In this episode Sunita Menon, a Global Data Ambassador for a top professional Services Firm, talks about the importance of remembering the goal of gaining insights from data is to take action.
This is buffalo state data talk the
podcast where we introduce you to how
data is used and explore careers that
involve data hello and welcome back to
another episode of buffalo state data
talk i'm your host Heather Campbell and
thank you for joining us for episode 20.
today we'll be talking to Sunita Menon
Sunita is a global business
transformation executive who has
masterfully connected data and
technology with people and process to
achieve strategic business results for
over 25 years across India and the US in
global leadership roles Sunita led IBM's
business transformation efforts by
designing and implementing enterprise
data strategy and governance solutions
to enable cross-functional business
insights for client advocacy and revenue
growth she nurtures data-driven talent
and mindsets across highly matrix global
teams to achieve superior business
outcomes she is a natural storyteller
and can't resist bringing storytelling
to her work
Sunita recently joined as a global data
ambassador and one of the top
professional service firms driving
global data strategies and culture as
the critical enabler for a business
transfer nation she also
teaches data-driven strategies and data
storytelling at the University of
Florida college of journalism and
communications preparing students for
the future of PR and communications
Sunita holds an executive MBA from the
University of Connecticut USA and a
bachelor's degree from Bangalore
University in India
welcome to the show Sunita
thank you heather and i'm so excited to
be with you today
to talk about data and all things data
and looking forward to
in hopefully interacting with the
students someday
excellent we're so glad to have you on
the show
so for those who may not know what a
professional service firm does could you
give us a general overview of what your
company does
so
professional services from you know
provide business services to
individual clients or companies and it
could be in the area of
you know tax or audit or
advisory services for business
transformation and business operations
and what do you do as the global data
ambassador
so in my role as a global data
ambassador i'm engaged in promoting and
creating awareness of data and insights
driven mindsets and skill sets i call it
mindsets and skill sets
because you need that culture to drive
superior business results so I do three
things i'm always teaching advising or
inspiring professionals and leaders
about how regardless of the business
function or the unit or the professional
rank they're in
that they can understand and communicate
with relevant data and insights in their
space for business impact
one of the key things you know in any
data driven
or databased or data inspired
environment is the values that guide our
behaviors day-to-day how we act how we
make decisions how we work with each
other our clients and our communities
and so it's all about defining and
implementing ways
um and insights so that there's shared
understanding shared values and shared
norms for a data driven data and
insights driven culture
excellent
um so now we have a little bit of an
idea of what you do could you tell us
what a typical day or a typical week
looks like for you
a typical day would be you know meeting
people
having conversations about business
challenges
relating to using data or sometimes not
using data
for for actionable uh insights so it's
really listening to the need for data
and insights or or either i'm engaged in
planning or influencing the actions um
that could you know make it better
a business process or a business
solution
and basically influencing actions um or
i'm engaged in generating ideas and
methods and content for for culture
change
and for impact and what kind of data
are you using
so typically
it is data data that's generated as the
business is operating
in day-to-day basis you know it's our
professionals our leaders
engage with our clients our communities
our stakeholders and through that life
cycle of the engagement lots of data is
captured
just as part of a day-to-day function so
and that data can be you know
structured unstructured qualitative
quantitative so
data is everywhere so
it's how you organize and and sort and
make it meaningful so all kinds of data
comes in place
and um what what is being done with this
data what are you what are you doing
with it how is it being used
so
you know you typically
a business or any organization as a
number of
you know business functions business
operations for example it could be a
process about engaging the clients which
is typically known as client
relationship management process or CRM
or it could be engaging with suppliers
vendors partners and data is the
language of that process
data flows within that process and it's
how the process communicates with each
other in in each step
now
the maturity of the organization or the
excellence in being data driven
determines how the data is being used
so I actually blogged about this two
years ago in my LinkedIn
if you look into my LinkedIn you look
for a simple framework to understand
data-driven excellence
I talk about you know
how the group as they deal with the data
their questions get
their maturity of questions typically
in groups start with
what happened
and and they're analyzing that and they
as they mature and the process of
using the data matures they go into what
is happening and then they move into
what could happen and what's the best
that can you make you happen so how data
is being used depends on
how the team and what data driven
excellence they're following what's the
maturity curve excellent and we can put
a link to that blog in the description
of the episode the results when this
data is being used and analyzed um what
kind of results are being created you
know dashboards written reports
papers what's happening with this this
data
you know i almost want to say that it is
irrelevant how the
results are shared but i really don't
mean that
typically there's a lot of focus on
preparing the data let's make the data
clean and let's make it new meaningful
and then we'll run some analysis on it
and then we'll present it
well you know if something is really
insightful for the business
you know one can determine how to
present it it's the dashboard it's a
report it's an alert you know um
but more often than not two things
happen
either the entire focus is on delivering
that dashboard and report whether it's
automated or
paper or a beautiful presentation
and not focusing on the finish line when
I say finish line I mean that there's a
lot of data but there's no insights
to help you take an action to help you
make a decision
it's all about arranging the data in a
beautiful way that doesn't tell a story
and that has no insights
and so
so that's either it's focusing on the
deliverable or it's focusing on
the data but not the insights
and so that is the transformational
point where teams
working with data they don't think of
dashboards and reports are the ends but
are there a means to the end
so all that technology and programming
languages you know doesn't even matter
what you're using as long as you know
they are automating and simplifying and
reducing the time to get to insights so
I would say you know
sharing the findings is just the
beginning of the journey
the insights come what you do after is
what
we should all focus on which is less
focused today that that absolutely makes
a ton of sense and that's the whole
point of doing all the work is getting
the insights from the data that that
entirely makes sense
so
could you talk about a challenge that
you or your team had to overcome and how
did you solve it
so um
we were working on a project
in my previous role where we were
looking at
the
the customer data the
the clients that we the business deals
with
and we
had
we saw that the data changed every day
the definition of that data changed
every day
and so depending on how you used it you
know it meant something
today and and the next day the meaning
has already changed
and so the challenge was that there was
no stability of that definition of the
data because there were lots of people
are changing it lots of people accessing
it and making it
uh to mean what they would want it to
mean for their process and so
that was a challenge because unless data
has
the meaning and there is a standard
meaning for what the data we use
and there's a standard structure
you know the the analysis keeps shifting
and so that's not helpful it's not
meaningful to take any actions
so we had a team put together who looked
at
uh
what is the data we're talking about how
is it captured
how is it maintained
how what are the quality processes
against it who can access it who can
change it why are they changing what
they change so we understood we listened
for the need
and we built solve this in a way that
it's stable it's clean and only
and and those who need to access it need
access to it and those who can't change
it change it it wasn't you know wild
west um in terms of data management
yeah i'm just wondering um
was there any pushback from the
employees that used to have access to
change it and then were
kind of revoked their access
no in fact they were actually happy and
this goes back to the you know change
management
they were happy that they didn't have to
manage it and we involved them in the
change we didn't say oh you can't access
anymore we actually help them build why
are you changing what are you doing that
is making it meaningful and then we
automated that yeah excellent i love
that that's awesome
so
what is your favorite part of your
position so meeting people is the
favorite part of my job
um but I would say
for the reason is so that I could
understand what the business
challenge is and then how do you use
data
as a bridge to the business
for insights
and and data builds that bridge between
what they're trying to do and how they
can make an impact for the business
excellent so you also in addition to
your role teach a course for the
University of Florida that you developed
on driving PR insights so could you tell
us a little bit about
that class
we're seeing that you know data and
insights is as relevant for PR and comms
as it is for marketing and HR and sales
and all the other functions that already
use this and it's almost part of you
know they've built the muscle for this
so so we see that PR and calms is coming
evolving very future focused and they
understand that
this
13:00
is a transformational uh journey
and so i'm helping the undergrads and
grads in
in the college of uh journalism and
comms to
look at how do you position data you
know we talked about how do you use data
as a bridge to the business so how can
PR and comms use data to build their
value and impact for the business
and it's not about you know learning a
tool and you know where to click and
what kind of reports i can generate i
talked about that already it's not about
the reports but it's about how do you
then use the insights to make a decision
to take an action um so i teach the
students uh how do you position data and
how do you use data um because i always
say that you know no matter which
function of PR and comms you go into the
workforce whether you're doing crisis
comps or executive coms or corporate
social responsibility or
you know doing content and media or
media relations data is going to be your
success factor
so you need to be ready for that yes
that totally makes a ton of sense I
think that's really logical and I think
more and more nowadays that people are
expecting that
so the fact that you're able to bring
that into your course and that you're
teaching that is is so important so i
want to talk a little bit about your
career path
so you have a bachelor's in history
economics and political science
and an MBA so how did you end up
working with data
yes it's almost like what we learned is
not what we do end up right but
I think
I was always a you know
a data oriented person as I could say I
was always
reflective and analytical just about
everything I was very curious and and
that's a good trait to have for a
anybody working in data
so I think that was one but the other
point is and I didn't know this then but
now I do
is that from history I learned how
people and their mindsets and the
culture is evolved
you know from economics I learned
how people and and work come together to
produce wealth for a nation for a world
and what's the science behind it
and political science gave me the
knowledge and insights into how people
organize systems and processes for
political activity and behavior and
impact
and if you actually look at it that's
what my journey has been you know i work
with processes and systems
that you know help with mindsets and
culture and
that produce impact
whether it's you know wealth as in
results for the company right for the
for the business
or it's you know with evolved uh skill
sets for the workforce so
I think it all comes together
so you are definitely very busy in your
role but are you still able to set aside
time for professional development and if
so what kind of activities do you do
you know
for
yes
everybody has only 24 hours a day so you
have to prioritize you know and you
cannot always be working so
um you know it's that that story about
sharpening the saw you know you're so
busy cutting trees and your saw isn't
sharpened anymore and so you can really
do um whatever you're doing in a better
ways I do spend time in in self
development and and it's it can can come
from a variety of areas either I'm you
know sometimes it's just reading a book
I do attend um you know webinars on
topics um I do attend you know again
there's a lot of content there whether
it's master class or LinkedIn or
coursera or pluralsight I mean there's
lots of choices so
this is the other reason you have to
prioritize and
so I have I put goals as to what I want
to learn about
what are the areas I want to focus on
and then I just spend time and usually
be like a Friday afternoon you know
block two hours
and
and make time for it because we don't
prioritize
you'll be just cutting trees and not
sharpening this up
I love that description of trying to
cut the trees with a doll saw I've never
heard that before and I love it
you are also quite active on
so how do you use this to grow your
professional network and your your
personal brand
so I wasn't first a few years ago not
very active on LinkedIn so I mean I had
a you know a picture and a bio and then
I a few years ago I really looked at you
know
what is this platform if it's
it cannot be just browsing and clicking
like and celebrate and
and I really I really thought about how
can this be a space you know it's it's
like a personal spot for you in from a
professional space that uh is always
there even when you're not in the room
so it it I thought about how do you make
it work and how what is the value you
can get and so actually build the
profile first you know i spent on
not
having two
long texts and I put on what is really
meaningful what is the accomplish I've
done so I think
I think it's it's in itself
is learning you know what is your
personal brand first to know that
and then express it there and many other
places but I'm saying that that itself
that's a Friday afternoon
activity for you for self-development
and I do have a book for that too in
terms of networking you know again it
has to be intentional network that means
that you make a connection but then you
have to make it meaningful so I
typically follow up with
them you know I'm not
I do make more connections than I can
follow up but
I do go back to them and do it like a
meet and
and you know you never know it you know
these conversations can
always lead to new engagements or new
insights or new connection even you know
so
um you just let it grow
yeah I think that um
that's a really great idea and i love
what you said about it being there when
you're not
in the room
it's something that can
be a part of you when you're not even
around um and I think that's a great way
of thinking about it um you know you're
not always available all the time but
your LinkedIn always is there
so make sure
it's worth it you know
yeah definitely spend your Friday
afternoon on that guys that's right
that's right so many of our listeners
are younger so as someone in a
leadership role who has probably you
know mentored
students and employees before
what advice would you give to someone
who is interested in working as a data
scientist or a data analyst
you know
I would say
first of all you know be curious
because
that sort of you know
lends itself to do anything with data
because um there's so much data always
you know we have generated
more data
now as uh than ever in history put
together so every day and every minute
we're generating more data than all of
history put together so
there's a lot of data and that's why it
makes sense to understand you know what
is meaningful what is not
and you you won't even know that until
you know there's a lot of tests and
experiments to do so that's where
curiosity comes in so be curious
about it the curiosity will lead to
you know you
structuring your
what is the question you're trying to
um ask you know we talk about you know
start with why like so why is a good uh
exercise to look at
what is framing that business question
or you know organization's question
and then
that gives you the focus
because there is a lot of noise in the
data and so it's about how do you remove
that noise and look at
how do you get that inside out so again
as I say it's not about
oh we've analyzed the data and here's
the report but
what happens after the report what kind
of that the report has to generate
dialogue it has to generate conversation
so those insights you know
from the data and insights from the
experts in the room
you know it that that man and machine
coming together right so that is where
the most value is
so how do you as a data analyst or data
specialist
or data scientist
make that platform available where those
insights are generating the right
conversations
for action
I think that it can be easy to get
fogged up in
like oh I got the data analyze the data
22:30
I made the report I got the data I
analyzed the data I made the report and
I really like how you're
you're emphasizing you know
what is the point why are you doing this
there's there's a reason that you are
looking at this data and
that's important
make sure you know why you're looking at
this and
and
go for it and figure out why and make
sure there's a reason and and then make
a difference as to why you're looking at
the data and what's the point
um I think that's so important
and those insights have to
make a change you have to make a
movement
otherwise you just
you know generating reports for the sake
of generating reports yeah and that's
the beauty is that's applicable to any
any business function any level anybody
using data
you know is is again how do you tell
that story how do you tell how do you
bring the text to the visual and the
narrative
to provide context and meaning to what
you just analyzed with data
center thank you so much for joining us
today
thank you so much heather it was so
fantastic to
talk with you today and we covered so
much in this little time i cannot
believe that we packed it all so I'm
sure the students will want to know more
again i hope they're curious to know
more because um curiosity brings a
different perspective so
stay curious
and to all of our listeners if you
haven't already check out our previous
podcasts they're available wherever you
listen to podcasts and for more
information about starting your career
as a data analyst go to
dataanalytics.buffalostate.edu
and don't forget to subscribe so that
you get a notification each time we
release a new episode of buffalo state
data talk
[Music]
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