Insight people

According to the IMA’s capability benchmarking, less than one in every six large organisations has an Insight strategy, and even fewer have a structured plan for thinking about their Insight people.

By structured, we mean a plan that doesn't just focus on what people do, and which processes they follow, but thinks about the people themselves, their skills, and how they deploy them.

Based on conversations with over 200 major organisations since the IMA's Insight Forum was launched in 2005, this set of Insight People guides will take you through the 5 key areas you need to consider to improve the situation, and ultimately to contribute towards developing the most effective Insight function you can.

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Insight people guides and videos

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An introduction to developing successful Insight people
IMP601: As Insight leaders we are heavily reliant on the talent of our people, but relatively few companies take a really comprehensive approach to recruiting, managing and developing Insight specialists. This 10-page Insight leader guide provides an introduction to 5 key areas of focus
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How to lead an Insight team
IMP602: To successfully lead an Insight team, Insight leaders need to think like small business owners. In this guide, we examine the broad range of responsibilities of Insight leadership and present a tool which can help all who lead Insight in their organisations
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How to identify key Insight skills and attributes
IMP603: Are the right people on the bus? Successful Insight leaders make this their primary concern as for an Insight team to perform well, the calibre of its people is crucial. This guide outlines the four main categories of skills and attributes required in an Insight team.
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How to develop an Insight perspective
IMP604: According to Hans Rosling, "People constantly and intuitively refer to their worldview when thinking, guessing or learning. If your worldview is wrong, you will systematically make the wrong guesses". So how can we develop an Insight perspective to improve our organisations' worldview?
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How to recruit and develop an Insight team
IMP605: If Insight is to deliver competitive advantage, then our organisation must be at least as able as its competitors to recruit, develop and retain really good Insight people. This guides sets out the approaches which Insight leaders have found effective.
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How to develop successful Insight teamwork
IMP606: What matters most - how well you perform as an individual within an Insight team or how well the Insight team performs overall? In this guide we focus on what excellence looks like in terms of how the individual members of an Insight team work together to maximise their collective impact.
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Prioritising an Insight leader's time - video
IMV602: At the January 2022 online Insight forum we discussed the ways in which Insight leaders can prioritise our own time and energy. If we can't manage our own diaries, we're in no position to lead our Insight team