Effective Reporting Of Engineering Data Insights

Imagine you've performed an in-depth analysis and uncovered an incredible insight. You’re now excited to share your findings with an influential group of stakeholders. You’ve been meticulous, eliminating biases, double-checking your logic, and ensuring your conclusions are sound. But even with all this diligence, there’s one common pitfall that could diminish the impact of your insights: information overload. In our excitement, we sometimes flood stakeholders with excessive details, dense reports, cluttered dashboards, and long presentations filled with too much information. The result is confusion, disengagement, and inaction. Insights are not our children, we don’t have to love them equally. To truly drive action, we must isolate and emphasize the insights that matter most—those that directly address the problem statement and have the highest impact. Here’s how to present insights effectively to ensure clarity, engagement, and action: ✅ Start with the Problem – Frame your insights around the problem statement. If stakeholders don’t see the relevance, they won’t care about the data. ✅ Prioritize Key Insights – Not all insights are created equal. Share only the most impactful findings that directly influence decision-making. ✅ Tell a Story, Not Just Show Data– Structure your presentation as a narrative: What was the challenge? What did the data reveal? What should be done next? A well-crafted story is more memorable than a raw data dump. ✅ Use Clean, Intuitive Visuals – Data-heavy slides and cluttered dashboards overwhelm stakeholders. Use simple, insightful charts that highlight key takeaways at a glance. ✅ Make Your Recommendations Clear– Insights without action are meaningless. End with specific, actionable recommendations to guide decision-making. ✅ Encourage Dialogue, Not Just Presentation – Effective communication is a two-way street. Invite questions and discussions to ensure buy-in from stakeholders. ✅ Less is More– Sometimes, one well-presented insight can be more powerful than ten slides of analysis. Keep it concise, impactful, and decision-focused. Before presenting, ask yourself: Am I providing clarity or creating confusion? The best insights don’t just inform—they inspire action. What strategies do you use to make your insights more actionable? Let’s discuss! P.S: I've shared a dashboard I reviewed recently, and thought it was overloaded and not actionably created

In a sea of possible insights, how do you know which are worth reporting? As a data analyst, there are two types of insights you will report: 1) Ones that are directly aligned to a business question or priority 2) Ones that nobody is asking for… but should be 90% of the time, you should be focusing on the first one. But when done right, the second can be very powerful. So… how do you find those hidden insights? How do you know which ones truly matter? ➤ Explore high-level trends Scan dashboards, reports, or raw data for unexpected patterns. Look for sudden spikes, dips, or emerging trends that don’t have an obvious explanation. ➤ Slice the data by different dimensions Break data down by different categories (customer segments, time periods, product lines, etc.). Where are things changing the most? Which groups are behaving unlike the others? ➤  Identify outliers Look at the extremes. What’s happening with your best customers? Worst-performing regions? Most productive employees? Outliers often reveal inefficiencies or hidden opportunities. ➤ Tie insights to business impact Before reporting, ask: Would knowing this change a decision? If it doesn’t, it’s probably not worth surfacing. ➤ Pressure-test with stakeholders Run your findings by a manager or friendly stakeholder. Ask them if the finding resonates with other trends they've seen, whether they see potential value, and whether it could influence strategy. In other words: - Start broad - Dig deep - Sense-check —-— 👋🏼 I’m Morgan. I share my favorite data viz and data storytelling tips to help other analysts (and academics) better communicate their work.

In manufacturing, some of the 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫. Technicians, operators, and engineers see issues and opportunities in real time. But often, these insights never make it to the C-suite—or when they do, they’re buried in technical jargon that’s disconnected from business strategy. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬: 🏭 Shop Floor Perspective: Metrics like downtime, OEE, yield, or vibration anomalies are the focus. These are essential for operational decisions but rarely tied to strategic goals. 💼 C-Suite Perspective: Leaders want to know how these issues impact revenue, profit margins, customer satisfaction, or long-term competitiveness. Without this connection, valuable technical insights often fall flat. When this gap isn’t bridged, 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫: Operational challenges remain unresolved because they’re seen as “just technical issues.” Investments in tools like AI or IIoT aren’t fully leveraged because executives can’t see 𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 their strategic value. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐩: 1️⃣ Translate Metrics into Business Impact: Instead of reporting downtime as “4 hours on Line 3,” say, “This downtime cost $50,000 in lost production and delayed delivery to key accounts.” Framing technical data in terms of revenue, costs, or customer outcomes creates alignment. 2️⃣ Use Relatable Analogies: Replace highly technical terms with simple comparisons. For example: “This predictive maintenance alert is like getting a check engine light—fix it now, or risk a costly breakdown later.” If you can quantify the cost of this breakage, even better. 3️⃣ Make Data Actionable: Executives don’t need every detail—they need a clear summary paired with a recommendation. For instance: “We’ve identified a bottleneck that could be eliminated with a $10,000 investment in automation. The ROI would be $100,000 in the first year.” 4️⃣ Involve Cross-Functional Teams: Foster collaboration between technical and leadership teams. Regularly schedule shop floor walks for executives to connect directly with operational challenges and successes. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 "𝐒𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭?": When technical teams and executives speak the same language, organizations unlock the full potential of their data, systems, and people. Leaders make smarter decisions faster, and technical teams feel valued and aligned with business goals. 𝐀 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐓𝐢𝐩: Great leaders bridge the gap between data and decisions. By connecting operational insights to strategic priorities, they create a culture of alignment and innovation that drives results. #Leadership #Manufacturing #industry40 #digitaltransformation