Analytical Thinking and Data Visualization Explained

We live in an age where the ability to understand data and draw valuable insights from it is becoming increasingly important for your career prospects and success at work. These two skills are the future of work in this digital era, as analyzing and visualizing data is extremely valuable in nearly every role within a company. 

Analytical thinking is a soft skill that can dramatically improve your career performance. It's the ability to gather, organize, and evaluate valuable information that you can use to form hypotheses and develop creative solutions to problems.  

Data visualization is the practice of curating relevant data and transforming it into an engaging visual presentation that is easier for the human brain to understand. With so many data points at our fingertips, a master of data visualization is able to filter only the most valuable data and present it to their target audience through graphs, charts, and other appealing visual aids that tell a compelling story. 

The Advantages of Mastering Data Analysis Skills and Visualization Technologies

Competitive Edge

Mastering analytical skills and visualization technologies will help you to stand out in your job search and rise to the top in your field. The skills are highly sought offer, especially by tech companies, because they demonstrate your attention to detail and your ability to act and adapt based on data-driven decisions. 

Confidence In Your Role

Throughout your career, you will have the ability to leverage your understanding of data to make wiser decisions. Data can help to make you feel more confident in your career because you’ll have the numbers to back up your actions. Often employees struggle to find confidence in their roles out of fear of asking too many questions or being unsure of their gut feelings. Data empowers you to make more educated decisions.

Improve Your Credibility and Ability to Communicate Ideas

Your ability to communicate your ideas effectively with your team, customers, manager, and higher-up is crucial to your success at work. Your presentations need to tell a story, and you should constantly be referencing relevant data when presenting your ideas. By creating compelling visual presentations based on your thorough analysis, you will be better able to articulate your findings and solutions to your target audience. 

Better Problem Solving

Understanding data will improve your ability to solve problems and will additionally help you to identify issues before they arise. Using data enables you to break down a problem into smaller action items, making them easier to solve. 

Common Roles That Benefit From Strong Analytical Skills

Mastering these skills doesn't mean you need to pursue a career as a Data Analyst. The following are only a few of the many roles where analytical thinking can help you achieve success.

Sales. Sales is all about understanding your customer's needs and finding out what makes them tick. CRM tools are full of valuable data about your clients like their previous purchases, current projects, and buying cycles. Being able to understand and utilize that valuable data will give you an edge on which customers you should be trying to sell to. 

Marketing. Data is essential in a marketing role. It's used to evaluate how your current marketing efforts are going, and data visualization makes it easier to understand and present your findings. Graphs are an excellent way to visualize marketing trends within the business and better understand what the target audience is connecting with. 

Logistics. Analytical thinking is an important skill when it comes to tasks like forecasting order quantities. Leveraging data visualization tools can make it much easier to get a clear picture of current inventory levels, ensuring accuracy.

Project Management. Project managers need to be able to visualize a project from beginning to end. Analyzing data is an effective way to develop a cohesive strategy that unites the project team and keeps them moving in the right direction. Sharing progress reports using data visualization technologies can help outside, and participating parties get a better understanding of the project's status.

How You Can Improve Your Analytical Thinking and Data Visualization

The work of the future is data-driven, and your career success will be strongly dependent on the development of your analytical skills. If you're looking for a new career path or want to improve your current one, mastering analytical thinking and data visualization is crucial. 

One great way to develop and improve these skills is by taking Alison’s free Introduction to Data Visualization course in collaboration with SkildLabs. You will learn how to effectively analyze data and design compelling reports for your clients, team members, and superiors. The course has 3 modules that cover everything you will need to get familiar with data analysis and visualization. This step-by-step course is designed to teach you different concepts and tools using Google Data Studio. The course concludes with an assessment that will test your newly acquired skills. 

We’ve partnered with SkildLabs because they are passionate about upskilling and believe in building better learning experiences using the power of education. Sign up for our course today and empower yourself with the knowledge that will help you in your pursuit of success.