📊 Transparency Talk is Cheap. Here’s What Teams Are Really Doing.
We asked leaders across SaaS, agencies, and services companies about their approach to data transparency—and how it’s impacting performance.
Here’s what stood out:
1. Transparency is a shared value—but not a shared practice.
- 86% say transparency is important or very important to their organization.
- But only ~60% believe data is fully or mostly accessible across teams.
- And just 35% say all departments have access to the performance data they need.
What that means: Most companies want transparency. But they haven’t operationalized it yet.
2. Data trust is still a major barrier.
- Only 21% of respondents say they “completely trust” the data available.
- The rest either somewhat trust it, don’t know how it’s calculated, or have no idea where it comes from.
What that means: Even when data is available, it’s not always trusted. That erodes adoption and accountability.
3. The impact of transparency is clear—when it’s done right.
Companies that report high levels of transparency:
- Are 3x more likely to say they exceed their goals consistently.
- Are 4x more likely to say team members proactively use data without being asked.
Here’s the punchline: transparency isn’t just a “nice to have.” It’s an accelerator for performance. But it requires intention, structure, and cultural buy-in to make it stick.
🔍 What This Looks Like at Databox
I shared this on LinkedIn a while back, but I’ve been in leadership meetings at other companies where VPs and Directors came together to align on strategy—only to realize no one had the same understanding of what the strategy actually was.
Sure, we had access to the high-level company goals. But:
- How did those goals map to our departments?
- Were we even tracking them the same way?
- What were other teams focused on?
No one really knew.
And that’s the case in so many orgs—you think you have transparency because the data exists somewhere, but there’s no shared context. No clarity. No ownership.
The result?
Siloed execution. Duplicated effort. Slow, hesitant decision-making.
Since joining Databox, I’ve seen a version of transparency that looks—and feels—very different.
In our All-Hands meetings, leadership shares:
💡 The actual company cash flow
💡 ARR and MRR targets and results
💡 Churn impact on revenue
💡 ARPU, team-level OGIs, and every functional team’s quarterly plan
That might sound like over-sharing to some. But what it creates is:
- Alignment on what matters most
- Accountability for every team and every KPI
- Speed—because when the data’s right there, we can act on it
Everyone sees the same dashboards. Everyone knows how performance is trending. Everyone is equipped to make decisions—not wait for a meeting, a permission slip, or a custom report.
It’s not just data access. It’s a culture of shared understanding.
Because when people know what’s happening, they move faster, they trust more, and they step up.
📚 Keep Reading
📝 The Full Research Report
→ Charts, insights, and action items from 70 companies
📖 Why Transparency is a Cornerstone of How We Work at Databox
→ The behind-the-scenes on how we try to practice what we preach
