topic Re: How should a GIS analyst present to executives? in GIS Life Discussions

How should a GIS analyst present to executives?

ChrisChiappinelli — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 13:39:11 GMT

In the latest WhereNext Confidential, a GIS analyst asks: I’m starting to get requests to present our location analysis to business managers and executives. Any advice on how to get comfortable in those situations and communicate effectively?

Here's one answer. Any other suggestions?

Re: How should a GIS analyst present to executives?

DougBrowning — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 15:26:32 GMT

Be yourself and relax.

Show your passion for the subject. It is so much easier to talk about things that you love. Excitement is contagious.

Make it applicable to them. Really think about it from their angle.

Tell the story and give real life examples. We saved 30 hours of time using ... Reduced extra visits...

Remember they are just regular people like you.

And of course the old Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, tell them what you told them format.

Good luck!

Re: How should a GIS analyst present to executives?

jcarlson — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 15:54:36 GMT

Personally, I'd suggest getting something a little fancier than PowerPoint. Reveal.js makes it really easy to put together a crisp, clean presentation. It's amazing how much the presentation format seems to matter to some people. You can give the best presentation of your life, but if they thought your font was too small, that's the detail you're going to hear about.

Re: How should a GIS analyst present to executives?

ChrisChiappinelli — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 19:45:58 GMT

Nice insight, @DougBrowning Thanks for sharing. I like the language you suggest ("saved 30 hours," "reduced extra visits"). Those are the kind of benefits that resonate with executives. While some analysts might feel more comfortable focusing on technical benefits, your note is a good reminder to spotlight the business outcomes.

Re: How should a GIS analyst present to executives?

ChrisChiappinelli — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 19:50:15 GMT

Interesting point, @jcarlson That's something we hear about fairly often--the importance of ensuring that the map you spent hours creating (or just minutes) conveys the information you want to convey. Details definitely matter in that situation.

Re: How should a GIS analyst present to executives?

BillFox — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 22:09:48 GMT

Walk them through some real front-line workflows that help them understand the importance of enterprise GIS

Re: How should a GIS analyst present to executives?

BillFox — Fri, 07 Jul 2023 23:05:53 GMT

Example:

How to convince I.T. to buy computers that can handle ArcGIS Pro?

https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-pro-questions/how-to-convince-i-t-to-buy-computers-that-can/td-p/1279787

Re: How should a GIS analyst present to executives?

EllieHakariAK — Fri, 11 Aug 2023 23:04:28 GMT

Build a StoryMap 😉

In all seriousness (although I'm only half-kidding with the StoryMap), I highly recommend just getting the data, maps, analysis, etc. in front of them. GIS from my point of view is meant to communicate ideas first and perform analyses second. I know that sounds odd, but if your anaysis can't be communicated to non-GIS folks, what good is it?

I like to take examples of "How we did things before" vs "How we do them now" to show the true impact of implementing GIS workflows. Expressing ideas about improving future workflows is also incredibly valuable. The biggest caveat is that you need knowledge, experience, and passion to be able to put yourself out there and get people to listen. But I think that's the case for everything. 🙂

Re: How should a GIS analyst present to executives?

ChrisChiappinelli — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 17:08:58 GMT

Good thoughts, @EllieHakariAK I like the concept of conveying the idea first, with analytics to back it up. Thanks for your input.

Re: How should a GIS analyst present to executives?

Faiez — Fri, 18 Aug 2023 23:09:52 GMT

GIS analyst should present his/her analysis in the form of maps and graphs to executives because the managers and executives do not have enough time to read the narrative reports.

Re: How should a GIS analyst present to executives?

ZewduTemesgen — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 07:25:51 GMT

yes, i agreed!!! now a days reading a long narration are becoming so bored. therefore, to tackle this problem demonstrating our ideas by using map is so attractive and simply we sell our ideas.

Re: How should a GIS analyst present to executives?

ODWC_GIS — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 16:23:03 GMT

I've had some success in creating Survey123 projects specifically for a speaking event, showing the QR code for access on one slide, and then displaying the Dashboard that analyzed results in real-time. ...Limited to locations with good connections, or you'll look a fool.

Best response I had was during a video conference when I was meeting with upper management to discuss how to present a GIS Project to CEO-level boardfolks. One of them offhandedly remarked that he'd always wanted to know how many times any particular area had been burned, whilst we were looking at a giant dataset of burn perimeters... so I asked the layer for a count and changed the symbology... and all the bigwigs were unbelievably impressed with the resulting map. All the data had been right there- we know how to use it, but some folks don't realize how to effect the answers to their questions. Ask for some examples of questions to which your folks want answers, and give them a "pretty picture" solution (read, choropleth map).

Re: How should a GIS analyst present to executives?

DougBrowning — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 17:48:41 GMT

Yes! Higher ups love the pretty pictures. They also like to "get the gist" vs all the details. Know your audience vs say a field worker.

Re: How should a GIS analyst present to executives?

ChrisChiappinelli — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 18:27:26 GMT

Well put. A good example of how a GIS pro can be the liaison between data and understanding.