Leading Insight: strategy and people

Successful Insight teams work hard to identify value and to drive change. But as Insight leaders we also need to choose, shape and articulate a proactive role for Insight in our organisations. This section provides best practice advice aimed at helping Insight teams be more effective in:

Insight strategy: a strategy with conscious decisions around scope, scale and goals

Insight people: a great leader and a strong team with a wide and growing skillset

Access our strategy and people online content by clicking on the topic boxes below

Please click here for information about online access or to return to the members' library

Insight strategy guides and videos

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An introduction to Insight strategy - guide
IMP501: If we want Insight to transform our organisations' performance, we first have to transform our Insight teams. But very few companies have a comprehensive plan for making this happen. This guide sets out the reasons for having an Insight strategy and the key steps involved
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How to identify the opportunity for Insight - guide
IMP502: A key part of having a successful Insight strategy is having a well-articulated vision for how Insight will make a difference within your organisation. This guide outlines the 6 key steps that will help you to first understand the lie of the land.
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How to define your ambition for Insight - guide
IMP503: To develop an Insight strategy you need to understand the lie of the land, but then it is time to reflect on your ambition for Insight to change your organisation. The IMA's Insight Participation Matrix will help frame your vision for the role you want Insight to play in your company
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How to identify options for your Insight strategy - guide
IMP504: Like any other department, an Insight team will operate within certain parameters, for example carrying out work of a certain type, within a certain budget. This guide lays out the 7 key choices that effective Insight teams make explicitly to define those parameters.
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How to execute an Insight strategy - guide
IMP505: This is where the rubber hits the road - you can formulate a brilliant strategy, but unless you can execute it, you might as well not have bothered. This guide shares best practice for what is essentially organisational change management.
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Developing an Insight strategy - summary
IMS501: (July 2023 Insight forums) Very few companies have a comprehensive approach in place to transform Insight in their organisations. This 1-page summary outlines the key steps involved in developing an Insight strategy to support this.
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How to prioritise an Insight team's work - summary
IMS506: How do you prioritise your Insight team's work and resources? This is really important as it reflects the type of team you are and helps determines the role you will play this year
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Defining an Insight-driven organisation - summary
IMS509 (July 2023 Insight forum) In this summary we highlight the importance of taking a step back from the strategy development process to think about our organisational context and landscape, with the aim of creating an Insight-driven organisation. 
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Developing an Insight strategy - video
IMV501: (July 2023 Insight forums) Very few companies have an Insight strategy in place to help transform Insight in their organisations. This video explains what an Insight strategy is, and outlines the key steps involved in developing one.
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How to prioritise an Insight team's work - video
IMV506: How do you prioritise your Insight team's work and resources? This is really important as it reflects the type of team you are and helps determines the role you will play this year
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New data for Insight - video
IMV507 (September 2021 Insight forum): Julia Joskey discusses the challenges faced by organisations in getting value from their data investments, and the fact that Insight has a fundamental role to play in creating the data-driven organisations of the future
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New decisions for Insight - video
IMV508 (September 2021 Insight forum): Jane Woolley examines our assumptions about the types of business decision that Insight teams set themselves up to inform, considering the 5 key sources of value.
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Defining an Insight-driven organisation - video
IMV509 (July 2023 Insight forum) Tim Downing discusses the importance of taking a step back from the strategy development process to think about our organisational context and landscape, with the aim of creating an Insight-driven organisation. 
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Transforming Insight strategy at NPR - video
IMV510 (Sept 2023 Insight forum) In this video James chats to Lori Kaplan, VP Audience Insights at NPR and hears about her mission to transform Insight strategy at National Public Radio of America.

Insight people guides and videos

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An introduction to developing successful Insight people - guide
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 guide provides an introduction to 5 key areas of focus.
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How to lead an Insight team - guide
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 - guide
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 - guide
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 - guide
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 - guide
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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Working on our Insight teams - guide
IMP608: (November 2022 Insight forum). This guide discusses some of the key internal and external challenges that many Insight leaders are continuing to face and highlight the importance of leaders working on our teams, not in our teams, to deal with these challenges effectively.
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Leading Insight people post-pandemic - guide
IMP609: (November 2022 Insight forum). This guide discusses the challenges that many Insight teams are facing in this new 'hybrid age', and she talks about 4 key roles that Insight leaders can adopt when dealing with some of these challenges.
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Our Insight people today & tomorrow - guide
IMP610: (March 2024 Insight forum) In this guide we discuss some key considerations for the shape of our Insight teams today and we think about the impact of factors such as generative AI on our people tomorrow.
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Recognising & managing imposter syndrome - guide
IMP612: (March 2024 Insight forum) In this guide we explain how imposter syndrome is common among many Insight professionals, and think about how we can learn to recognise and manage it most effectively.
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Prioritising an Insight leader's time - summary
IMS607: (January 2022 Insight forum). In this 1-page summary we highlight 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
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Working on our Insight teams - summary
IMS608: (November 2022 Insight forum). This 1-page summary discusses some of the key internal and external challenges that many Insight leaders are continuing to face and highlight the importance of leaders working on our teams, not in our teams, to deal with these challenges effectively.
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Leading Insight people post-pandemic - summary
IMS609: (November 2022 Insight forum). This 1-page summary highlights the challenges that many Insight teams are facing in this new 'hybrid age', and talks about 4 key roles that Insight leaders can adopt when dealing with some of these challenges.
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Our Insight people today & tomorrow - summary
IMS610: (March 2024 Insight forum) In this 1-page summary we discuss some key considerations for the shape of our Insight teams today and we think about the impact of factors such as generative AI on our people tomorrow.
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Guiding our Insight people through change - summary
IMS611: (March 2024 Insight forum) In this 1-page summary, we explain the key role that coaching can play in developing our Insight people and guiding them through change.
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Recognising & managing imposter syndrome - summary
IMS612: (March 2024 Insight forum) In this 1-page summary we explain how imposter syndrome is common among many Insight professionals, and think about how we can learn to recognise and manage it most effectively.
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Lies, damned lies and statistics - video
IMV604 (November 2020 Insight forum) In this video James Wycherley discusses the importance of Insight teams developing an Insight perspective, and he using the US elections as a reference point.
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Prioritising an Insight leader's time - video
IMV607: (January 2022 Insight forum). In this video James Wycherley discusses 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
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Working on our Insight teams - video
IMV608: (November 2022 Insight forum). Tim Downing discusses some of the key internal and external challenges that many Insight leaders are continuing to face, and he talks about the importance of leaders working on our teams, not in our teams, to deal with these challenges effectively.
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Leading Insight people post-pandemic - video
IMV609: (November 2022 Insight forum). Lisa Dutton discusses the challenges that many Insight teams are facing in this new 'hybrid age', and she talks about 4 key roles that Insight leaders can adopt when dealing with some of these challenges.
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Our Insight people today & tomorrow - video
IMV610: (March 2024 Insight forum) In this video we discuss some key considerations for the shape of our teams today and we think about the impact of factors such as generative AI on our people tomorrow.
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Guiding our Insight people through change - video
IMV611: (March 2024 Insight forum) In this video, Lisa Dutton & James Wycherley discuss the key role that coaching can play in developing our Insight people and guiding them through change.
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Recognising & managing imposter syndrome - video
IMV612: (March 2024 Insight forum) In this video, Emma Jones discusses imposter syndrome and provides some tips on how to recognise and manage it most effectively, both in ourselves and in our teams.