Assess the Current State
of Analytics
Assess the Current State of Analytics
Before the Olympics, a coach is likely to make sure they have a good understanding of the health and well-being of their team, as well as the right resources available to support the team’s ongoing development. The coach might ask themselves: Are any of the players injured? Have any of them shown evidence of a new talent? Has something happened to affect the overall mood of the team (for better or worse)? Do we have access to the right equipment and assistant coaches to support the team’s efforts? Knowing the current attitudes and skills of the team and what resources to support the team’s development will help the coach plan and prepare for the best possible outcome at the Olympics.
This is the goal of each of the plays in Assess the Current State of Analytics—to determine what current attitudes and abilities institution stakeholders have about data and analytics, and to understand what resources the institution has to invest in data and analytics capabilities. Which play you opt to use will depend on your institution’s needs and time constraints. The self-assessment offers rubrics with discussion points for stakeholders to use for planning, while the needs assessment and the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis offer more open-ended approaches for facilitating discussions about the current state of analytics.
Team Plays
The Joint Statement on Analytics asserts that “analytics is a team sport.” Three plays that are repeated throughout the playbook emphasize and provide guidance for this.
The Assemble and Manage Teams for Analytics Initiatives play provides guidance to data champions, and perhaps executive sponsors, as they build the right teams for various analytics initiatives. This play can be conducted multiple times—for different analytics efforts or as needed with existing efforts.
The Executive Sponsor Checklist details the role of a senior leader before, during, and after analytics strategies or efforts.
Explore Typical Analytics Job Responsibilities is a resource for data and analytics positions in higher education.
Plays
Conduct an Analytics Self-Assessment
Conduct a Needs Assessment Focus Group
Identify Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
The Change With Analytics Playbook currently has 16 plays in total with three in the Assess the Current State of Analytics section. Although these plays can help an institution make significant progress, there is other work to be done that is currently beyond the scope of this playbook. For example, we acknowledge that conducting a data inventory or audit is another important step in assessing an institution’s capabilities, yet we do not currently have a play to support this effort.
We encourage you to join our community in continuing the development of the playbook. Please reach out to us (info@changewithanalytics.com) with suggestions for plays that should be added, alternate approaches to plays that have worked for your institutions, and examples of how these efforts have had propelled your efforts to support students and fulfill your college or university’s mission.