Their facial expressions spoke volumes. One after the other, as the client-side presenters told their stories during sessions in our two virtual Quirk’s Events last year, you could see the mix of joy and hesitation as they spoke of how the pandemic had lifted the impact and visibility of their internal insights functions. Obviously elated at finally being sought out and listened to and depended upon instead of relegated, they also clearly realized the tragic societal backdrop against which these happy events were occurring.
But the upshot was clear: The much hoped-for seat at the table was finally open.
And now comes the toughest part: keeping it. That subject is just one of several themes explored in a joint report issued in January by three research industry groups. The organizations – the U.K.’s MRS, Australia’s Research Society and the Insights Association in the U.S. – brought together 30 leaders from brands (Merck, Electrolux, L’Oréal, etc.) and research agencies (GfK, Zappi, Kantar, etc.) for roundtable discussions on the current state of life as a researcher. The resulting report, The Great Change Accelerator - Client & Partner Perspectives on the Future of Insights, is available for free (registration required) at https://cutt.ly/ikEH34y.
While there is no easy single answer for how to keep that seat at the table, you can glean a good action plan from the report’s examples of what’s helped boost the standing of insights during the pandemic: be ready when called upon to help; be creative; be decisive; be proactive rather than reactive; be agile; be open to less rigorous approaches (and be able to help your internal clients get to that headspace as well).
From the report:
“Corporate researchers we heard from are being challenged more now to consider what the brand should do tomorrow and next year, rather than report on what happened yesterday. Research and insight have too often been focused on past behavior, they say. Strategic foresight has once again been brought forward as a priority … So, insights leaders are being asked to use data as a dynamic forecasting tool to help the organization scenario-plan around growth and investment planning. Important decisions about when to spend, where to spend and how to spend. Researchers are actively reviewing behavior change models … Overall, insights must perform at the speed of decision-making in the boardrooms – that’s the only way they can keep their seat there.”
The report, which also includes five research vendor/partner themes along with five shared themes, stresses that many of the required adaptations will have to come from within researchers themselves. True, their actions and deliverables are what will influence/change how they are viewed by others in their organizations, but part of getting to that stage is rethinking what it means to be an insights worker.
“Corporate researchers noted a recent change from being the ‘oracle’ to the ‘music conductor.’ They mentioned that sometimes there is a need to retrain team members and partners to deliver the ‘quick and the strategic,’ that some of the resistance against speed is from within. To get into a new mind-set we have to change our own fundamental core professional roots – research does not need to be traditional; long and academic is not always needed. What do you need to know now? That is paramount.”
Creativity and resourcefulness
One of the few positives to arise from the pandemic has been the awe-inspiring creativity and resourcefulness it has unleashed across so many aspects of our lives. From businesses pivoting to stay afloat to health care workers making the most of often meager supplies, people have adapted to the many barriers the virus has thrown at them. As our event sessions and the MR organizations’ report attest, though they have been forced into new and at times uncomfortable roles, researchers have found ways to react on the fly and meet the fast-changing needs of their organizations. The success with which they have responded bodes well for the future of the industry, as long as they retain the lessons learned during this unprecedented time of upheaval.