How to Make People Care About Your Data

Hello!? We’ve made it through what feels like the longest month of the year.? Just in time to celebrate with a Groundhog’s Day version of the Super Bowl.? Eagles or Chiefs - who ya got??

Here’s what we’ve got this month:

• Org Design:? Is Flatter Always Faster?
• How to Get People to Care About Your Insights
• Scoring Your Flex Work Strategy

I’ll wrap it up by sharing my team’s January win:? We built a new Documentation Portal that I think you’re going to love.?

?— Catherine

ORG DESIGN?

Is Flatter Faster?

Many tech giants - like Amazon and Meta - are flattening their org charts in the name of efficiency.? They’re cutting out middle management with the goal of removing bureaucratic bottlenecks so teams can move faster.? But when you want to stay ahead of the competition – is flatter always faster??

In a recent collaboration, Philip and Michael Arena dug into the cost of collaborative demand to test whether flatter orgs move faster than layered ones.

Our data from Worklytics reveals a harsh reality for managers leading larger teams – particularly those with more than seven direct reports (see Figure above). These managers face grueling workdays of 10 to 13 hours, pushing them to the brink of burnout. Ironically, this relentless workload reduces their availability, creating bottlenecks that slow the very progress they’re striving to drive.

The data highlights a critical balance: while overly small teams can underperform, there’s a clear sweet spot. Beyond this, managers become overwhelmed by collaborative demands, inadvertently trouncing organizational speed and efficiency. Read the full piece here.

Want to dig in further?? Join Philip on Feb 5th as he sits down with The Insights Exchange to talk about how executive mandates - like org flattening and RTO - impact team outcomes.??

INSIGHT DELIVERY

How to Get People to Care About Your Data

We’ve all felt the thrill of uncovering a fascinating insight buried in a dataset. But too often, insights end up being interesting but not actually useful. For insights to deliver value, they need to inspire action.

At Worklytics, we’ve spent years transforming existing company data into insights that make a measurable impact. Through hundreds of use cases, we’ve honed what it takes to turn data into action. This guide distills our learnings into best practices to help ensure your insights lead to meaningful outcomes.

RETURN-TO-OFFICE

Scoring Your Flex Work Strategy

?Last month’s dive into Flex Work prompted a lot of conversation on LinkedIn.? Mandate or no mandate, it seems like we’re all looking for a better signal on how work modalities impact performance.

Here’s how we’d score your flex work strategy.?

UP NEXT

Webinar:? Executive Mandates at Work

Executives are responding to the shifting, turbulent business landscape with sweeping organizational mandates - from restructuring org charts to tightening return-to-office policies. But how effective are these top-down directives, and what determines their success or failure?

Join Philip Arkcoll, co-founder of Worklytics, as he unpacks the complex reality behind executive mandates and their impact on employee experience, innovation, and organizational effectiveness.

Here’s the link to join.

DATA SCIENCE ENABLEMENT

New:? Worklytics Documentation Portal

Worklytics Knowledge Base