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If Line Manager View takes managing Direct Reports, and makes it seamless, then HowNow’s AI Analyst opens up a whole new world of possibilities to understand their data!
What does The [AI] Analyst do, simply put?
The Analyst uses the data present in the Line Manager View (Team page), to provide instant insights to the most commonly asked questions, by Line Managers (LM).
Whether in the form of conversation, charts or tables, The Analyst’s purpose is to respond to queries with real-time processing that all happens within your organisation’s secure workspace environment.
When using The Analyst as a Line Manager, you will be able to pinpoint niche data (from within the Team page (Line Manager View), and organise that same data in ways that can enhance your presentations to stakeholders, and make understanding the learning patterns of your Direct Reports, much more consumable.
Asking Your Questions
The first thing to remember is that all of the original attributes found on the Team page, remain the same. The noticeable change comes in the form of The Analyst, positioned at the top of the page.
From here, you’ll have your prompt field, where you’re encouraged to use as much detail as possible, to truly zone-in on what type of data/information you’re in need of.
To get the best results, make sure you set your questions, using…
Full sentences (instead of single keywords or phrases)
Specific language (not “how are my reports doing?” but instead “How many hours of learning did my reports complete last month?”)
Timeframes and metrics (“Show me a list of Webinars completed between 31 June and 25 July”, or “Tell me the percentage of leadership content started by Steven?”)
Intent with purpose ("I want to understand why Steven is only a Level 3 in the Presentation Skill. Can you show me the number of Presentation Courses he hasn’t started?”)
Correct terminology ("What is Steven's Job Role?" and not "What is Steven's Role?", as there are two types of role in HowNow: Org User Role and Job Role)
One or two focus-points, at once (“What are the Completion Rates for Su-Lin, Akhil and Stacey?” and not also asking for "Completion Rates and Job Role and Skills above Level 3 and... ”
There are also four preset suggestions. Each of these questions/prompts appear based on the most commonly asked questions by Line Managers in L&D.
Clicking on one of the suggested questions, activates The Analyst to begin collecting all of the relevant data from within the Line Manager View, and analysing the metrics (percentages, dates, frequency, etc.), to present it back to you, in the most efficient format possible.
Regardless of the format, you’ll be able to choose to see it in a Graph or Table view. The Table view will provide you with a further breakdown of the info shown in the Graph view, while the following graph types supported by The Analyst:
Bar graph
Pie chart
Line graph
Donut chart
How you may want or need to use The Analyst
Compliance
For Direct Reports who need to complete mandatory training, often in the form of compliance, you can quickly sort this data, by asking The Analyst - remembering to use natural language:
“Which of my direct reports still need to complete the Anti Money Laundering Training, and what is their current progress status on it?”
This question explicitly asks for two distinct sets of information: the learning content itself and that their progress status is shown. It follows the who/what/when rule of natural language - directing The Analyst to ‘cut the fluff’.
"For anyone who completed the Assessment in the course, GDPR Get It RIght! 2025, can you confirm if they passed the final assessment and when they completed it?"
This example requests confirmation of specific outcomes (pass/fail) and completion date.
"Are there any upcoming mandatory compliance trainings scheduled for my direct reports in the next three months that I should be aware of?"
This example asks The Analyst about future training, specifying the type ("mandatory compliance"), and the timeframe ("next three months").
Expertise
When certain departments are in need of that knowledgeable team member, who can create learning content, and advise other Authors by validating training, use The Analyst to quickly discover which of your DRs can step into that position.
“Which of my Direct Reports has a Level 3 or above in Communication?”
This example works well as a standard criterion’s been included. We help The Analyst understand where it should start its analysis (so nothing below a Level 3), while we avoid using vague language such as “quite good at” or “knows a lot about”, which deals with opinion, instead of factual data.
Performance Growth
Once again, for those moments when performance reviews are underway, and Line Managers need to be able to enhance the Skills of their Direct Reports, The Analyst can give straight-forward answers for who has a Skill Gap in a chosen subject.
This is extremely useful if you have a large number of DRs reporting to you.
“Who has a Skill Gap in Campaign Leadership?"
If you want to take this even further, you can ask for such data to be visualised, and The Analyst will choose the most appropriate graph structure for your presentation. The below image shows an example of the previous prompt about Roland, being expanded on, by using the following:
“Can you give me a visual representation of Roland's Skill Gap?”
The list of questions and prompts are endless, with each one providing a unique insight into your DRs’ learning habits, expertise and need for improvement. However, there are points to remember, when it comes to The AI Analyst’s capabilities…
Expectation Handling
Misspelling/incomplete commands: The Analyst will always ask for clarification whenever faced with questions or prompts that have been misspelled, or are missing a key term or figure. This is part of its ability to provide intelligent results.
Unsupported Visualisation: Asking for graphs that fall outside of those listed further above in this article, will result in an error explaining that the request cannot supported. For example: radar or waterfall graphs.
Out of scope: As data is purely related to the learnings, skills and Must Do activities of your Direct Reports, asking for data outside of this also won't be supported. For example: join dates, HR-related queries, etc.
Dataset too large: The Analyst isn't capable of reviewing large datasets at this time. For example, over 5000 rows.
No voice activation: The Analyst is a text-only based interface, meaning microphone/audio recordings cannot be used or submitted to ask questions (as may be expected with AI's in general).
Check out our quick video tutorial below...