The six key steps to build an insights repository (by Johanna Jagow)

One of the first talks of the ReOps Conference 2023 by the ResearchOps Community was "The 'I wish I had known this before's of building an insights repository", by Johanna Jagow .

(...) knowledge is really valuable, but I would like to take a kind of more tangible twist on this (...). And one way to do this is to create insights repositories. (...)

After watching the talk, I summarised the points that stood out to me. Here we go! ??

The 6 big areas of struggle

Johanna Jagow identifies six key areas where companies often encounter difficulties while building effective repositories:

1. Defining the Goal

Teams often focus on migrating historical data, rather than defining future goals. Simply copying everything over rarely solves problems. Instead, the focus should be on the end goal, such as making insights easy to find and share.

Trigger questions

1. What are the unique needs you have around insights, and what challenges do you face?
2. What would the ideal solution look like, and how does it differ from current practices?
3. Why is this new approach better than what is currently in place?

2. Strategy

Prioritize changes that will demonstrate value quickly. There's no law saying you have to retrofit everything into one repository solution. Teams should keep what works and connect sources instead.

Trigger questions

1. Which existing tools and processes are valued and why?
2. What are the costs (money and time) associated with moving away from a tool?

3. Approach

Teams should start small and then expand features over time. Complex taxonomies and processes created too early can become difficult to handle. Building on existing workflows and taxonomy structures already in place can be a good starting point.

Trigger questions

1. What steps will you take to bring your strategy to life?
2. What would creating an insight or searching for information be like if it was easy?

4. Communication

It's important to get input from others, but also the need for making final decisions is yours. Be careful with "Frankenstein taxonomies" created by committee, which rarely work well.

Trigger questions

1. How do you speak about the repository and project in general?
2. How do you include others in the business and make decisions?

5. Change Management

You need to expect and plan for initial resistance to change.

(...) Even if people are desperate for a new solution , that doesn't mean they'll happily turn everything they are used to upside down. (...)

Trigger question

1. How will you help people engage with, adopt and use the new ways of generating and consuming insights?

6. Mindset

Setting milestones and making incremental progress is key to [re]build a repository. You should look for a system that meets current needs but can adapt to future changes.

(...) You'll never feel ready. (...)

Trigger question

1. How do you set yourself and your insights repo ream up to stay motivated, willing and able to do their best work?

The 4 key pieces of advice

1. Prioritize changes that demonstrate value quickly. Don't get overwhelmed.
2. Start simple with a 'minimum viable product' approach. Add complexity later.
3. Communicate early and often. But don't try to please everyone.
4. Use the best tool for each job: Focus on connecting sources, not using everything that's available.

?? P.S.: This is a summary and not even 10% of the conference talk.

?? Want to watch the full talk and other ones? You can buy a ticket to watch all the recordings here .