Building Analytics Teams

Book excerpt: Master the skills necessary to hire and manage a team of highly skilled individuals to design, build, and implement applications and systems based on advanced analytics and AI Key FeaturesLearn to create an operationally effective advanced analytics team in a corporate environmentSelect and undertake projects that have a high probability of success and deliver the improved top and bottom-line resultsUnderstand how to create relationships with executives, senior managers, peers, and subject matter experts that lead to team collaboration, increased funding, and long-term success for you and your teamBook Description In Building Analytics Teams, John K. Thompson, with his 30+ years of experience and expertise, illustrates the fundamental concepts of building and managing a high-performance analytics team, including what to do, who to hire, projects to undertake, and what to avoid in the journey of building an analytically sound team. The core processes in creating an effective analytics team and the importance of the business decision-making life cycle are explored to help achieve initial and sustainable success. The book demonstrates the various traits of a successful and high-performing analytics team and then delineates the path to achieve this with insights on the mindset, advanced analytics models, and predictions based on data analytics. It also emphasizes the significance of the macro and micro processes required to evolve in response to rapidly changing business needs. The book dives into the methods and practices of managing, developing, and leading an analytics team. Once you've brought the team up to speed, the book explains how to govern executive expectations and select winning projects. By the end of this book, you will have acquired the knowledge to create an effective business analytics team and develop a production environment that delivers ongoing operational improvements for your organization. What you will learnAvoid organizational and technological pitfalls of moving from a defined project to a production environmentEnable team members to focus on higher-value work and tasksBuild Advanced Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AA&AI) functions in an organizationOutsource certain projects to competent and capable third partiesSupport the operational areas that intend to invest in business intelligence, descriptive statistics, and small-scale predictive analyticsAnalyze the operational area, the processes, the data, and the organizational resistanceWho this book is for This book is for senior executives, senior and junior managers, and those who are working as part of a team that is accountable for designing, building, delivering and ensuring business success through advanced analytics and artificial intelligence systems and applications. At least 5 to 10 years of experience in driving your organization to a higher level of efficiency will be helpful.