The Right Way To Critique Data Analytics Reports Without Starting A Fight

Effective feedback in analytics reporting is crucial for fostering clear communication, collaboration, and decision-making within teams. The process often faces challenges due to unstructured, delayed, or superficial feedback, which can lead to misunderstandings and misalignment on the intended purpose of reports. Constructive feedback is characterized by clarity, context, and collaboration, encouraging teams to ask questions, provide explanations, and document their insights. The ACED method, which stands for Acknowledge, Clarify, Explain, and Double-check, offers a structured approach to feedback, ensuring it is grounded, specific, and actionable. Analytics teams can enhance feedback by inviting input early in the development process, setting clear expectations, and ensuring psychological safety, thereby transforming feedback from a post-build critique to an integral part of the analytics workflow that improves the quality and utility of reports.