What's your strategy for tracking trends in your field?

1 Define your goals and scope

Before you dive into the data, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how you want to use the information. What are the key questions, problems, or opportunities you want to explore? What are the specific topics, domains, or niches you want to focus on? How broad or narrow is your scope? How deep or shallow is your analysis? How often and how long do you want to track the trends? Having a clear purpose and direction will help you prioritize and organize your research.

2 Choose your sources and methods

Depending on your goals and scope, you may need to use different sources and methods to track the trends in your field. Some common sources include academic journals, industry reports, blogs, podcasts, newsletters, social media, online forums, webinars, conferences, and surveys. Some common methods include keyword research, content analysis, sentiment analysis, topic modeling, trend mapping, and scenario planning. You may also want to use some tools and platforms to help you collect, curate, and visualize the data, such as Google Trends, Feedly, BuzzSumo, Tableau, or Miro.

3 Evaluate the quality and relevance

Not all sources and methods are equally reliable and useful for your purposes. You need to evaluate the quality and relevance of the information you find, and avoid falling for fake news, biased opinions, or outdated data. Some criteria to consider include the authority, credibility, accuracy, timeliness, objectivity, and coverage of the sources. You also need to check the validity, reliability, and applicability of the methods. You may want to use some tools and techniques to help you assess the quality and relevance, such as CRAAP test, lateral reading, or triangulation.

4 Synthesize and communicate

Once you have gathered and evaluated the information, you need to synthesize and communicate your findings and insights. How do you make sense of the data? How do you identify the patterns, gaps, or opportunities? How do you relate the trends to your own context and goals? How do you present and share your knowledge and perspectives? You may want to use some tools and frameworks to help you synthesize and communicate, such as SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis, storytelling, or infographics.

5 Update and adapt

Tracking trends in your field is not a one-time activity, but an ongoing process. You need to update and adapt your strategy as the trends change, as new information emerges, or as your goals evolve. How do you monitor the changes and feedback? How do you review and refine your sources and methods? How do you learn and improve from your experience? You may want to use some tools and processes to help you update and adapt, such as Google Alerts, RSS feeds, feedback loops, or reflection journals.

6 Engage and collaborate

Tracking trends in your field is not only a solo endeavor, but also a social one. You can benefit from engaging and collaborating with other thought leaders, experts, peers, or audiences in your field. How do you network and connect with others? How do you exchange and challenge ideas? How do you co-create and co-learn? You may want to use some tools and platforms to help you engage and collaborate, such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Quora, Medium, or Slack.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?