What Makes Insights Actionable? Here are 5 Key Elements to Remember

Actionable insights are meaningful findings that drive action among key stakeholders. To determine if an insight is actionable, look for these 5 key elements. 

Are your insights aligned with your business priorities and key performance indicators (KPIs)? 

Insights become more valuable, and therefore become more actionable, if they’re closely related to your targets.  

The best way to turn data to actionable insights is by knowing its context. Why is it important and how can it bring improvements to the business?  

Remember: When there’s enough background information about your findings, decision-makers can easily absorb its importance instead of being skeptical about it. 

An insight is actionable when you present it to the right person, at the right time. Once you’ve identified its context, relay it immediately to the decision-makers concerned.  

See to it that your key stakeholders know how to access business intelligence (BI) and data analytics tools. Whenever possible, provide the necessary training and encourage information-sharing among users of BI and analytics to broaden its influence within your organization. 

Lastly, insights must be clear and easy-to-understand, even for non-technical users. Otherwise, they cannot extract the value they need if the reports and visualizations are too complex. 

BI tools and software fast track the processing of data and information. However, it can only do so much.  At the end of the day, it still requires a human’s intelligence and deep-level analysis in creating actionable insights from your data. 

Extract actionable business insights from your data by working with our data experts. Contact us today to learn about our BI-powered accounting services. You can also get a free copy of our guide, The Rising Frontier: Harnessing the Power of Business Analytics, to find out how we can assist you in your digital transformation initiatives.