In this week's newsletter

• Three changes that turn a weekly meeting from anecdote-driven to data-driven
• Resource: Tips for Making Sense of Data
• Warm-up and checkout questions you can use this week
• Links to relevant resources
• Your weekly bird break

I used to work at a nonprofit where teams had a weekly meeting to identify students who needed support. The performance data were printed on the agendas, but conversations were driven by anecdotes and hunches far more than numbers.

Over time we made some important changes:

• We made richer contextual data more easily accessible
• The leader embedded links to pre-filtered dashboard views directly in the meeting agenda for staff convenience
• Teams built data review time into the meeting before the conversation started

The result? Students who had fallen off the radar made it into the conversation, even if they weren’t top of mind before the meeting.

If you want your regular meetings to be grounded in data, here are three ways to set yourself up for success:

1. Give people easy data access and time to process. Share in advance, or build plenty of time into the meeting to review together. If people see numbers for the first time while you’re already asking for input, you’re unlikely to get their best thinking.

2. Make contextual data points available. Link supporting information, summarize what’s changed since last time or have someone on point to answer questions.

Why? Imagine your team’s goal is 85% and you’re currently at 60%. You’re well below target. But the meeting conversation (and intervention) will be very different if you were at 90% last month and slipped vs. if you were at 40% last month and have climbed.

3. Set the norm: cite data for every comment. Anyone in the room can ask, "what data point is suggesting that?" It builds shared accountability and empowers the group to keep each other honest. It's OK to share an anecdote, but let's call it one!

Before your next recurring meeting, ask yourself

Pick ONE improvement to experiment with in the next week based on the answers.

Meeting Minute

​Warm-up question​

Examples: phone screen time, car dashboard data, sleep score, etc. This question set helps you build relationships and gets the team talking about data in a safe way. Key processing points:

• Listen for folks sharing that certain data points didn’t tell the whole story and how putting it in context matters for making meaning.
• You can also listen for people saying the data showed them something different from what they expected.

Both of these dynamics matter when we look at data in the workplace.

​Check-out question​

While reviewing data often gives us answers, it almost always prompts more questions. This check-out encourages participants to leave the meeting with curiosity and a concrete next step by identifying both the question and the data source they'll consult next.

​Resource: Tips for Making Sense of Data​

I spent 10 years as a data, research, and evaluation leader at national nonprofits before pivoting to leadership development, so I’ve been on both sides of the table: the person presenting the data and the person trying to make sense of someone else’s. Next time someone sends you a report or slides filled with charts and tables in advance of a meeting, I recommend working through the following framework to prepare:

1. Start with the basics. Write out the key metrics you're reviewing, and note current performance. It sounds obvious, but precisely documenting what you’re actually looking at keeps you focused and can prevent you from making assumptions or missing something important.

2. Check the foundations. What’s the timeframe? Does the graph's axis start at zero? What’s the denominator of that %? Do you have a comparison point from another period or a peer client, organization, or market? What’s the sample size? Are you looking at percent change or percentage point change?

3. Reflect on what stands out. What catches your eye and why? Challenge yourself to come up with at least two hypotheses for what might explain it. Your initial hunch might be right, but it might not, and you’ll be stronger for having tested it.

4. Vet your hypotheses. What additional data would help confirm or challenge your explanation? Who else should be part of this conversation?

• Remember: structured conversations with the people closest to the work are a data source, too.
• Then decide: do you want to use the meeting to gather additional data, or do you need to do some extra digging in advance to bring this context into the meeting?

5. Turn insights into action. What did you learn? What new questions emerged? What decisions can you make today?

• Consider whether you need a separate touchpoint (meeting or async) to make a decision, rather than rushing from analysis to action in a single meeting.

And if you’re presenting data at a meeting, make sure you’re clear on 1-3 and communicate those as clearly as you can.

Check out my full guide on Tips for Making Sense of Data for more detail on each step!

💡 Relevant Resources 💡

​The Ultimate Guide to Running Executive Meetings — 25 Tips from Top Startup Leaders from First Round - check out #14 from Allison Pickens on incorporating OKRs into regular meetings.

​Check out Stephanie Evergreen's Data Visualization Checklist (and her blog) if you prepare data for meetings or manage people who do. This free tool lets you rate your visualization to ensure you're communicating effectively.