Optimising impact: positioning and commerciality

Successful Insight teams work hard to identify value and drive change, and successful Insight leaders develop Insight strategies and lead their people. But there is more we can all do to maximise the impact of our work. This section provides best practice advice aimed at helping Insight teams be more effective in:

Insight positioning: occupies an optimal position in the minds and processes of the organisation

Insight commerciality: aligns strategy, planning & activity to commercial value (or strategic goals)

Access our positioning and commerciality online content by clicking on the topic boxes below

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Insight positioning guides and videos

An introduction to successful Insight positioning - guide

IMP701: Is your Insight team in any position to drive change? To be effective, Insight teams have to strengthen their position in the hearts, minds and processes of their organisations. This Insight leader guides introduces the topic and the 4 key paths we can all explore

How to develop the Insight team brand - guide

IMP702: Our Insight brand is our promise to our internal customers. It tells them what they should expect from the Insight team, and what they shouldn't. This guide provides advice on how to develop the Insight brand in your organisation.

How to promote awareness of Insight - guide

IMP703: Building awareness requires a promotional and opportunistic mindset, and Insight leaders need to look for every opportunity to highlight their team and its work. This guide helps Insight teams to be more proactive, and provides tips on how to grab people’s attention.

How to improve your Insight team's reputation - guide

IMP704: Reputation is the reality of the experience you deliver to your internal customers; whether you actually 'walk the talk' and do what you say on the tin. This guide discusses the importance of creating a positive reputation for your Insight team.

Insight's role in key processes - guide

IMP705: In order to impact key business decisions, it is important to ensure Insight is available in the 'right place at the right time' in our organisations. This guide discusses the importance of identifying key processes and aligning our Insight accordingly.

Successfully branding our Insight teams - summary

IMS708 (January 2025 Insight forum): In this summary we look at the importance of an Insight team brand; to shape the overall perception and connection that people in our organisations have with our team.

How to develop the Insight team brand - video

IMV702 (Nov'19 Insight forum): Our Insight brand is our promise to our internal customers. It tells them what they should expect from the Insight team, and what they shouldn't. In this video, Tim Downing provides advice on how to develop the Insight brand in your organisation.

How to promote awareness of Insight - video

IMV703 (Nov'19 Insight forum): Building awareness requires a promotional and opportunistic mindset, and Insight leaders need to look for every opportunity to highlight their team and its work. In this video, Julia Joskey provides tips on how to grab people’s attention.

How to improve your Insight team's reputation - video

IMV704 (Nov'19 Insight forum): Reputation is the reality of the experience you deliver to your internal customers; whether you actually 'walk the talk' and do what you say on the tin. In this video, Jane Woolley discusses the importance of creating a positive reputation for your Insight team.

Insight's role in key processes - video

IMV705 (Nov'19 Insight forum): In order to impact key business decisions, it is important to ensure Insight is available in the 'right place at the right time' in our organisations. In this video, Emma Jones discusses the importance of identifying key processes and aligning our Insight accordingly.

Reassessing the position of Insight - video

IMV706: James Wycherley discusses how Insight teams are in the spotlight now more than ever following the Covid-19 pandemic, and talks about the importance of capitalising on the opportunities this has created.

Steps to improve the position of Insight - video

IMV707: James Wycherley discusses how Insight leaders should respond to the renewed spotlight on their teams, by considering 4 key pathways to position their team's more effectively for the future.

Successfully branding our Insight teams - video

IMV708 (January 2025 Insight forum): In this video, Debra Walmsley discusses the importance of an Insight team brand; to shape the overall perception and connection that people in our organisations have with our team.

Insight commerciality guides and videos

An introduction to Insight commerciality - guide

IMP801: Does your Insight team get criticised sometimes for not being sufficiently commercial? If so, you're not alone. But it's time we reframed Insight teams' approach to commerciality, and put it right at the centre of our daily work so that we can guide our organisations

How to build a commercial foundation for Insight - guide

IMP802: Insight teams need a commercial foundation in order to help improve their organisation’s performance. This guide explores the 4 corner stones crucial to establishing a solid commercial foundation for all the work the Insight function does.

How to identify commercial value - guide

IMP803: If Insight is to have the influence it should with decision-makers, Insight teams need to become “fluent in finance” – even in not-for-profit and public sector organisations. This guide lays out simple valuation techniques to help Insight teams to analyse and think in commercial terms.

How to apply commercial thinking in Insight - guide

IMP804: To really make an ongoing difference, an Insight team has to adopt a commercial mindset in its everyday activities, applying the understanding it has developed to the way it operates. This guide lays out the 3 key ways in which Insight teams make this business as usual.

An introduction to Insight return on investment - guide

IMP805: Putting a value to Insight has been a kind of Holy Grail for the industry for a long time, with the view that it can’t really be done. However, the IMA strongly believes that you can, and this guide will show you why the IMA believes so, as well as how to go about it.

The value of Insight - guide

IMP806: Early in 2021 the IMA launched the Value of Insight challenge, inviting members to put a value on their Insight. We provided workshops to share the best practice principles followed by tutorials to provide help and support along the way. This guide shares the journey that we went on

Helping our teams to think commercially - summary

IMS801 (July 2024 Insight forum). Commercial thinking is vital if an Insight team is to drive value in an organisation, but all too often teams struggle to adopt it. In this 1-page summary we provide tips on how to encourage our team members to develop a commercial mindset.

Value of Insight 2022 - summary

IMS807: (October 2022 Insight forum topic). In this 1-page summary, Jane Woolley reminds us of the essential steps for thinking commercially, and shares 5 key learnings for estimating the value of Insight

Measuring Insight success - summary

IMS808: (June 2023 Insight forum topic). This 1-page summary explains the importance of measuring our Insight teams' success and highlights 5 common steps to team measurement that Insight leaders could be taking.

Making the case for investing in Insight - summary

IMS809 (February 2025 Insight forum). Have you ever wished for more Insight budget or headcount? In this summary, we highlight 5 key ways for making the case for investing more in Insight.

An introduction to Insight commerciality - video

IMV801: Commercial thinking is vital if an Insight team is to drive value in an organisation, but all too often teams struggle to adopt it - in this video, James Wycherley offers some advice on how to do this successfully .

Value of Insight 2021 - video

IMV806: IMA adviser Julia Joskey discusses the 2021 Value of Insight project and shares some of the key learnings from our participants, including examples from two of our IMA members - Dow Jones and Talk Talk.

Value of Insight 2022 - video

IMV807: (October 2022 Insight forum topic). In this video, Jane Woolley reminds us of the essential steps for thinking commercially, and shares 5 key learnings for estimating the value of Insight

Measuring Insight success - video

IMV808: (June 2023 Insight forum topic). In this video James Wycherley explains the importance of measuring our Insight teams' success and highlights 5 common steps to team measurement that Insight leaders could be taking.

Making the case for investing in Insight- video

IMV809, February 2025 Insight forum: Have you ever wished for more Insight budget or headcount? In this video, Jane Woolley describes 5 key ways for making the case for investing more in Insight.