If you’re the data expert on the team, it’s tempting to be the gatekeeper for all the data and insights. After all, it’s hard and time consuming—especially on a smaller team—to try and make experts out of everyone.
But as the organization grows, the demands for data and the insights it provides will grow, and it’s not likely the analytics-savvy staff will growing at the same pace. So you’ve got to find another path. And I’d argue, much like marketing operations roles that serve more as enablers than executors, a strong analytics manager ought to focus more of their time on building the processes and training, not just reports. The goal of the analytics department should be in decentralizing the majority of analytics needs. Breaking down the walls and democratizing the data.
It’s harder this way at first – and will feel like pulling teeth, especially for team members for whom analysis and reporting tools don’t come as easily. But over time, doing this offloads the everyday analysis needs and directly empowers the people who need it. And it frees up your analytics team to focus on solving the bigger data challenges, or uncovering new opportunities no one even thought to ask about before.