What are effective ways to communicate the impact of your BI system?

1 Define clear objectives

Before you communicate the impact of your BI system, you need to define what impact means for your specific context and audience. What are the goals and expectations of your BI system? How do they align with the strategic vision and priorities of your organization or client? How do you measure success and progress? By defining clear and realistic objectives, you can set the scope and focus of your communication, and avoid confusion or ambiguity.

2 Choose relevant metrics

Once you have defined your objectives, you need to choose relevant metrics that can quantify and demonstrate the impact of your BI system. Metrics are the indicators that show how well your BI system is performing, delivering value, and solving problems. Depending on your objectives, you may choose metrics such as revenue, cost, profit, customer satisfaction, retention, conversion, productivity, quality, or efficiency. However, not all metrics are equally important or meaningful for your audience, so you need to select the ones that are most relevant, reliable, and understandable for them.

4 Tell stories

Another effective way to communicate the impact of your BI system is to tell stories that illustrate how your BI system has helped your organization or client achieve their goals, overcome their challenges, or discover new opportunities. Stories can help you connect with your audience emotionally and intellectually, convey the context and significance of your data and insights, and inspire action and change. However, you need to tell stories that are relevant, credible, and concise, by using real examples, data, and testimonials, and following a clear structure and narrative.

5 Solicit feedback

Finally, an effective way to communicate the impact of your BI system is to solicit feedback from your audience, both before and after your communication. Feedback can help you understand the needs, preferences, and perspectives of your audience, tailor your communication accordingly, and improve your BI system and its impact. You can solicit feedback by asking questions, conducting surveys, inviting comments, or creating forums for discussion and collaboration. However, you need to solicit feedback that is constructive, specific, and actionable, by providing clear guidelines, criteria, and expectations.