8+ Sample Analytics Problem Statement

What Is a Problem Statement?

A problem statement summarizes the problem or problems that a project is trying to solve. The problem statement describes how things are now, how you want them to be in the future and any gaps between the two. A problem statement is a meaningful way to ensure everyone working on a project knows what problem they need to solve and why the project is essential. The first and most crucial step in solving an analytics problem is to state the problem. It can either make or break the project as a whole. When a business comes to a data scientist with a problem it wants to solve, it will always explain the situation in plain English. This means that from an analytics point of view, the problem must be clearer to start solving immediately. The issue needs to be put in the right way.

Benefits of Analytics

Businesses may now collect data at every touchpoint of the consumer journey. This information may include mobile app usage, digital clicks, and social media interactions, all of which contribute to an owner-unique data fingerprint. Yet, not too long ago, the idea of customers revealing information such as when they got up, what they ate for breakfast, and where they went on vacation would have been odd. Indeed, customer social standards have evolved, and consequently, customer expectations have increased. This article will discuss five examples of how businesses may benefit from data and analytics in terms of producing positive results for themselves and their customers while still preserving and facilitating the most significant level of data protection.

Activeness and Anticipating Needs: Companies are under increasing competitive pressure to attract customers and comprehend their customers’ demands to optimize customer experience and cultivate long-term connections. Customers want businesses to know them, engage in relevant interactions, and give a unified experience across all touchpoints if they provide their data and allow its use with a relaxed level of privacy. Hence, businesses must collect and reconcile numerous client identifiers, such as cell phone numbers, email addresses, and physical addresses, to a single customer ID. Consumers increasingly interact with businesses via many channels; therefore, traditional and digital data sources must be combined to comprehend customer behavior. In addition, customers expect organizations to deliver real-time, contextually relevant experiences.Mitigating Risk & Fraud: Security and fraud analytics aim to safeguard all physical, monetary, and intellectual assets from internal and external threats. Adequate data and analytics capabilities will deliver optimal levels of fraud prevention and overall organizational security: deterrence involves methods that enable organizations to detect potentially fraudulent behavior, future forecast activity, and identify and follow criminals. Using statistical, network, path, and extensive data methods for prediction fraud propensity models that lead to warnings will provide fast reactions triggered by real-time threat detection processes and automated alerts and mitigation. The combination of data management and transparent and effective reporting of fraud incidences will result in enhanced fraud risk management systems. In addition, enterprise-wide data integration and correlation can provide a consistent perspective of fraud across diverse business lines, products, and transactions. Multi-genre analytics and data foundation give more precise fraud trend analysis, projections, the anticipation of probable future modus operandi, and vulnerability detection in fraud audits and investigations.Providing Product Relevance: Products are the heart of any business and often the most significant investment they make. The job of the product management team is to spot trends that lead to a strategic project roadmaps for new features and services. Effective data collection from third-party sources where people share their thoughts and opinions and analytics will help companies stay competitive when demand changes or new technology emerges. It will also help companies predict what the market wants so they can make the product before it is asked for.Customization & Service: Businesses continue to struggle with structured data reports and must be highly adaptable to deal with the volatility caused by customers’ use of digital technologies today. Only via advanced analytics is it feasible to respond in real time and make the consumer feel personally valued. Big data enables interactions based on the customer’s personality by analyzing their attitudes and considering elements such as real-time location to create customization in a multichannel service environment.Enhancing and Optimising the Client Experience: Poor management of operations can and will cause several expensive problems, including a high risk of hurting the customer experience and, in the end, brand loyalty. When analytics are used to design, control, and optimize business operations questionnaires in producing goods or services, efficiency and effectiveness are ensured to meet customer expectations and reach operational excellence. Advanced analytical techniques can be used to improve the productivity and efficiency of field operations and to ensure that an organization’s workforce is the best it can be based on what the business needs and customers want. With an end-to-end view and measurement of critical operational metrics, the best use of data and analytics will also guarantee that continuous improvements are made regularly. For example, inventory is essential in the current assets category in many companies. A company with too much or too little stock can directly affect its direct costs and ability to make money. Data and analytics can help inventory management by ensuring that production, sales dashboard, and customer service levels stay the same at the lowest cost. Data and analytics can give you a clear picture of your current and planned inventory levels. It can also show you what affects your stock’s height, composition, and location and help you decide your inventory action plan. Customers want companies to know them and give them a relevant, smooth experience no matter where they interact with them.

Tips for Utilizing Problem-Solving Skills

Any company would benefit from having a marketing manager who can see problems and decide how to fix them. This person gets things done and inspires other people to do the same. As you advance in your career, you’ll need more and more tools to help you solve problems. The higher up you go in a company, the riskier decisions you have to make, the less clear the solutions are, and the bigger the consequences could be for the company. Let’s look at the top problem-solving skills a good marketing manager needs to have.

1. Analytical Skills

To solve a problem, you must first analyze it and look beyond the symptoms to identify the underlying reason. Your team consistently exceeds the program budget for social campaign expenditures. Instead of micromanaging every detail, analytical skills enable you to delve into the issue to determine what may be wrong. Your social media coordinators can appropriately build campaigns, but they must gain the fundamental budgeting abilities necessary to keep expenditures on track. Hence, you develop a curriculum to educate them about profit, loss, and financial forecasting.

2. Creativity

Once you have identified the real issue, you can devise the most effective solution. Here, your creative problem-solving talents are put to the test. Occasionally, the answer to a problem is only sometimes straightforward and may require innovative thought and alternative perspectives to resolve. There are a variety of creative styles. Engineers may produce unique code, whereas writers can design novel blog formats.

3. Judgment

How do you choose the best option from the dozens of options available? By using sound discretion. Good judgment enables you to analyze the nature of an issue, potential setbacks, costs and resources, decision-makers, and solution implementation. You can evaluate choices and select the optimal answer for each specific circumstance.

4. Communication

Communication skills are fundamental to problem-solving and are one essential leadership ability. As a manager, you must explain your thoughts, collaborate with a colleague, and provide constructive criticism to direct reports. Being a skilled communicator enables you to convey your decision on a solution and coordinate everyone’s efforts to address the issue. With specific problem-solving communication abilities, cases can be resolved swiftly and effectively.

5. Organization

After selecting a solution to an issue and communicating it to your team, you must still develop a method to implement your strategy. Organizational skills allow you to implement the necessary processes for everyone, which can increase alignment and productivity.

How to Write a Problem Statement

A problem statement is used to garner management and stakeholder support and permission for the project. So, it must be accurate and well-written. While developing a problem statement that will benefit the project’s conclusion, there are a few essential aspects to bear in mind.

1. Explain How Things Ought to Operate

Start by giving background information to help the reader understand the problem. Start by talking about how this process should work. Before discussing the issue, briefly describe how the process would work if not for the problem. Keep the end user in mind. For example, let’s say you know how to make a process more efficient using the most resources. You could start by describing a hypothetical situation in which the system works better. Then, you could move on to your proposal, remembering who, what, when, where, and why.

2. Discuss the Issue and Why It Is Significant

The problem statement should explain not only what the problem is but also why it’s a problem and why it’s essential to solve it. Most of the time, this will make it easy to answer the other “W” questions. For instance: Why do we need to fix this problem? Because it affects how well departments X, Y, and Z work, which wastes resources and makes prices go up for customers. This describes the problem, who it affects, and why it needs to be fixed. You could also say what has already been done to solve the issue and why it didn’t work. Tell them everything you know about the situation as briefly as you can.

3. Describe Your Problem’s Financial Costs

When presenting the issue to decision-makers, you must highlight the costs of inaction. Since money is the common language of businesses, it is easiest to express the problem and proposed remedy regarding monetary charges. For instance, if the problem is actively costing unneeded money, preventing the company from earning more money, or harming its public image (indirectly costing money), ensure that you explain it in a way they can comprehend. Attempt to establish accurate financial values for the expense of the situation.

4. Justify Your Claims

Once you say the problem is costing the company money, you must be ready to prove it. If you skip this step, people might not take your words seriously. Do your research, cite your sources, and have your data ready to present. The problem statement should also explain how you plan to solve the problem. At this point, you won’t be trying to find a single solution, but you should understand the problem’s causes and be ready to suggest ways to understand and fix it. Say what your goals are and offer well-thought-out ways to solve the problem.

5. Describe the Advantages of Your Proposed Solution

You’ve discussed a perfect situation where the problem doesn’t happen. You’ve pointed out the problem, explained what will happen if it isn’t fixed (using money and complex data), and suggested practical solutions. Now is an excellent time to show why this solution will work, again focusing on how well it will work and how it will affect money. Talk about what costs the solution will cut, how it will open up new ways to make money, and what intangible benefits it will bring, such as more satisfied clients. All of this should fit in a short paragraph.

FAQs

Is the problem statement an introduction?

The problem description outlines and describes the research hypothesis or question(s) and the general approach to solving the problem. The problem statement is the foundation for your research project proposal‘s introduction.

Is business analytics a good career?

They routinely interact with personnel from all organizational levels, letting them build their professional network. Typically, business analysts work on several projects, which helps them to gain knowledge in numerous business areas.

Is business analytics a lot of math?

Contrary to widespread misconception, business analytics does not require actual coding, math, or computer science knowledge. Those who appreciate solving complicated challenges and providing actionable insights based on actual company data can thrive in this field.

You might get caught up in the problem statement you’re making, especially if you’re starting from scratch. With this in mind, you must use all the online resources you can find. What’s holding you back? Use sample templates to get our templates right now!