Scott Helmers
Scott Helmers is a business process consultant, data visualizer, app designer, and trainer with the Harvard Computing Group who has always been fascinated by the human brain. He is a co-inventor of TaskMap (TaskMap.com), a Visio add-in that allows anyone to create data-rich, easy-to-read maps of any business process. For more than a decade Scott has been the best-selling author of books about Visio and has authored popular Visio courses for LinkedIn Learning (bit.ly/LILAuthor). He frequently shares his Visio, business process, and neuroscience knowledge at conferences. When he’s not at his keyboard, you’re likely to find him on his bicycle.
Presentation 1: Case Study: Visualizing data in context for a theme park operator
The key to successful data visualization is context. A collection of charts and graphs on a BI dashboard are great, but without context you’re likely to miss key insights. For example, the red bars on a hospital’s environmental monitoring dashboard may alert you that a problem exists, but when you can click the red bars and see the exact location of the problem on a floor plan, you can formulate an immediate response. Similarly, when a dashboard includes a network diagram that shows real-time server status and you can click a failed server to see the data required to initiate a fix, you’re two steps ahead.
Presentation 2: Embrace Neurodiversity to be a better Leader, Follower, and Teammate
Technology is the easy part – it’s working with people that’s hard! Securing stakeholder time and attention, making decisions, and obtaining buy-in are all harder than they should be. Is it because everyone (else) just does things wrong? Or could it be that if we understood more about how the brain works and the different ways people think, that we could engage more effectively?
That’s the basis for this session: by embracing the principles of neuroscience, we can become better communicators and more effective Business Analysts. During the session we will talk about Ned Herrmann’s Whole Brain theory and discuss specific ways to use David Rock’s SCARF model to work with people more effectively. We are all leaders, followers, and teammates at various times; this session will increase your potential to be better at all three.