One of the key trends over the last few years has been the move to democratise insights. For some, this means granting access to the raw data, for others it means ensuring that the insights are made available in ways that do not require any specialised knowledge of research, in order to interpret and utilise. However, if you are seeking to benchmark your organisation, the latest GRIT report provides information about how the creation and commissioning of insights can be democratised.

What Does GRIT Study Say About Democratizing Customer Insights?

A recent GRIT study collected 366 views of buyers/users of market research, and provides a useful measuring stick for comparisons, in terms of democratising. The chart shows which departments are involved in the creation of insights. The bars represent the percentage of organisations whose departments “Actively collaborate and work with deliverables” or “Receive deliverables / create new insights”.

The fact that Marketing and Analytics top the list is not a surprise. However, the key point about this table is the breadth of departments where 40% or more say they are involved in the creation of insights. In about 20% of organisations, the democratisation of insights even extends to departments such as Finance and Human Resources. How does this compare with your organisation?

The chart below shows the organisations that involved the listed departments in designing the research method or the selection of a supplier.

It is not surprising that Insight Groups top the list, being involved in over 80% of the decisions (but even that reminds us that insights are commissioned by other teams too). The chart highlights the breadth of departments who are involved in the commissioning/selecting process. One point of note is that Procurement/Compliance is only involved in about one-in-five organisations – somewhat fewer than people who grumble about procurement would imply.

‍So What?
Insights are becoming devolved and the siloes are being removed. This means either anarchy (everybody doing what they want and the pieces not fitting together) or democratisation. One element of democratisation is to make information available to those in your organisation who would benefit from it, and to make it available in ways and forms that suit the user. The second element is to democratise the creation and commissioning of insight. The data from GRIT provides a useful way for you to benchmark your organisation against the average.

If you consider yourself progressive, in terms of the democratisation of insights, you should be beating the benchmarks shown above. For example, in more than 30% of your projects, ‘Operations’ should have some input to the insights creation process, and in more than 42% of cases ‘Product Management’ should have a role in selecting the methodology and/or supplier. So, how do you score?

Contact us today for more information on how you can democratise insights across your organisation via our HX 360 Suite.

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