So, you’re on the hunt for a job in the IT industry. You visit the websites and social media pages of top companies. You are neither a designer nor a coder. So, another job title catches your eye: Data Analyst. Sounds simple enough, right? It’s not like you don’t have a degree. How to become a data analyst? What does a data analyst do?

You check out the job description. Collects data, processes and presents it in an organized manner that will provide the necessary insights for important business decisions.  Hmmm, probably trickier than you first thought, huh? 

No worries. Here we have two of LegalMatch Philippines’ senior data analysts to basically answer the question: What makes a Good Data Analyst?

They Test and Use Multiple Tools

LR has been working with LegalMatch for a few years now. As a senior data analyst for Marketing, he uses 3 tools: Looker, MS Excel, and Salesforce. Looker is what he mainly uses to get raw data. Salesforce is also a source of data but with focus on sales. Excel is for further analyzing the data. All three offer varying levels of visualization, with different charts to show different data types.

“I studied and tested several tools including Insights, but I chose Looker. It has unlimited rows for data and can be connected to our database for easy access,” says LR, comparing Looker to its rival business intelligence tool.

But knowledge of tools is just partly the answer to the question at hand. LR cites the following necessary traits of a good data analyst: likes math, highly capable of logic, can be adaptable, and practices critical thinking. After all, a tool is only as good as the person who wields it.

They Possess the Right Attitude

RN, a Senior Sales Operations Data Analyst in LegalMatch Philippines, echoes LR’s views.

“Knowledge and skills are just 20%. Attitude makes 80% of being a good data analyst,” he says.

He explains that knowledge and skills at using tools will evolve over time and job experience. But being curious and eager to learn and investigate cause and effects are personal attitudes that should be possessed long before even acquiring either.

According to RN, data analysts must be ready to pivot to new tools as work requirements often shift. Right now, he uses Looker at times for data generation. But, more often, he utilizes Power BI to create reports and track sites and Python for data modeling and machine learning to get predictions.

For companies like LegalMatch, there is too much online data that needs to be tracked. In marketing, messages are ineffective if they are not organized and targeted properly. Meanwhile, in sales, there are patterns that cannot be seen immediately, unless they are quantified and qualified. Data analysts like RN and LR thus support their sales and marketing teams to determine where their efforts had more impact and work from there.

They Maintain Work-Life Balance

Both LR and RN at the end of their interviews are asked what they do outside of work. Both change their tone instantly from formal to friendly. RN shares that if he isn’t on badminton games with friends, he is still online, doing short courses on anything that catches his fancy, such as financial literacy. LR, on the other hand, hops on his mountain bike every weekend. Taking to the highland trails relaxes his mind but also ensures that his body remains energetic for a new work week.

This is why LegalMatch Philippines encourages work-life balance. The tools and attitude may make a good data analyst. But keeping the body and mind healthy will make sure they go a good and long way.

Many companies shy away from sponsoring team building activities because these are often seen as expensive and logistically difficult. This is truer now, ever since the pandemic forced companies into a work from home setup. For LegalMatch Philippines, employees are now working from homes in different locations. Gathering them together for face-to-face team building activities would involve airfare, hotel accommodations, and local transport services. But companies all over the world are slowly seeing why team building activities are beneficial to their corporate goals, especially for those whose employees work remotely. These are some of the reasons.

It Fosters Rapport and Unity

It is easy for remote workers to fall into a task-based work system, where they do not see the big picture. After all, they are just looking into their monitors and while video conferencing meetings are done regularly, these are often perfunctory and do not build rapport between team members.  For example, many virtual teams do not know that their counterpart in the southern US or the Philippines have been hit by a tropical cyclone. Many do not even know if their teammates have children or are married or that their households have been hit by COVID-19.

Close rapport between teammates results in smooth workflows and strong support system, where one is willing to take up the slack when something personal (or a natural disaster) hinders the other from performing duties.

It Improves Productivity and Collaboration

From the reason cited above, the natural progression would be higher productivity. Harmonious working relationships are built when there is trust and compassion between team members. Carefully designed team building activities which balance the getting-to-know process and learning team strategies work well. Fun activities prove to be effective in underscoring company policies, work processes and communication better than any email memo. Productivity becomes less of an individual achievement but a team collaboration.

It Allows Discourse and Blossoming of Creativity

The Greek philosophers who espoused the importance of discourse in idea generation got it right. Of course, anyone can come up with bright ideas, especially when we are all masters in our own fields. But ideas that are bounced off the brains of other team members become more nuanced, well-rounded and effective. Team-building activities with ample opportunities for discussions of common challenges and issues result in innovative solutions. Some would say, don’t replace the wheel when it is not broken. But what if the wheel itself needs to be broken because there is a better wheel that will make us arrive faster at our desired goals?

It could be a Venue to Discover Leadership Potential

Many a company, even one as strict as LegalMatch Philippines in hiring quality professionals, forget that employee growth is a must for sustainability. It is not enough to hire the best, but to keep the best from finding greener grass elsewhere. During team building activities, natural leaders often come out of the woodwork and managers must be able to spot them. They must be able to jumpstart them towards achieving their potential as future leads and managers. After all, it is easier to hire internally those who know already work processes and organizational goals.

 It Provides an Opportunity to Develop the Desired Company Culture

The importance of building a company culture that fits the corporate mission and vision could not be understated. Employees that see their company culture as empowering will be more loyal. Today companies strive to be equal-opportunity employers, emphasizing a work environment that recognizes differences in ethnicity, sexual orientation, identity and expression, human and democratic rights. A company culture that fosters good work ethics while celebrating individual successes is desirable indeed.

A Long-term Investment

In the pictures above, LegalMatch Philipines employees enjoy some of the team building activities that we conducted this year 2022. Cebu is a tropical paradise so, as soon as mobility restrictions were lifted, work teams went for a beach outing. Another team went on a karaoke night, celebrating the Cebuano love for music. A simple dinner at a good resto, when it is too hectic to plan anything bigger, also sufficed. Meanwhile, there are already plans for an online hangout for employees from other parts of the country to socialize with their teammates, while sipping their favorite drinks.

Investing on team-building activities is not a waste of money. In fact, in the long run, it saves the company the expenses of recruitment and training new employees, troubleshooting workflow bottlenecks and more.