated as a truck driver instead of my primary
job as a field artillery man and was deployed to Iraq to drive trucks for
an infantry company. After I got back from Iraq,
I finished up my bachelor’s degree and then worked as an applications
engineer in Austin, Texas, and eventually saw the need to pivot
more to focus more on business. And that’s when I really fell in
love with data analysis was when I was learning a lot more about business. It actually took me a couple of years,
when I really sparked an interest in data analysis to land a role where
I got to do it full time and really get my hands dirty with the data. Some of the things I did to lay
the groundwork to be ready and be qualified for that was I took a
Coursera course on R and I also did some data science hackathons where you spend
an entire weekend at some university. And they release the dataset Friday
night and by Sunday afternoon, you have to come up with
some recommendations. So those were two really good
ways to really prepare myself, get good experience and really show
a strong interest in data analysis. My first job,
where I got to do data analysis full-time was at a large bank and
I was just in heaven. I got to really do SQL for real, and also I got to use Tableau a ton.
Got to go to a Tableau conference. It was really cool. Then I was fortunate enough to
get an opportunity to move to Google into my current role. That’s in trust and safety. And what’s super exciting and fulfilling about that is that
similar to the military, it has an overall mission of protecting
people, so that’s super exciting for me. The things that were instilled in me in the Marines that I use to this very
day would be attention to detail. That’s super important in
the military overall, but especially in field artillery. Secondly,
is the importance of communication. You have your own details locked in. You need to make sure that those
are communicated really clearly to other people that you’re working with and
the third would be collaboration. In the military teamwork
makes the dream work. You really rely on the team. That’s definitely been the case in my
post Marine Corps career and jobs.

Now that you’re done,
you’re officially ready to take on the next course. Awesome job. But before I tell you
about what’s ahead, let’s take a moment to think
about what we’ve covered so far in the first step of
the data analysis process. In this course, we explored
effective questions and we learned how to use quantitative and
qualitative data, metrics and math to
connect the dots. We also covered
spreadsheet basics, how to apply structured thinking and key communication skills for working with stakeholders and
team members. That’s a lot! Now it’s time to take what you learned into the next course, where you’ll tackle
the next step of the data analysis process,
prepare your data. Hallie is going to
take over from here. You might remember her from the beginning of
the first course! She’ll guide you as you
learn new important tools for your work, like data
types and data structures; bias and credibility
in analytics; databases; organizing and
protecting your data; and the data community. Thanks for sticking with
me through this course. When you’re ready, you can go ahead to the first video
in the next course. Good luck. You’re
going to do great.