Am I ready to achieve my Analytics goals? Can I complete my project on time?

One of the questions I was asked recently :

“I have clear plans on how to use Analytics.? Do you think I can achieve all these in the next 3 months?”

I asked my friend the following questions:

• Do you know your organization / department goals and is your plan aligned to that?
• I understand you have clear plans, But I hope the users and your stakeholders understand what to expect and how to use your Analysis?
• Do you have data and is it of good quality?
• If required, are you open for cost investment?

My friend replied he is very positive on two of these questions (high levels of maturity), has not thought about one of them and for one of the questions, they are at a very infant stage.

Overall, to make it easy for my friend:

• Firstly, I created a simple model with some scoring template to understand the readiness of their organization to make the best use of Analytics.
• Secondly, I asked him to identify the complexity of their wants (is it a simple need of looking through data and trends or are they looking for some advanced analytics to predict the future and prescribe what could be the best solution).

This led me to create the ‘Readiness Maturity Grid’.? By looking at my organization’s maturity level and our aspirations from analytics, we can find out how feasible our dream of reaching this destination is.

If you are an organization who is not at its best when it comes to defining goals and objectives, don't understand the use and importance of Analytics, don't have all the required data yet and not open for cost investment - you are highly likely to be at an "Ad hoc" maturity stage. At this stage, if your dream is to achieve prescriptive analytics, it is a "distant dream" and you have few miles to travel.

Please refer to pages 70 to 73 of my book “Analytics Demystified” if you like to understand this simple model and matrix in detail.

I have also created a google sheet of this model. Just enter your thoughts on your organization's current state and your dreams and you will know whether your dreams look practical for immediate fulfillment. Feel free to DM me with your email ID and I will be happy to share the link.