About four years ago I read an interesting book called Super Searchers on Competitive Intelligence, which was a series of interviews with professional researchers on a variety of questions regarding CI, research methodologies, project management, and so on. Here are the collective tips I gleaned from the book, in addition to some of my own from practical experience.
- Trenches time: 20% secondary research, 30% primary research, and 50% analysis.
- Always ask if your work is actionable and not just “nice to know”.
- If you see a trend supported by data, but still fragmented, trust your instincts and draw a conclusion.
- Check sources on all info.
- Sometimes you need to spend money to get great info.
- Know your info source’s strengths, weaknesses, biases.
- Project Management is key.
- But realize there is no single, generic process. The deadlines, requirements, and recipient impact the depth, scope, nature of project, how it will be used and by whom.
- Learn the industry including environmental influences, new competitors, opportunities, and threats.
- Cite sources for quick reference later.
- PDF data if you’re afraid it might not be available later.
- Build relationships with everyone.
I’ve used many of these tips for articles, research, and proposals on marketing and product development. A couple particular tips I’ll expand on relate to inquiry and relationships.
There’s a lot of collective intelligence scattered amongst company employees and partners. This includes both line-workers, managers, and executives. Many folks are eager to express their opinions, but they’ve just never been asked. Therefore you have to be social with everyone, engage in a little bit of small talk, and ask questions. Perhaps the individual may not know the answer you’re looking for, but knows someone else who does.
Today’s social web makes for a huge variety of potential sources in building a picture of what you’re researching. But of course be aware of how biases, sentiments (positive/negative), and opinions may add a lot of unuseful data. FILTERS (technical & human) are very important! As mentioned before, source credibility is paramount.
Sketch! Seriously. Draw diagrams and maps of human relationships, processes, knowledge, and so on. It really helps. There’s only so much text alone can do for us. But drawing helps build conceptual interrelationships, and the labels we use carry deeper meaning to text we’ve already written, or thoughts in our head. Sketching also helps us visualize what we’ve accomplished, what still needs to be done, relative importance, and may open up areas we haven’t explored yet. It’s an interative process throughout a project, and may carry benefits forward for additional ones.
Additional Resources:
Competitive Intelligence – A Selective Resource Guide – Updated and Revised March 2009