I’m getting more and more psyched about our first-ever Data Strategy & Insights 2018 Forum as I work on the sessions with my colleagues here at Forrester and with our external speakers. The topics are spot on for what organizations need from data and analytics today, and the sessions are going to be inspirational and thought-provoking. And they’ll be practical, too — our deep dives will put you right there with leading practitioners to learn from their experiences.

OK, I’m trying to resist saying “but wait, there’s more!” but I can’t help it: The Forum also provides an option that can make you more effective immediately, even before the opening keynote. Our two pre-Forum workshops on data storytelling and driving outcomes with data science will enable you to quickly uplift your organization’s capabilities when you return. Each 4-hour workshop will be led by a Forrester analyst who walked the walk in their pre-Forrester lives: Cinny Little, insights-based strategy development and execution guru and data storyteller extraordinaire, and Kjell Carlsson, Ph.D., honest-to-goodness data scientist with firsthand experience in what works and what doesn’t.

Why attend these workshops? An alarming number of insights professionals tell us that they’re mightily frustrated in seeing their good work actually have an impact on their organization. Both of these workshops are about targeting the obstacles in having impact and implementing specific techniques to overcome them.

In the “Use The Five-Step Playbook For Data Storytelling To Drive More Value” workshop, Cinny explodes the myth that data speaks for itself in reports, dashboards, and presentations. The way to grab your stakeholders’ attention and win their engagement is through data storytelling, and in this workshop Cinny will show you:

  • The two primary blockers of getting more actions and value from data and insights — and how to break through them.
  • The five-step playbook that you can use for repeatable success in driving actions.
  • How to prepare, present, and maintain your quiver of “speedthrough” stories — your new essential tool for broadening the adoption of your work.

In short, you’ll learn the storyteller’s craft and exactly how to put it to work to significantly improve your powers of persuasion.

And then, if finding and hiring skilled practitioners is the biggest data science problem these days, the “Driving Business Outcomes With Data Science” workshop directly attacks the second-biggest problem: actually having an impact on your organization with your data science work. In this workshop, Kjell tackles head-on the issue that driving outcomes with data science is as much of a people and process challenge as it is a technological challenge and delves into the best practices and tools for driving outcomes with data science. He’ll show you how to:

  • Overcome the divides between the business, data science, and IT.
  • Define and prioritize the most impactful data science projects.
  • Structure effective data science teams, as well as avoid typical project roadblocks.

And yes, technology does matter — Kjell will also show you the latest tools for driving data scientist productivity and empowering “citizen data scientists.”

Attendees of these workshops will be so charged by what they’ll learn that I’m a little worried that they’ll fly home immediately so that they can put their new skills and knowledge to work and miss the rest of the Forum. Do sign up, but please stick around after they’re over for some great sessions and networking opportunities at the Forum!

Check out the workshop descriptions here and the Forum agenda here.

To stay up to date on the Data Strategy & Insights 2018 Forum, click here!