5 Critical Pitfalls in Building Analytics Teams

Written By Kevin Lyons

After scaling teams at Acxiom, Nielsen, and eXelate, I've seen some pitfalls that can make or break an analytics organization:

  • Prioritizing Technical Skills Over Business Acumen: Top analysts need to translate data into business impact, not just master algorithms.

  • Treating Analytics as a Service Department: Winners embed analytics teams directly into business units as strategic partners, driving greater impact.

  • Neglecting Data Infrastructure: Without robust data foundations, even the best analysts spend most of their time on data prep instead of insights.

  • One-Size-Fits-All Career Paths: High-performing teams need both deep technical experts and business-savvy analytics leaders. Design paths for both.

  • Treating Analysts as Order-Takers: Don't prescribe solutions; share business problems. The best analysts innovate when given the freedom to explore novel approaches.

What other challenges have you seen when building analytics teams? Having scaled teams of all sizes, I'd love to hear your experiences.

Kevin Lyons
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