The Value of Research and Data in Crisis

Events such as calamities and health crises propose dire consequences which require responses and resources beyond the capability of a single unit. These incidents do not just threaten the lives of people but inordinate economic losses affecting both small and large businesses. 

Whichever industry your business belongs to, you will come across a testimony on how research and data has helped them overcome challenges such as crises. It might be curing a disease, improving a company’s revenue after a global lockdown or understanding the economic market. Simply put, data is another word for information and these so-called information can begin on answering lingering questions which eventually produces strategies and techniques. Therefore, having a great research and data team for your business especially in times of crisis has its value.

Devising Crisis Mitigation Measures

Health crises and natural calamities are unforeseen and unpredicted events which most often than not catches us off guard. For instance, the recently declared pandemic COVID-19 took everyone by surprise. It’s first occurrence was reported late December 2019 in Wuhan City, China. 3 months later, the virus has spread in 145 countries with 180,000 confirmed cases and over 7,000 deaths. But through the help of research analysts, scientists and data collectors, the initially-thought community illness was rightfully declared pandemic and appropriate mitigation responses were made.

Research and data are vital tools in linking an underlying problem with tangible evidence to understand and analyze important information and aid decision makers on effective planning and intervention. In every crisis, may it be health or disaster, businesses can suffer immensely. Obtaining data (qualitative and quantitative) helps in analyzing information objectively thus creating equally objective solutions to a problem. Making a decision based on poor quality data is risky and may lead to disastrous results for your company and the safety of your people. But having a state-of-the-art data collection and analysis techniques builds an important knowledge base and proactive preparation for your business. Real time decision making and information dissemination during any crisis can assist executives and business leaders alike in responding efficiently and effectively by not risking the business while protecting team members in trying times.

Stops Full Blown Crisis

Research and data allow you to monitor the situation in your organization in times of crisis. By utilizing data for quality monitoring, organizations are able to respond to a molehill crisis before it becomes a mountain of problems. Effective monitoring allows you to be more proactive rather than being reactive and will aid you in maintaining best practices overtime. Businesses can effectively determine a problem and visualize the relationship of each department and how they can contribute to a solution within your organization while you can monitor errors in place. It also assists looking at different crises side-by-side and in return allows you in formulating accurate theories and put into place more effective solutions.

The solutions you propose for your company will be backed up with a strong argument in cases system change is needed. Whether you’re advocating on transitioning your employees to remote work or making changes in your company’s regulation for the security of your people and your clients, these decisions will be supported by data and allows you to demonstrate why changes are needed. It also stops the guessing game by helping you explain the good and bad to your stakeholders. Whether or not the strategies and decisions you made results in an outcome you perceive to happen, you are confident enough that you develop your approach based on good solid data.

Allows Strategic Approaches

Data equals knowledge. Good data is undisputed evidence which results in informed decision. While anecdotal decisions based from assumptions or abstract observation may lead to water down crisis management due to taking action from an incorrect conclusion.

Research and data allow organizations to analyze the effectiveness of your approach in crisis and the strategies you formulate. When strategies are put into place to overcome a challenge, collecting data will allow you to determine your planned solution is performing, and whether or not your approach needs to be changed over time. It also increases the efficiency of your planning strategies supporting your analysis and allows you to direct scarce resources where they are most needed. There will always be increased business-impacting incidents during crisis that data can dissect further whether the increase is widespread or isolated in a particular department in your organization. If the issue is isolated, training, staffing and other resources can be deployed precisely where they are needed. On the other hand, it also aids organizations to determine which areas should take priority over others.

These strategic approaches allow you to assess how well your organization is doing in times of crisis. Data analysis identifies effective mitigation measures and assessing how the business is running amidst crisis by identifying high-performing programs, service areas, and people. Once identified you can develop strategies to assist programs, service areas and people that are low-performing.

Prepare now and win later

To maximize the value of research and data, having a great team of analysts in your organization prior to being in a crisis is the best key in winning this type of business hurdle. To save on cost and have access to other excellent resources, one proven action to take is to outsource.

At Infinit-O we build great teams of trusted research and data specialists that can help you build and operate a dedicated team of research professionals designed for your unique needs. We can help you meet your goals before and even during a crisis whilst achieving better productivity or simply bottom-line cost savings. With access to a great team of research and data experts who use cutting-edge technology, we provide some of the best strategic solutions for your business. We are ISO-certified and GDPR-compliant, so your company and client data are safe with us.

By working with Infinit-O, you can have your team of data analysts up and running in 30-45 days. You need not spend time recruiting and hiring an expensive workforce. Let us do that work for you and save you a tremendous amount along the way. 

Let’s Build a Great Team for you – starting with Research and Data. 

Infinit-O is the trusted customer-centric and sustainable leader in Business Process Optimization to Small and Medium businesses in the Financial Services, Healthcare and Technology sectors by delivering continuous improvement through technology, data and people.