Chapter 35 — Placement

Lesson map

Lesson 35 published. Map, example, EX103.

flowchart TD
  N0["Learning outcomes"]
  N1["35.1 Joining the team"]
  N2["35.2 Working with stakeholders"]
  N3["35.3 A difficult situation"]
  N4["35.4 Placement reflection"]
  N0 --> N1 --> N2 --> N3 --> N4
  N4 --> EX["Worked example"]
  EX --> Q["Exercise EX103"]

Logical drawing

flowchart LR
  N0["Learning outcomes"]
  N1["35.1 Joining the team"]
  N2["35.2 Working with stakeholders"]
  N3["35.3 A difficult situation"]
  N4["35.4 Placement reflection"]
  N0 --> N1 --> N2 --> N3 --> N4 --> Q["EX103"]

[Learning outcomes]
    |
    v
[35.1 Joining the team]
    |
    v
[35.2 Working with stakeholders]
    |
    v
[35.3 A difficult situation]
    |
    v
[35.4 Placement reflection]
    |
    v
[Worked example] --> [Exercise EX103]

Learning outcomes

You will (1) apply governance skills in a workplace; (2) adapt to organisational constraints; (3) reflect on professional practice.

35.1 Joining the team

In year three Amara completes a placement in Harbourline's data team. All examples in this book remain synthetic. She joins weekly triage, maintains the catalogue, runs quality reports and supports owners. She notices that real work involves constant interruptions and competing priorities. Methods from the course remain useful but need simplifying, such as running a short version of a privacy assessment for minor changes rather than the full template. She keeps a list of each simplification and the reason for it, which she discusses with the data team lead.

35.2 Working with stakeholders

Amara learns that persuading busy managers needs short, relevant messages. When the commercial director ignores emails about product data issues, she prepares a one-page summary showing how errors caused wrong shelf prices at three stores, with customer complaints attached. He responds within a day and assigns a steward. She reflects that connecting data problems to outcomes the reader cares about is more effective than describing rule failures in technical terms. The steward fixes the price errors within a week, and the stores confirm that complaints stop.

35.3 A difficult situation

A manager asks Amara for a list of members who complained about a store, intending to call them about staff behaviour. Amara is unsure whether this is an appropriate use. She checks with the data protection officer, who advises that complaint handling allows contact about the complaint itself but not a wider survey. Amara provides the list with this condition. She learns to ask when uncertain rather than either refusing or complying automatically. The manager accepts the condition and records it in the complaint file.

35.4 Placement reflection

Amara writes a placement report describing her work, what she learned and how course content applied. She notes that governance at Harbourline progressed through many small steps rather than large projects. She identifies a dissertation idea: whether data champions improve data entry quality in stores. Dr. Lindqvist encourages the idea, noting that it has practical value and can be studied with synthetic data designed to match the patterns she observed. Amara records the observations that suggested the idea, so she can use them later to design realistic synthetic data.

Worked example

Amara simplifies methods for workplace use, persuades a director with a one-page outcome summary, consults the data protection officer about a complaint list and identifies a dissertation idea about data champions.

Synthetic case. The placement is synthetic.

Errors and limits

Refusing or complying automatically with unusual requests both risk mistakes; ask.

Exercises

• EX103 — Persuasion method. How did Amara get the commercial director's attention?
  Show marking criteria

  Rubric: 3 = a one-page summary linking errors to shelf prices and complaints;; 2 = partly correct;; 1 = vague;; 0 = none.
• EX104 — Complaint list condition. What condition applied to the complaint list?
  Show marking criteria

  Rubric: 3 = contact only about the complaint itself;; 2 = partly correct;; 1 = vague;; 0 = none.
• EX105 — Dissertation idea. What dissertation idea emerged?
  Show marking criteria

  Rubric: 3 = whether data champions improve entry quality;; 2 = partly correct;; 1 = vague;; 0 = none.