A two-day workshop for mid-level managers to explore data-driven thinking and data analysis. Using relevant examples from U.S. cities, open data, and Microsoft Excel, we give participants a taste of how analysts ask and answer questions using data and how policymakers apply those insights to real-life scenarios.
Students will be able to:
- Collaboratively scope an analytical problem using design thinking techniques
- Develop an outcomes-focused process for answering an analytical question
- Define data analysis and apply analytical skills to their everyday work
- Consider data analysis as part of a larger organizational shift to data-informed decision making
- Begin analysis by asking appropriate questions
- Download a dataset from NYC Open Data Portal
- Explore and visualize a dataset in Microsoft Excel
- Interpret findings and test hypotheses
- Welcome (5 mins)
- Activity: Instructors welcome participants to the class
- Outcome: Class participants are settled and engaged
- Introductions (15 mins)
- Activity: Each participant gives their name, position, and their proudest moment
- Outcome: Class participants are acquainted with each other and instructors can sense level of engagement
- Expectation Setting (5 mins)
- Activity: Discuss the class goals and intended outcomes
- Outcome: Class participants are in agreement on the purpose and desired outcomes for the project
- Data Analysis 101 (20 mins)
- Activity: Facilitators introduce key concepts and define key terms
- Outcome: Class participants are able to define data and analysis in the context of their work
- Problem Ideation (30 mins)
- Activity: Lead participants through an exercise in problem definition
- Outcome: Class participants are familiar with a process for defining problems
- Process Mapping Introduction (10 mins)
- Activity: Faciliators introduce a method for mapping an analytical process
- Outcome: Class participants are familiar with mapping an analytical process
- Process Mapping Exercises (40 mins)
- Activity: Faciliators lead participants through several analytical process mapping exercises
- Outcome: Class participants are practiced in mapping an analytical process
- Types of Analysis (20 mins)
- Activity: Instructors introduce terminology based on the Civic Analytics Typology
- Outcome: Class participants are famliar with the different types of analysis related to civic analysis
- Challenges and Benefits of Analysis (20 mins)
- Activity: Instructors facilitate a discussion of key challenges and opportunties in civic analysis
- Outcome: Class participants are familiar with key challenges and opportunities, identifying their own experiences with the material
- Brainstorming Problem (20 mins)
- Activity: Participants work in groups to scope an analytical problem using NYC 311 data
- Outcome: Participants are practiced in applying design thinking techniques to collaboratively scope an analytical problem
- Process Map Development (40 mins)
- Activity: Participants are led through a guided exercise to create a process map around the problem they scoped previously
- Outcome: Participants are practiced in using design thinking techniques to collaboratively plan a series of analytical tasks
- Project Work (35 mins)
- Activity: Participants refine their project plan and prepare for a short presentation
- Outcome: Participants are practiced in refining a analytics project plan for dissemination and discussion
- Present Process Map (35 mins)
- Activity: Participants present their work to the class
- Outcome: Class participants are practiced in describing their analysis and communicating their work
- Welcome (5 mins)
- Activity: Instructors welcome participants to the class
- Outcome: Class participants are settled and engaged
- Gallery of Possibilities (15 mins)
- Activity: Instructors introduce key examples of civic analytics and open data projects to participants
- Outcome: Class participants are familiar with interesting and impactful projects with city data
- Open Data Exercise (20 mins)
- Activity: Facilitators describe key features of open data and lead participants through downloading data from the Open Data Portal
- Outcome: Class participants are familiar with the open data portal and have downloaded data for exercise
- Data Skills Training (90 mins)
- Activity: Facilitators lead participants through steps to analyze downloaded data
- Outcome: Class participants are familiar with basic techniques of data analysis with Excel
- Process Map in Action (45 mins)
- Activity:Facilitators help participants follow the analytics process they've mapped out to answer the challenge scoped in class
- Outcome: Class participants are practiced in executing the process map they've created
- Project Work (45 mins)
- Activity:Facilitators help participants follow the analytics process they've mapped out in their groups to answer the challenge they scoped
- Outcome: Class participants are practiced in executing the process map they've created to accomplish an analytical task
- Presentations (45 mins)
- Activity: Participants present their work to the class
- Outcome: Class participants are practiced in describing their analysis and communicating their findings
- Data Driven Government (30 mins)
- Activity: Facilitators present the key features of building a data-driven culture in government and lead a discussion with the group
- Outcome: Class participants are familiar with the key aspects of building a data-driven culture within their organizations
Course created by Richard Dunks, Datapolitan, with Julia Marden, Tiny Panther. Slides designed with Remark.js. Illustrations by Julia Marden, other photos and graphics are credited in the slides.
Analytics for the Data-Driven Manager is meant to be shared, remixed and built upon! Slides are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Let us know where you take this class next!