Creative and business skills

This involves the ‘softer skills’, such as effective problem solving, service design, communications, storytelling and project planning/delivery.

While many Data Professionals have advanced statistical and computer science skills and domain knowledge, our research found that some employers felt there is scope for Data Professionals to build on their existing skills by embedding some of these additional skills.

Communications & storytelling

How to engage audiences with data, written and verbal communication skills, making visualisations and data insight understandable to and usable by different audiences, including those at Data Citizen and Data Worker level within their own organisation.

Important for: Data Professional, Data Leader

Project appraisal, problem solving, and delivery

How to think through organisational issues/problems, develop research questions, and explore data-driven solutions to them (service design) – and how to support others within the organisation to make the most of their data team.

Important for: Data Professional