Case Study: How to Use Metrics in Communications and Decision-making / by Ashley Villanueva

Today, I had the honor and pleasure of presenting to UC Berkeley's Cal Assessment Network (CAN), a community of practice for analysts. I was able to speak about my experience in both Admissions and at the University Health Services about serving up metrics about my work and creating change in my organization. 

How to Use Metrics in Communications and Decision-Making:  A Case Study
Create metrics that matter to your organization.

Date:   Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Time:  10:30am-12pm  
Place: 150 University Hall

Presenters
Ashley Villanueva, Digital Communications Lead, University Health Services
Kim LaPean, Communications Manager, University Health Services

Session Description
This session will help you identify a strategy to create metrics that matter to your organization through a few case study examples and an idea share exercise.

At UC Berkeley, staff and faculty are asked to wear many hats. One of those hats may be to collect data that proves the value of their work and trends they are seeing. This session will illustrate different ways to gather data and how to present it in a helpful manner.

In particular, this session will:

  • Explore different ways to gather data and successful strategies at UC Berkeley
  • Provide an overview of a campus metric trends and no-cost tools
  • Share two case studies of how metrics were collected and how the unit/department made changes based on the data
  • Facilitate an exercise to see what types of steps you need to take to make this successful in your unit/department

The summary of my tools and tips were as follows: 

Tips

  1. Measure results against your organization’s goals

  2. Define what success means to you

  3. Gather data regularly

  4. Review your data and refine your strategy

Tools

  • Monthly reports

  • This week in social media

  • Competitive analysis

My key takeaways were as follows: 

Create a list of your accomplishments and deliverables

  1. Highlight accomplishments and deliverables

    1. STAR method

  2. Identify the period you want to highlight

  3. Establish a baseline or benchmark

  4. Check to make sure audience needs are being met

  5. Demonstrate commitment to change

  6. Drive accountability

  7. Plus! Helps build your portfolio or resume content

Self-assessment

  • Does my organization have a mission statement, goal and/or vision?

  • Who is my audience?

  • What do I want to communicate to them?

  • When do I want to share this resource with them?

  • What types of messages should they take away?

  • Do I need any training?

  • How much time do I have to spend on this? How much time do I want to spend on this?

  • Who do I need on my team to accomplish this? Work study student, data analyst, graphic designer