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About two years ago, I started hearing the phrase, "commercial awareness" come up on the list of things forward-looking information managers most wanted to nurture within their departments.

Commercial awareness, along with consultancy skills, positions information teams as teams uniquely valuable to their organisations.

Register (free) to receive the full insight, which is the second in our current Research Focus, "The Information Centre of Excellence".

Although "commercial awareness" cropped up relatively recently for information managers, I realised that it is a concept we have incorporated into our research, writing and consulting on information strategy at Jinfo for a long time.

Commercially aware information services:

• Understand the business value of the information - don't just fulfil the client's immediate need
  
  
• Present results in context - the "why" and "what it means for the business"
  
  
• Know how the results will be used, so that the deliverable requires little or no additional interpretation by the recipient before they can get value
  
  
• Design user experiences that truly help them work smarter.

This can be a challenging development for many information professionals who may feel that the "why" is beyond the scope of their expertise. It can be a balancing act, and the balance will look a little different between organisations or even across departments of a single organisation.

Within the Jinfo Subscription, you'll find an upcoming Webinar and Community session to help you explore further, along with an excellent analysis on the concept of commercial awareness in an article by Barbara Hirsh.

If you're ready to go further, consider the Consulting workshop, "Future-proof your information service," in which you'll learn to embed commercial awareness into how you think, operate and support your stakeholders.

Commercial awareness is our future. It's exciting, it's stimulating, and it's your opportunity to shape the future of information.

I encourage you to register to get the full insight, and use the ideas in it to develop your perspective on the question.

Robin Neidorf
Director of Research and Head of Consulting

New budget kicked in? Add Jinfo

If January brought the start of a new budget year, take advantage of Jinfo's current pricing before April rises to bring Jinfo into your information strategy and operations:

• New Subscriptions still start at £2400 per year
• Add users for £400 per user per year
• Add a practical, outcome focused Consulting Workshop at 2019 prices
• Pre-book hours with Jinfo Consulting, which can be used at any time in 2020 towards workshops or bespoke work.

Contact Claire Laybats to discuss your needs, or complete the order form on our site.

Roles

Our latest research-based, practical resources support the following roles:

Content purchasing

• Report: Market landscape - data marketplaces
• Article: Mini review of RightFind Navigate
• Blog: Is it time to break up with a key supplier? Jinfo for content purchasing
• Consulting: More information teams have kicked off their Jinfo Consulting workshop, "Holistic portfolio management" to make their planning, reporting and management of content licensing more strategic. Learn more today.

Information strategy

• Report: Webinar deck - state of the industry, 2020
• Report: Community deck - state of the industry, 2020
• Blog: Align your strategy as a Centre of Excellence - Jinfo for information strategy
• Community: Jinfo for information strategy (2nd March 2020)
• Consulting: Revise, improve or develop your strategy for 2020. Ask about Jinfo Consulting's workshop, "Future-proof your information service".

Optimising your information service

• Blog: Right tools for the job - Jinfo for optimising an information team
• Community: Jinfo for optimising your information service (6th April 2020)
• Consulting: Check on the Jinfo Consulting workshop, "Do better with less: workflow optimisation", to improve efficiency and create more time for higher value work - guaranteed progress in three months.

Subscription Tip: Don't re-invent the wheel - use Jinfo models

Jinfo models are reports that provide frameworks for thinking about and working on common challenges information teams face. Latest models:

• Real-world ROI of external data
• Maturity model on remote teams
• Managing your portfolio as part of your strategy
• Mapping your service to the Centre of Excellence model

Find the Jinfo model for your challenge today.

Included in a Jinfo Subscription.

Research Focus

"The Information Centre of Excellence - commercial, consultative, collaborative"
Our Research Focus for January to March

Jinfo's flexible model of the Information Centre of Excellence provides a framework for any information team - any size, industry, or range of services - to operate nimbly in our changing world.

Learn more and get the insights »

Insights and Actions report:

• Research Focus Insights and Actions "The Information Centre of Excellence - commercial, consultative, collaborative"

Upcoming events in this Research Focus:

• Webinar: Content portfolio as part of strategy (11th February 2020)
• Community session: Maturity models for remote teams (18th February 2020)
• Webinar: Commercial awareness for information professionals (10th March 2020)
• Community session: Commercial awareness for information professionals (17th March 2020)

What are the benefits of a Jinfo Subscription?

• Saves time by using our original research and practical resources
• Gives you the tools to define, communicate and measure information value
• Helps you reinvent your information service through insight into what the best companies do.

Blog

• Insight 2 from Research Focus - commercial awareness + consulting skills = impact on 4th February
  The best information teams need to be able to anticipate the future needs of the business. This means being commercially aware and having a deep understanding of the variables that affect how an organisation succeeds. Find out what you can do to raise your visibility and how Jinfo can help you communicate more effectively at an executive level.
  
  
• Align your strategy as a Centre of Excellence - Jinfo for information strategy on 4th February
  If you're responsible for information strategy, the current Research Focus on the Information Centre of Excellence was tailor-made for you. Make it your own, to sharpen strategy, communicate with leadership, develop your team, and future-proof your service.

"Working with our Jinfo analyst has been invaluable. She is a safe person to discuss issues with and gives specific, objective advice. It is like having an extra person on the team!"
Manager of information service, consumer goods
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