Despite this, many organisations are still grappling with fundamental questions and business problems:

• What can data do for us?
• Where does our data come from?
• Can we trust our data?
• Why do we always seem to lack the data we need?

These challenges underscore the critical need for a comprehensive data strategy that unifies your efforts behind a clear vision and a compelling case for change rooted in your business objectives and priorities.

Creating and executing a successful data strategy is a complex undertaking, and the process of presenting it to the board can be particularly daunting. This is where storytelling emerges as an invaluable skill for data leaders. Drawing upon our extensive experience in effectively engaging with boards and senior forums, these are our top tips on how to master the art of storytelling and make your data strategy presentation resonate with key stakeholders.

Understanding the Board: Before diving into your presentation, it’s essential to grasp the role and expectations of the board. Unlike traditional strategy and delivery forums focused on content, requirements, and delivery packages, the board represents company shareholders. They prioritise strategy, governance, corporate plans, risks, employees, customers, and transformation matters. Your presentation must align with their high-level, strategic, business-centric perspective.

Preparation is Key: Success in presenting your data strategy to the board hinges on meticulous preparation. Here are some critical steps to ensure you are well-prepared for the pivotal meeting:

• Present a Clear, Actionable Strategy: Define a clear route for your data strategy. Understand whether you need to present to a committee or sub-committee before the board. Typically, presenting to the Executive Committee (Excom) in advance of the board presentation.
• Research Previous Board Presentations: Learn from previous use cases and the experiences of past leaders in your organisation who have presented to the board. Analyse previous transformation, digital, and customer-focused initiatives to gain insights into what worked and what didn’t and the board’s key questions and expectations.
• Get the Full Agenda: Understanding the full board agenda is crucial. It provides insight into the board’s priorities and allows you to align your presentation accordingly. If the board confidentiality restricts access to papers, request the agenda to gain a sense of their overarching concerns.
• Define Your Single Takeaway: Board members have limited time and attention. Clearly define your primary objective for the board meeting, whether it’s seeking approval, acknowledgment, or immersion. Ensure all your preparation centres around this key takeaway.
• Immersion and Understanding: In some cases, board members may not be well-versed in the use of data. Or indeed the value of data. If necessary, organise a discovery or immersion session to establish a common understanding of data and its capabilities. Your takeaway may include a checklist of data success factors and how they underpin the entire business.
• Speak the Board’s Language: Avoid using technical jargon in your presentation. Focus on concrete use cases and business outcomes. Highlight the changes you plan to implement, competitive advantages, and the importance of the right people and support for decision-making.
• Detail who you co-operated and collaborated with: This starts to engage board members with responsibility in these areas. This will help you to build credibility and invites sponsorship and inclusion.

On the Day of the Board Meeting: Despite thorough preparation, it’s natural to feel nervous on the day. Remember that board members are human, just like you, and they are there to listen to valuable content. Here’s how to navigate the actual presentation:

• Set the Scene: Take your time to introduce the importance of your data message. Explain why it is a critical company topic and why board involvement is essential for progress. Use interesting visualisation to help make your business case.
• Provide Context: Briefly outline your journey, detailing what you have done, how you are collaborating, and with whom. This demonstrates methodical progress and activates the involvement of those accountable for various aspects of the initiative within the organisation.
• Use Your Presentation as Support: Be prepared to answer questions and adapt to the direction of discussions. Board meetings often wander, given the presence of numerous participants. Pre-briefed board members can help refocus discussions and advocate on your behalf.
• Thank the Board: Regardless of the outcome, expressing gratitude and courtesy at the end of your presentation goes a long way.

Measuring Success: A successful board meeting is marked by meaningful engagement, discussion, and challenge. It provides an opportunity to gauge whether you are heading in the right direction and whether you have adequately prepared. Look for take-away actions that align with the board’s interests for future sessions, and aim to provide board members with a checklist for understanding success in terms they can relate to.

In conclusion, you’ve reached a significant milestone by presenting your data strategy to the board. This journey is not just about what data can do for your company; it’s about what your company is doing for data. By mastering the art of storytelling and adhering to these best practices, you can successfully bridge the gap between data aspiration and boardroom achievement, ultimately driving innovation, competitiveness, and sustained growth.

Learn more: How to create a roadmap for data & AI success.

Author: Frank Brugnot

The post How to deliver a successful data strategy presentation to the board appeared first on Oakland.

The Building Safety Act 2022 has been widely discussed from a legal or liability lens, so let’s spend some time looking at it from a Data perspective.

The main requirements and changes related to Data :

The enablers

While there are specific elements related to Fire Safety and Higher Risk buildings, the Building Safety Act 2022 is a comprehensive review of the regulation, with building control authorities, regulations, and framework for all new buildings.

As such, there is alignment with current best practices that are supporting compliance with the Act.

• BIM is a major enabler. Providing processes with standards, it is a robust foundation framework with increasing adoption both from the industry as well as the technology solution providers. Some concepts, such as Golden Thread requirements, will be easier to implement if you already have in place BIM practices (requirements and models) at Project, Assets, and Organisation levels
• TQM for construction and continuous improvement activities is an additional enabler. If you have such an initiative in place, you are already collecting, combining, and using information across procurement, BIM, waste, safety, design, and construction management. TQM initiatives are an enabler to connect information together all along the building lifecycle. We can’t miss this opportunity to reference our Chairman John Oakland’s seminal book on Total Quality Management.

What else is needed?

While you may have design, schedule, planning, or quality tools and solutions in place, there is a new crucial need to manage your data proactively. This is quite a new practice and a crucial one for success.

The organisation capabilities

There is a risk of subjectivity in some of the expectations, for example, ‘relevant’ and ‘proportionate,’ especially when considering a much longer period of time of 30 years. Our data capability approach is designed to proactively manage and control data for ‘the right information at the right time for the right person:

• Data Quality: Is your information valid, relevant, and with the right level of quality?
• Data Catalogue: Do you have standards or definitions for your data, for example, when it comes to ‘competence’ or ‘forms’?
• Data Lineage: Do you know where your data is coming from, how it is modified or approved through which processes and systems? Can it be simplified?
• Master Data: Do you know how many times your data is replicated, copied and where are the golden records held?
• Data Governance: Do you have key business owners to drive the data requirements?

Those capabilities set the foundation for your data assets.

The data use cases

Information is not just managed to drive processes, activities, and completed definitions. Information and data are becoming the source of risk analysis, quality management, reporting, and process improvement.

To make it happen, we encourage companies to identify a few impactful use cases beyond the regulatory need. Those use cases will provide tangible benefits such as cost savings, waste reduction, or work optimisation.

The data use cases will make Data visible, and that will impact culture, literacy and support the Building Safety Act.

The data platform

We often have the question, do we need a data platform? The short answer is yes, as the only alternative will be to enter Excel Hell for a very long time!

Yet, we believe that the question should be, ‘What data platform is suited for my need.’ There are versatile platforms and systems, but without nailing down your needs, you will waste your investment and create red tape practices.

Based on the use case: reporting, MI, data quality monitoring, alerts, IoT, and real-time management or models, we can identify the best approach and platform to make your data visible and in the hands of the people who need it.

Your data culture and literacy

Finally, data culture and literacy are critical in your journey. Training and understanding the context of your data is the main enabler for a successful data journey. The objective is not to drive everything through data, but to understand everyone’s roles in data collection, management, and usage. Culture, literacy, and training are at the heart of trust, good behaviours, and relevant prioritisation when it comes to data cleansing.

How Oakland can help

First, at Oakland, we have already supported construction companies with tangible use cases:

• Data Platforms
• IoT and models
• Reporting needs and data improvement
• Data Quality assessment

In our engagements, we are careful to make sure that our activities are aligned with where you are now, your priorities and challenges, and your transformation approach for the future.

If you are struggling with any aspect of the Building Safety Act then please get in touch by emailing hello@theoaklandgroup.co.uk

Frank Brugnot is a Principal Consultant at Oakland

The post The Building Safety Act 2022 – How do you manage your data? appeared first on Oakland.