Analytics and the art of management
Analytics, including cognitive technologies, is taking hold in every functional area of business, and in industries ranging from aerospace to tech, media, and telecom. But there’s one area where analytics is just starting to gain momentum. What if analytics could offer insights to executives so that their days could be more engaging, productive, and outcome-oriented? The next significant breakthroughs will be in time management, team collaboration, and performance tracking—and it’s not that far away.
Today, top executives spend just over six hours a day answering email or texts, sitting in meetings, or participating in conference calls. Surprisingly, the technologies used most often—email, word processing, and presentation tools—haven’t changed very much since they were first introduced.
Meanwhile, analytics is being used to inform decision-making throughout the organization. Why not apply analytics and cognitive technologies at the most human level to schedules and meetings, where daily decisions have the potential to make-or-break the ability of the enterprise to meet its objectives?
Imagine starting each day with a cup of coffee and a look at a visual dashboard that provides insight into your daily schedule. What are your mission-critical action items? Struggling to choose between two engagements? Scenario analysis could provide insight into the probable outcomes and align executive calendars by priorities.
What duties could be delegated and which ones should you handle yourself? Algorithms based on text analysis might provide alerts when it’s time to check in on the progress of a team project and coach it through to the finish line. Cognitive tools could even take over routine actions and adapt to individual leadership styles.
Going into a customer meeting? Instead of a slide deck, analytics could power a digital playbook, complete with an agenda, data-driven insight into the topics being discussed, desired outcomes, and action items—all alleviate time spent in meeting preparation. It’s possible; in fact, we’re already seeing this concept start to play out in the market.
