BUSINESS PERFORMANCE AND IMPROVEMENT NETWORK FORUM - THE POWER OF DATA
At our Wednesday 23 July 2025 Network Forum, we heard from a fantastic array of speakers who provided insights on how they have harnessed the power of data to achieve better outcomes for their community and aid in decision making.
Whilst their functions, data sources, systems, reporting and outcomes all differed, there were key threads and consistent messaging throughout the presentations.
Here are some of our key takeaways:
- We can be overwhelmed by the amount of data being generated and what to do with it – we’re not alone as organisations or as a sector. That is why data management needs careful and thoughtful attention.
- Data is powerful, but it needs to be used in the right context.
- Data champions are a must.
- Good quality, consistent data shows the patterns, which tell the story, providing evidence to counteract loud opinions and assumptions.
- Use data to aid in making informed, justifiable decisions, but remember to look at the big picture.
- Data is data – whether analogue or digital. When you need data to help with decision making but don’t have the full suite, start somewhere and then improve. Keep building, testing and validating.
- Be transparent – if you’re collecting data on things that have a direct impact on the community, it’s a great idea to have clear policies and procedures in place to provide reassurance on why you’re doing it, what the aim is, and how it’s going to be used. The community need to understand the story the data is telling.
- Both staff and our community need to be able to trust the data.
- Understand why you need the data and what it is going to be used for – don’t measure something or collect data for the sake of it.
- Consider how much of your data you are actually using – do you have what you need, or can you make better use of the data you’ve got?
- Remember that data costs: collecting, validating and storing data take up substantial resources.
- Use it to promote your success – share and celebrate the wins. There are lots of tools to share data with the community.
Thanks again to all of our speakers and panel members, and to the City of Victor Harbor for hosting – we wouldn’t be able to have Forums without our generous volunteer speakers and host councils. If you are interested in sharing an improvement, a new or different way of working, or have ideas about future forum topics, please reach out to one of our Committee Members or via our Viva Engage website.
