CSP 2017 Online Program

Career Development for Statisticians in a Collaborative Environment: Importance of Effective Mentoring and Development of Soft Skills (303351)

Keywords: Career Development, Communication, Collaboration, Leadership, Mentoring

Statisticians seeking career advancement in collaborative environment know that focusing only on mastering new statistical methods and software is not enough. On the contrary, they need to strengthen their communication skill, develop a strong collaborative attitude, showcase leadership potential and become effective mentor. Good communication be it face-to-face meeting, video or audio conferencing or e-mails, is key to establish and sustain successful collaboration. With multiple demands on one’s time, traits like teamwork, project management, delegation and multitasking become crucial for being impactful. These take time to develop but pay off dividends when they all come together. Leadership skill contributes to effective team building, conflict resolution, creative problem solving and strategic planning. Mentoring is a form of shared leadership which benefits both the mentor and the mentee and is facilitated by statistical societies such as ASA. This session will touch upon these aspects using insights from the speaker's own experience, and will encourage participants to be pro-active about developing a sustainable and intentional long-term plan for improving them.