{"id":2626,"date":"2021-03-12T14:09:36","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T14:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/advancing-research-2021\/?page_id=2626"},"modified":"2021-03-14T14:02:08","modified_gmt":"2021-03-14T14:02:08","slug":"ar2021-what-is-research-strategy-chris-geison-senior-research-strategist-workday","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/advancing-research-2021\/ar2021-what-is-research-strategy-chris-geison-senior-research-strategist-workday\/","title":{"rendered":"AR2021-What is Research Strategy? (Chris Geison, Senior Research Strategist, Workday)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2014> I want to start this talk by acknowledging you<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2014> You are dialing in from home, in a million different directions, in the midst of global trauma<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2014> You might be in an introvert\u2019s paradise, holding together, falling apart, but I’m glad you\u2019re here<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2014> You are the reason of this talk, I\u2019m tired of seeing researchers I respect, doing work that wastes their time and talent<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2014> We talk about how to do research, but not what research should be done<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2014> We don\u2019t talk about research the same way people talk about it, as a basket of investments for either a) de-risking decisions or b) driving innovations<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2014> If we can\u2019t talk about research this way, we won\u2019t have seat at the table<\/div>\n
    \n
  • \n
    But we do deserve this seat of the table<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    <\/div>\n
    \u2014> I want to see company\u2019s driven by research.<\/div>\n
      \n
    • \n
      But we need to get more strategic part of about our practice<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

       <\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      \"\"<\/p>\n

      \u2014> Strategy is a topic often lumped into leadership, but not solely leadership responsibility.<\/div>\n
        \n
      • \n
        My concern is that focusing on leadership, excludes research consultants, teams of one, non-profits, etc.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        <\/div>\n
        \u2014> Regardless of where we are, we can take strategic approach to what we do<\/div>\n

         <\/p>\n

        <\/div>\n

        \"\"<\/p>\n

        \u2014> My title says I\u2019m a research strategist, so many people ask what is research strategy<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        \"\"<\/p>\n

        \u2014> My candid answer initially was “I don\u2019t know”.<\/div>\n
          \n
        • \n
          I was conducting foundational research to demonstrate to the org that research could drive strategic decisions<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
          <\/div>\n
          \u2014> My real contribution would be helping researchers across org have more strategic impact<\/div>\n
          <\/div>\n
          \u2014> So I came up with some ideas<\/div>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \"\"<\/p>\n

          \u2014> My initial definition was a set of practices for research activities that are deliberate, effective, and aligned with research orgs<\/div>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \"\"<\/p>\n

          \u2014> But a friend said this definition was boring<\/div>\n

           <\/p>\n

          \"\"<\/p>\n

          \u2014> So I have a revised definition, that is a work in Progress, as the strategy is always evolving<\/div>\n
            \n
          • \n
            At end of presentation, there is a link where you can access resources discussed during course of talk, and invitation to join him<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
          • \n
            Need people in space who are interested in this work, to collaborate with him, and define research strategy<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

             <\/p>\n

             <\/p>\n

            \"\"<\/p>\n

            \u2014> Well then, what is strategy?<\/div>\n
              \n
            • \n
              Libraries could be filled trying to figure out that definition<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
              \u2014> Goal and a plan to achieve the goal<\/div>\n

               <\/p>\n

              <\/div>\n

              \"\"<\/p>\n

              \u2014> As pointed out by Michael Porter, strategy is about what not to do<\/div>\n
                \n
              • \n
                Researchers need to get better at saying no, otherwise they have no strategy, but just sense of urgency<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                <\/div>\n
                \u2014> Does your org have a research strategy?<\/div>\n
                  \n
                • \n
                  Don\u2019t feel bad if you don’t<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                • \n
                  Kate Towsey of ReOps, ran a workshop and attendees included leaders from all big companies<\/div>\n
                    \n
                  • \n
                    She got many blank stares and question marks, when she asked these leader about their strategy<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                    <\/div>\n
                    \u2014> Many don\u2019t have a strategy, but does that mean you shouldn\u2019t<\/div>\n
                      \n
                    • \n
                      Marketing, Sales, IT will provide a strategy. Why can\u2019t research do the same?<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                    • \n
                      Otherwise research won\u2019t be taken seriously<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                       <\/p>\n

                       <\/p>\n

                      \"\"<\/p>\n

                      \u2014> Many factors influence strategy, including<\/div>\n
                        \n
                      • \n
                        Locus of decision making (individual, team, org)<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                      • \n
                        Org structure<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                      • \n
                        UX maturity level<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                        <\/div>\n
                        \u2014> Populate space with tools and techniques to address these different contexts<\/div>\n
                        <\/div>\n
                        \u2014> Today goal is to share tools with broadest applicability<\/div>\n

                         <\/p>\n

                        <\/div>\n
                        <\/div>\n

                        \"\"<\/p>\n

                        \u2014> Four essential components<\/div>\n
                          \n
                        • \n
                          Define strategy<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                        • \n
                          Collecting research opportunities<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                        • \n
                          Prioritizing opportunities<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                        • \n
                          Measuring research actvitiies<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                          <\/div>\n
                          \u2014> This is the essence of research strategy outside of leadership or enterprise<\/div>\n
                          <\/div>\n
                          \u2014> For each, I will share tool or technique I’ve found useful with some applicability<\/div>\n

                           <\/p>\n

                          <\/div>\n

                          \"\"<\/p>\n

                          \u2014> For each goal, a specific technique<\/div>\n
                            \n
                          • \n
                            \u00a0Defining through a mission statement<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                          • \n
                            Collecting through question workshops<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                          • \n
                            Prioritizing through assessment grids<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                          • \n
                            Measuring-it depends, but I have some thoughts on that too<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                             <\/p>\n

                             <\/p>\n

                            \"\"<\/p>\n

                            \u2014> A mission statement is typically not applied to a research org, rather a summary of broader strategy<\/div>\n
                            <\/div>\n
                            \u2014> Instead, the most common research strategy is researching what ever most politically expedient<\/div>\n
                              \n
                            • \n
                              This is a default research strategy<\/div>\n
                                \n
                              • Driven by most urgent demands, greater political clout, and the rest put into a backlog<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                                <\/div>\n
                                \u2014> So what about the following mission statement: Insights to support product strategy decisions<\/div>\n
                                  \n
                                • \n
                                  But what are we saying \u201cno” to here?<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                                  <\/div>\n
                                  \u2014> How about this mission statement: Most important interactions for greatest number of users?<\/div>\n
                                    \n
                                  • \n
                                    What are we not doing ?<\/div>\n
                                      \n
                                    • \n
                                      Who determines what is important, and does a small number of users get minimal attention?<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
                                    • \n
                                      Looks to be optimizing product, rather than doing foundational, generative work<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                       <\/p>\n

                                       <\/p>\n

                                      \"\"<\/p>\n

                                      \u2014> Things to consider with a mission statement:<\/div>\n
                                        \n
                                      • \n
                                        What kind of impact?<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                                      • \n
                                        What will it take?<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                                      • \n
                                        Your SWOT?<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                                      • \n
                                        What is your value proposition? You should say this succinctly and compellingly.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                                      • \n
                                        What are you saying no to?<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                                      • \n
                                        How to measure success?<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                                        <\/div>\n
                                        \u2014> Having statement for yourself as individual\/org is critical for what to shoot for and what to say no to<\/div>\n

                                         <\/p>\n

                                        \"\"<\/p>\n

                                        \u2014> A questions workshop, is a team workshop for showing research opportunities<\/div>\n
                                          \n
                                        • \n
                                          Shout-out to Sinead Davis Cochrane for providing this inspiration<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                                          <\/div>\n
                                          \u2014> I initially used an assessment matrix with the intent to have more informed discussions about which projects to work on, but I felt the assessment matrix didn\u2019t generate opportunities.<\/div>\n

                                           <\/p>\n

                                          <\/div>\n

                                          \"\"<\/p>\n

                                          \u2014> Goal of questions workshop is to see unknowns in the research project<\/p>\n

                                           <\/p>\n

                                          \"\"<\/p>\n

                                          \u2014> The workshop can be run to address whenever you want to address: a backlog, new priorities, new teams forming, etc.<\/p>\n

                                           <\/p>\n

                                           <\/p>\n

                                          \"\"<\/p>\n

                                          \u2014> First focuses on ideation, and surfacing unknowns and questions we have<\/div>\n
                                          <\/div>\n
                                          \u2014> Second, defining, and turning into research opportunities<\/div>\n
                                          <\/div>\n
                                          Workshop 1 involves a:<\/div>\n
                                            \n
                                          • \n
                                            Manager, researchers, designers, PMs (depending on org)<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                                          • \n
                                            Goal to develop muscles for good research, and \u00a0questions for the business<\/div>\n
                                              \n
                                            • \n
                                              Since teams are a site of good thinking<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
                                            • \n
                                              Create a space where surfacing ideas is critical<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                               <\/p>\n

                                               <\/p>\n

                                              \"\"<\/p>\n

                                              \u2014> In first workshop, people put up assumptions questions that are unknown, against two themes:<\/div>\n
                                                \n
                                              • \n
                                                Two themes (People\/Product)<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                                              • \n
                                                Revealing Objectives or Driving Objectives (the solution space)<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                                                <\/div>\n
                                                \u2014> Ask if we are understanding a problem space or solution space?<\/div>\n
                                                <\/div>\n
                                                \u2014> Nice thing of organizing all unknowns helps identify themes, and allows us to overlay a grid to show what types of research need to be considered to answer questions we have<\/div>\n

                                                 <\/p>\n

                                                <\/div>\n

                                                \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                \u2014> Workshop 2 is 90+ minutes , with managers and researchers, and research specific<\/div>\n
                                                <\/div>\n
                                                \u2014> The goal of the workshop is to turn unknowns into questions, identify methodologies and add to an assessment matrix<\/div>\n

                                                 <\/p>\n

                                                \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                \u2014> We then use an assessment matrix to facilitate discussion and align the team<\/div>\n
                                                  \n
                                                • \n
                                                  Facilitating discussion is critical as goal of any framework is not to answer question, but provide a structure for discussion<\/div>\n
                                                    \n
                                                  • \n
                                                    Surface issues, clarify issues, and document them<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                                     <\/p>\n

                                                    \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                    \u2014> Do an assessment matrix whenever you complete a questions workshop<\/p>\n

                                                     <\/p>\n

                                                    \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                    \u2014> I will now go through the matrix overall<\/div>\n
                                                    <\/div>\n
                                                    \u2014> Left most side has different projects<\/div>\n
                                                    \u2014> Across the columns, there are areas of consideration<\/div>\n

                                                     <\/p>\n

                                                    \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                    \u2014> Purpose of simplicity criteria is to figure out how much work is required.<\/p>\n

                                                     <\/p>\n

                                                    \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                    \u2014> Risk is critical column and can determine ultimate prioritization, but need to place it against other factors<\/p>\n

                                                     <\/p>\n

                                                    \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                    \u2014> The value to users, organization, or specific to research organization itself, will show case research orgs ability to do certain things<\/p>\n

                                                     <\/p>\n

                                                    \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                    \u2014> Buy-in is not discussed enough, but is a key success factor<\/div>\n
                                                      \n
                                                    • \n
                                                      Don\u2019t assume every project requested has strong buy-in. Be clear on what level of stakeholder buy-in is required to help determine level of resources, and level of partnership<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                                       <\/p>\n

                                                      \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                      \u2014> Is there enough time to conduct research, and enough time to analyze findings and make them relevant?<\/div>\n
                                                        \n
                                                      • \n
                                                        We need time to implement significant findings<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                                                      • \n
                                                        And if users don\u2019t see utility of solution, is there time to check what can be done?<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                                         <\/p>\n

                                                         <\/p>\n

                                                        \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                        \u2014> We need to ask if research will address next release, or have durable, lasting value<\/div>\n

                                                         <\/p>\n

                                                        <\/div>\n
                                                        <\/div>\n

                                                        \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                        \u2014> In the end, after considering all these criteria, you have an image like above<\/div>\n
                                                        <\/div>\n
                                                        \u2014> Goal of the assessment matrix, is to surface areas \u00a0of consideration to make sure there is alignment and clarity, and have that be documented in the matrix<\/div>\n

                                                         <\/p>\n

                                                        <\/div>\n

                                                        \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                        \u2014> \u00a0Finally, there is no single measurement of research success<\/div>\n
                                                          \n
                                                        • \n
                                                          Or is there?<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                                           <\/p>\n

                                                           <\/p>\n

                                                          \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                          \u2014> There are two key question.<\/div>\n
                                                            \n
                                                          • \n
                                                            Did project achieve aims?<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                                                          • \n
                                                            Was the research used by stakeholders?<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                                                            <\/div>\n
                                                            \u2014> Did project achieve aims?<\/div>\n
                                                              \n
                                                            • \n
                                                              There are lot of metrics that float around orgs, and PMs are assessed on certain metrics like reducing churn, usability scores, etc.<\/div>\n
                                                                \n
                                                              • \n
                                                                Researchers need to ask what \u00a0these metrics are, and ask whether project achieved the aims of these metrics in some way<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                                                                <\/div>\n
                                                                \u2014> Was research used?<\/div>\n
                                                                  \n
                                                                • \n
                                                                  This can be measured and can be tracked and can be done<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                                                                   <\/p>\n

                                                                   <\/p>\n

                                                                  \"\"<\/p>\n

                                                                  \u2014> So that\u2019s it here are the tools I think can be used to inform research strategy<\/div>\n
                                                                  <\/div>\n
                                                                  <\/div>\n
                                                                  \u2014> Critical moment in maturation of field, where people worked on problems, without vocabulary and shared community to collaborate<\/div>\n
                                                                    \n
                                                                  • \n
                                                                    \u00a0I hope you\u2019ll join me, \u00a0as I want us to get this right together,<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                                                                    <\/div>\n
                                                                    \u2014> Thank you!<\/div>\n

                                                                     <\/p>\n

                                                                    <\/div>\n
                                                                    Q&A<\/span><\/div>\n
                                                                    <\/div>\n
                                                                      \n
                                                                    1. \n
                                                                      What to address if organizational objectives are many?<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                                                                      <\/div>\n
                                                                      A: My point that broader org has strategy of their own and senior executives are clarifying what they prioritize most highly<\/div>\n
                                                                      <\/div>\n
                                                                      For research org, your strategy should be aligned to broader corporate strategy<\/div>\n
                                                                      <\/div>\n
                                                                        \n
                                                                      1. What’s an example of a project \/ initiative \/ research study you’ve said no to?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                                                                        <\/div>\n
                                                                        \u2014> Was told that research needed to be done on a particular product, but stakeholders hadn\u2019t bought in<\/div>\n
                                                                        <\/div>\n
                                                                        \u2014> People didn\u2019t see need for research, so it wasn\u2019t worth pursing<\/div>\n
                                                                        <\/div>\n
                                                                          \n
                                                                        1. \n
                                                                          What happens when you feel you need to say no to leadership? How does leadership respond?<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                                                                          <\/div>\n
                                                                          \u2014> Depends on circumstances, but you need to try<\/div>\n
                                                                            \n
                                                                          • \n
                                                                            Thing to keep in mind is that by saying \u201cno\u201d, you are saying \u201cyes\u201d to something else.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
                                                                          • \n
                                                                            You have limited resources and need to figure out where to invest<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                                                                            <\/div>\n
                                                                            <\/div>\n
                                                                              \n
                                                                            1. To what degree can we build a useful\/helpful research strategy when the organization itself doesn\u2019t have a well-formed mission or strategic perspective?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                                                                              <\/div>\n
                                                                              A: \u00a0If no clear corporate strategy, hard to figure out research strategy<\/div>\n
                                                                              <\/div>\n
                                                                              \u2014> My feeling is you can have chance to drive strategy from where you are and with more clarity<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                                                                              \u2014> I want to start this talk by acknowledging you   \u2014> You are dialing in from home, in a million different directions, in the midst of global trauma \u2014> You might be in an introvert\u2019s paradise, holding together, falling apart, but I’m glad you\u2019re here   \u2014> You are the reason of this talk, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":334,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2626","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/advancing-research-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/advancing-research-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/advancing-research-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/advancing-research-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/334"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/advancing-research-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2626"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/advancing-research-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3122,"href":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/advancing-research-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2626\/revisions\/3122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rosenfeldmedia.com\/advancing-research-2021\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}