The Growing Importance of Soft Skills in Analytics

The age-old question among data leaders: How do you prove to the rest of the company that your team is driving real business value?

In this episode of More than Numbers Live, Ollie Hughes sits down with Lina Mikolajczyk, Director of Data and Advanced Analytics at Bumble, to tackle this biggest of challenges head-on.

Lina shares her proven strategies for transforming data teams into business-critical growth drivers. From navigating tech stack upgrades to embedding a culture of data-driven decision-making, she provides listeners with a blueprint for success.

With experience leading data teams across industries, Lina knows how daunting it is to prove impact in a new role. She offers practical insights into building credibility, measuring success, and positioning data teams as strategic partners—not just report generators. In this conversation, she breaks down:

1. The 90-day plan every new data leader should follow to assess impact and set priorities
2. How to create a data maturity survey for candid stakeholder feedback
3. Why overcommunication is the secret to managing leadership expectations effectively

Tune in to learn how to prove your data team’s impact, drive business value, and gain leadership buy-in!

• [01:05] Lina’s first BI tool and why she fell in love with Google Analytics.
• [03:00] Inside Bumble’s data team structure and tech stack evolution.
• [05:19] The cultural shift required for quicker data-driven decision-making.
• [07:43] A 90-day plan for new data leaders: build relationships, assess strengths, and set a strategy.
• [13:10] How to create a data maturity survey for candid stakeholder feedback.
• [17:23] Using survey insights to shape OKRs and track data team impact.
• [20:34] Why qualitative feedback matters as much as hard metrics.
• [21:09] Managing leadership expectations through overcommunication.
• [23:01] Lina's advice to her younger self: don’t pigeonhole yourself early!
• [25:16] The top soft skills data teams need to develop.

🔥 Head to show notes for Lina's Stakeholder Survey Template

👋 Connect with Lina on LinkedIn

🔗 Check out Bumble's website

🚀 Connect with Ollie Hughes

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