When I started my triathlon journey, I envisioned it as a solo endeavor. I knew with the demands on my time it would be a challenge to train with others or meet up for group events. As I progressed with my training I quickly learned that I am part of a broader community.
My routine sends me on runs or swims on a schedule, and I frequently share lanes or pass with the same people in their training. These interactions have turned into moments of motivation, encouragement and even sense of joy during a challenging workout. A simple wave or “good pace” is exchanged with a smile as we share in our support of a fitness journey. Leveraging Strava or Instagram, has led to online discussions on training, recovery techniques, and sharing racing lessons learned. The first thing I gained from these interactions was a sense of belonging, discovering there are people like me and who understand me. Not a small feat when my idea of fun is swimming, biking and running in the same day. Something as simple as leveraging social media has led to a sense of belonging to a community and this is motivation, creates connections to learn, and provides a platform to share in a dialog about expertise to improve and grow.
The 3 keys benefits of being involved in community are Creating Connections, Motivation and Learning.These benefits are key for growing and evolving to the be the best you can be in all aspects of life.
Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) is an organization I am involved with that is focused on Customer Success. Recently we had a conference, Technology & Services World, one of the key themes was B4B and the move from Product Focus to Outcome Focus, this is a journey we are taking at Qlik and making progress each day. The conference attracted leaders in the Customer Success (CS) community. During the sessions I established a connection with another CS Director taking on a similar transformation in his organization. We have since setup follow up conversations to discuss lessons learned and brainstorming on current challenges. It’s been a great learning experience. I’ll share more of our journey and learnings in future blogs. The ideas surrounding B4B are a critical part of the customer success manager role. If you are interested in reading about this, check out the recently released a white paper on the 3 Rules of Customer Success.
As I have found with my triathlete community and the CS community, there is a great deal of value to be gained by participating in these communities.When it comes to analytics, two good places to start with are the Qlik Community and the Data Literacy Project.
Qlik Community is a must if you are involved with Qlik. In this community you are not only connecting with peers leveraging Qlik solutions, you are connecting with Qlik employees and luminaries. Our experts are engaging with the community daily. Link up with groups focused on specific industry, region or product areas. The community is a forum to learn about upcoming events and product releases. It’s a great opportunity to learn tips and techniques and to ask and answer questions.
A second community to engage is the Data Literacy Project. We have discussions ranging from starting the journey to data literacy to the impact of data literacy in the news and even self-paced, free learning, around data literacy, and its relevance in being successful with analytics. The project is turning in to a wonderful community for individuals focused on improving and driving data literacy in their organizations. It’s a platform to connect with folks outside your day to day expand your network and collaborate on ways to improve your understanding of data literacy and its concepts. This past month our discussion focused on diversity and data.
Get connected with a community, continue your growth, and contribute to someone else’s journey along the way.
