6 Major barriers to data literacy

In a previous blog post we explored what data literacy is and why it is so important. Here we explore what some of the most common barriers to data literacy in an organisation are.

Data plays such an important part in business today; however, the level of data literacy in organisations is not always as high as one would like and there are many barriers to better data literacy.

So, let’s take a look at those barriers to data literacy now:

1. Company culture

In order to improve data literacy and build a data-driven company culture, the people at the top of the organisation need to make data a priority. They need to lead by example and show their staff how beneficial and crucial data is to decision-making and in strengthening the organisation’s position in the market.

2. Resistance to change

Creating a data-driven culture often requires change, which can be challenging for people to accept and be comfortable with. For many, the processes that they already have in place and the way that they work seems absolutely fine to them. They will not see any need to alter this and will see any changes as a hassle, or even a threat to their current way of working.

3. Lack of understanding

Some people may lack awareness and understanding of how data can be useful to them. These people are likely to be those who are most resistant to change simply because they won’t understand why a change would be necessary or beneficial to them.

There may also be a lack of understanding or confusion around what improved data literacy would actually look like. This can add further barriers and confusion.

4. Lack of confidence

Having to learn something new can feel overwhelming. For some employees, they may feel that the new skills would be too difficult for them to learn, or that they aren’t relevant to them.

Many people also feel that they aren’t “naturally good” with data and so they shy away from it, avoiding using data or developing their knowledge and skills around utilising it effectively.

5. Lack of integration and sharing of knowledge

In most organisations there are those who are good at working with data. These are the data champions and data experts who have very high levels of data literacy. They understand the value of data and how it is critical to the organisation. However, it is often the case that these employees are somewhat isolated from the rest of the organisation. The work that they do is specialised and so other people do not always get the opportunity to interact with these data literate employees or learn from them.

See our article on: How to Encourage Better Data Sharing

6. Bad quality data

Improving data literacy is tough if people are working with bad quality data and, unfortunately, ensuring high quality data across an organisation can be a big challenge.

When the data available isn’t accurate, up-to-date and in a useful format, people will find it very difficult to make any sense of it. Therefore addressing data quality is a key area to get right in the pursuit of improving data literacy.

In our experience, these have been the six most common barriers to data literacy in organisations. Organisations will need to work hard to address each of these issues in order to nurture a more data literate and data confident workforce. We believe strongly in building data maturity across an organisation and can explain more about how we help in this area here.

In our next post in this series, we will reveal eight tried and tested ways to improve data literacy in your organisation - but in the meantime, if you’d like to discuss your approach to improving data literacy across your organisation or would like help with your data challenges, get in touch via our contact form or contact us for a free, no obligation chat to talk to a specialist about your specific situation.

We hope that you have found this article useful and wish you the best of luck on your data literacy journey!

Data literacy is one key component to building data maturity. Explore our Building data maturity services for more options on how to maximise the value of your data in your organisation.