Surviving and Thriving as a Data Team of One
A lot of data analysts are lone wolves. One person, serving the data needs of an entire organization — multiple business units, endless ad-hoc requests, and somehow you’re also supposed to find time for professional development. It’s a tough gig.
I hosted a live conversation with three people who live this reality every day: Betsy Morris, BI Senior Developer at Spanx; Max Morganfeld, Data Strategist at marketing agency Room 214; and John Wessel, Director of IT and Digital at Fresh Water Systems. All three are Panoply customers. All three are, effectively, a data team of one.
What came out of the conversation was more universal than I expected.
The stack matters — but not as much as you think
Betsy runs a Microsoft stack with Panoply and Tableau. Max pipes everything from Google Analytics, Facebook Ads, Twitter, LinkedIn, and client-specific CRMs through Panoply into Chartio. John uses Panoply with Stitch Data for ETL and Mode Analytics for visualization. Different tools, different industries — but the underlying philosophy was the same: get your data into one place and stop fighting infrastructure.
John had a great point about using S3 and even Zapier webhooks to get data from oddball sources into Panoply. If a system can generate a CSV or fire a webhook, you can get it into the warehouse. That kind of scrappiness is what makes solo analysts effective.
Spend time with the data before you build anything
This came up repeatedly. John was emphatic — if you don’t do exploratory data analysis upfront and really understand what column A and column B actually mean, you’re going to do a bunch of rework. Betsy echoed it: different teams at Spanx might sound like they want the same thing, but they don’t. Taking time to show stakeholders what the data looks like and iterating on the question is more valuable than jumping straight to a dashboard.
Adoption is the hardest part
Max said about 50% of his role is the adoption piece. His approach: focus on the people who are ready to change, not the ones clinging to their spreadsheets. John was blunter — adoption is political. People have preferences about look and feel, and sometimes they don’t care if the numbers are accurate. Betsy’s tactic was sneaking in one extra “fun” insight beyond what was requested, showing stakeholders there’s a different way to think about the question.
Max recommended the book Switch by Chip and Dan Heath for anyone dealing with change management around data adoption. Find the bright spots — figure out why someone is adopting your tool and replicate that experience.
Automate the repeatable stuff
John’s philosophy: if you’re asked the same question twice, automate the process. All three panelists emphasized this. Betsy talked about being intentional with documentation so the next analyst doesn’t walk in confused. John stressed designing with the end in mind — every process you introduce should be repeatable and scalable, or you’re just creating future debt.
Keep your saw sharp
Max started learning SQL on DataCamp and swears by Udacity for free courses. Betsy got her Masters through Virginia Tech’s online program after 20+ years in the industry. John keeps current through a mix of online resources and hands-on experimentation. The common thread: if you’re not investing in your own development, you’re going to fall behind — and that’s a fast path to burnout.
Fight burnout intentionally
John segments his day — heads-down work in the morning, meetings and admin in the afternoon. Trying to switch back and forth is exhausting. Betsy leans on Spanx’s culture of professional development events and is honest with colleagues when she’s not in the right headspace for a particular task. Max goes outside. Colorado makes that easy, but the principle applies anywhere — get away from the screen.
The bottom line
Being a data team of one isn’t just about technical skill. It’s about communication, prioritization, knowing when to push back, and being honest about what you can deliver. The tools help — Panoply, Tableau, Mode, Chartio — but the real differentiator is how you manage relationships and expectations.
This was one of my favorite conversations to host at Panoply. If you’ve ever been the only [insert role here] at your company, you know exactly what these three were talking about.
Based on a live interview originally published on the Panoply blog.