| |March 20209data-driven insights, and the use of machine learning (ML), AI, and natural language processing (NLP) to deliver faster, easier claims processing. Notably, our QuickFoto Claim initiative allows customers to submit collision photographs to adjusters digitally, eliminat-ing the time previously used to travel to in-person in-spections. It's just the beginning, with many advanced analytics projects in flight to help adjusters resolve claims even faster in the near term.Through our work, we've learned some valuable lessons. The following are a few tactics we've found to be successful in earning business leaders' confidence in data and analytic advancements and adoption of our work.Listen Carefully to Understand Business Partners' ProblemsBefore proposing cutting-edge, transformational ideas to business partners, it's important to listen to their needs first. Falling in love with your own ideas bears the risk of overlooking business partners' ideas--the very people closest to the root cause of an issue or opportunity. If your data and analytics team is centralized, encourage all exposure to the business unit they support though informational meetings, job shadowing with front-line employees, customer ser-vice representatives and more. The best perspectives and solutions to business partners' needs can often be found "walking in their shoes" for a period of time--and it's time well spent. Communicate Effectively Even if you've sourced near-perfect data, tri-ple-checked your underlying assumptions and created highly predictive models, data and analytics won't be a slam-dunk unless you can show their merit to deci-sion makers in your organization. That's why it is im-portant to sell your work in a way that makes sense to them. Because data science language may not be uni-versally understood, try offering a demo of your work to bring the conversation up a level from the math to focusing on what's possible. It also ensures that every-one--both the business and analytics teams--are on the same page and able to see what the solution looks like on an even playing field.Balance Both Short-term and Long-term ResultsEmpathize with your business partners' needs to de-liver immediate results in some smaller areas instead of focusing exclusively on longer-term, transforma-tional solutions, and be open to new opportunities as they emerge. If your team has a transformational solu-tion in mind, and your business partners aren't ready for it, it is not an indication of failure or lost opportuni-ty. It's simply part of the delicate balance in how to in-vest resources to achieve broader success. By effective-ly showing how you can help in the near-term, it can allow the business to invest in your solutions down the road. Small wins now can often help enable larger wins in the future.With data and analytics now firmly entrenched across many companies' org charts, a dedicated data science team alone won't be enough to deliver lasting business value. However, by listening carefully, com-municating effectively and balancing short and long-term results, you can lead your team to more success-ful execution on data and analytic strategies. LEADERSHIP SUPPORT AND BUY-IN IS WHAT MAKES EXECUTION HAPPEN, AND WILL ALLOW THOSE COMPANIES WHO ARE DOING IT WELL TO PULL AHEAD OF THEIR COMPETITORSGreg Firestone, Vice President - Data Science
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