How can you improve your data analysis and reporting skills with digital tools?

1 Choose the right tool

Improving your data analysis and reporting skills starts with selecting the right tool for your purpose and data source. Depending on your needs, you could use a spreadsheet program, a database software, or a data visualization tool - or even a combination of these. When deciding what to use, factors like the type and format of your data, its size and complexity, the level of analysis and reporting you want to perform, and the audience and format of your report should all be taken into account. For example, if you need to carry out simple calculations and charts on a small set of numerical data, Excel or Google Sheets may be suitable; if you have large and complex data from multiple sources to query and manipulate, Access or SQL might be more appropriate; whereas Tableau or Power BI could be used to create interactive dashboards and reports on various types of data.

2 Learn the basics

Once you've chosen the right tool for data analysis and reporting, you'll need to learn how to use it. This may include importing and connecting data sources, cleaning and transforming data, applying formulas and calculations, creating visual elements, formatting and styling your report, and sharing it with others. There are many online resources, tutorials, and courses to help you get started. You can also ask for help from experienced colleagues or mentors. The more you practice with the tool, the more confident and proficient you'll become.

3 Use best practices

Before you start your data analysis and reporting, it's important to define your objectives and questions. Additionally, you should use appropriate methods and techniques to answer your questions, validate and verify your data and results, visualize the data and results in a way that is easy to understand and interpret, provide context, explanation, and insights for your data and results, use clear, concise, and consistent language and terminology, cite your sources and references, and review and revise your report before you share it. Doing so will help ensure that your data analysis and reporting are reliable, relevant, and actionable.

4 Keep learning and improving

To continually improve your data analysis and reporting skills, it's essential to stay up-to-date with the latest trends, developments, and innovations in the field. You can do this by reading blogs, articles, books, and magazines; watching videos, webinars, podcasts, and online courses; joining online communities, forums, groups, and networks; attending workshops, seminars, conferences, and events; seeking feedback from your managers, colleagues, clients, and experts; evaluating your strengths and weaknesses as a data analyst and reporter; and setting goals to improve your skills. By keeping learning and improving in these ways you can become a valuable asset to your organization.