Set a research question to shape data collection

Medium effort

Medium impact

Creating a data-driven environment encourages business leaders and staff to work based on facts rather than intuition. However, not all data will be useful for your business. Embarking on data collection without a clear plan can leave you with swathes of information that’s irrelevant or unusable. Setting a research question first gives the process direction and helps to make sure you’re collecting the right data.

We’ve designed our action plans to be completed in the order of steps laid out and explained why each step is important
Customising your action plan lets you set your own completion dates, assign tasks to others and get notifications
Helpful tools are provided for certain steps while a tracking metric at the end will help you determine the long-term success of your effort
A downloadable PDF version of each action plan is available if you’d like to compete it offline

What's involved? Ways to use this action plan Measuring impact

Look at your current processes for data collection, highlighting what has been effective and what needs to be improved

Impact: low

Why will this help?

Understanding the flaws with your data collection in the past (for example, collecting too much data or making the scope too broad) can help you avoid making the same mistakes in the future.

Develop a data collection process to inform your business strategy

Actionable data can be a game changer for all businesses. Deciding what data to collect and how to use it, however, is easier said than done.

Review your company goals, making a note of any objectives which can be achieved more easily with better data

Impact: medium

Why will this help?

Reminding yourself of what you need to accomplish in the next year will reinforce your priorities and make sure you’re focusing on the right areas of the business.

Creating a monthly routine to set goals and assess progress against long-term objectives

Developing a monthly goal-setting routine allows you to check your progress against long-term objectives and reflect on any changes you need to make.

Survey employees and find out what data they wish they had about customers, products or the market, and how it could help them in their roles

Impact: high

Why will this help?

Data is only useful if it’s used. Finding out what data could better inform employees’ roles and how it would realistically be used lets you sense check what information you really need.

Developing an employee feedback survey

Employee feedback surveys can be used to measure engagement or assess processes like onboarding or career development.

Use data to improve decision making at all levels of your business

Providing employees with data empowers them to make informed decisions – but you won’t create a data-driven culture overnight.

Make a list of questions that you want your data to answer and rank them by priority or impact, taking into account company goals and employee feedback.

Impact: medium

Why will this help?

Thinking carefully about business priorities and the potential impact of different data sets ensures you stay focused on the right areas.

Select the question at the top of your list and set it as the primary research question to shape your data collection

Impact: medium

Why will this help?

A clear research question will control the scope of your data collection and ensure it’s focused on quality over quantity.

Setting a research question for data collection

Defining a research question for data collection keeps the process on track and makes sure any data you collect is relevant to your business goals.

What can I do with this Action Plan?

Start this Action Plan

Add some extra information to this plan and we’ll help you get it done.

We’ve designed our action plans to be completed in the order of steps laid out and explained why each step is important
Customising your action plan lets you set your own completion dates, assign tasks to others and get notifications
Helpful tools are provided for certain steps while a tracking metric at the end will help you determine the long-term success of your effort
A downloadable PDF version of each action plan is available if you’d like to compete it offline

Download and print

Get a printable template for this Action Plan, fill it in with some target dates, and share it with your team. Pin it on the wall where everyone can see it.

Get the printable Action Plan

Learning Groups

We also run Learning Groups on these topics where you can join other leaders tackling the same challenges.

Find a Learning Group

How will I know if my action plan is working?

Amount of relevant data collected

Analysis will tell you how useful your data is

Why this metric?

Analysing your data will demonstrate whether you’ve done enough research and if your changes have had an impact.

How do I start tracking?

Speak to employees and relevant stakeholders after six months to find out how much relevant data they’ve been able to collect and how they’ve been able to apply it to their roles.