Building Your Dream Professional Network: A Strategic Guide for Research Teams

Your team just got restructured—again. Your budget hasn't increased from last year. And this morning, you’ve been asked for both a long-term consumer trends analysis AND consumers’ feedback on a competitor's new launch. By Friday.

This kind of balancing act is becoming more of a reality for insights managers everywhere. Whether you’re part of a F100 company, or an emerging brand, insights professionals are being asked to do more with less. To fulfill the dual role of a strategic advisor, and researcher. To keep research projects moving, while presenting strategic insights that drive the business forward.

With more teams feeling this pressure, many need a new approach to managing qualitative insight research. One that responds to the change happening in the market, and across team structures.

In this article, we’re going to break down how we’ve seen different Insights teams tackle qualitative research to keep insights flowing without the burnout. 

From building out a network of trusted professionals, to restructuring teams, here are a few options to consider.

The Evolving Landscape of Research Teams

Research from Greenbook's latest GRIT report shows that many companies have either considered trimming or restructuring staff due to productivity gains from automation and AI, forcing remaining team members to handle more work. 

It also highlights how many insights professionals fall into the camp of being reassigned, rather than replaced, causing teams to restructure with new pressures, rather than grow by headcount.

This echoes what we’ve heard from talking to our brand insights community: 

"I'm trying to progress my career and be considered a strategic advisor to the business, but it's hard when I'm constantly down in the weeds executing research and worrying about the nitty-gritty details of a research project."

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The traditional model of insights teams is shifting, with today's reality often looking like this:

• The Team of One: A single insights professional responsible for an entire brand or business unit
• The Hybrid Team: A small core team that supplements with fractional external resources/insights consultants
• The Strategic Hub: A larg(er) central insights function that sets direction but outsources execution to external partners or insources with newly formed internal research departments

Each model has its strengths and challenges. The question is: which one positions you as a strategic advisor rather than just a research executor?

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Building a Network vs. Building a Team

At Studio, the most successful CMI leaders we've worked with have made a critical mindset shift. They've stopped trying to build an all-encompassing internal team and started building a professional network instead.

Here’s what a network approach can look like in practice:

1. Core strategic function (internal team)

• Strategic research planning aligned with business objectives
• Stakeholder management and insights advocacy
• Budget oversight and resource allocation

2. Specialized expertise (external network)

• Research methodology specialists (Qualitative, UXR, Data Analytics)
• Category/ industry experts who bring context and depth
• Brand strategists who transform consumer feedback 

3. Operational support (mix of internal and external)

• Project management
• Tech stack and platform management
• Analysis and reporting

This network model allows you to maintain control while tapping into specialized expertise exactly when you need it. 

Studio's platform was built specifically to enable this network approach. By giving you instant access to a wide range of specialized talent, you can refocus your efforts on communicating actionable insights back to the business to drive decisions and collaboration across teams.

Why the Network Approach Works Better

For a CMI manager we spoke to at a mid-sized CPG company, the traditional approach was failing her:

"We used to run a lot of qual, but now I'm a 'team of one' and I don't have the time or bandwidth to run qual anymore."

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By shifting to a network model using Studio, she regained the ability to:

• Scale up or down based on business needs, tapping into Studio's on-demand expert network
• Access specialized expertise for specific projects, with vetted moderators ready to deploy
• Focus time on strategic impact rather than execution, as Studio handled the operational details
• Maintain high-quality standards by working with the right specialists, thanks to Studio's curated talent pool

Building Your Optimal Research Network: A Framework

Based on our work with leading consumer insights teams, here's a practical framework for how to think about building your own professional research network:

Step 1: Audit Your Current Research Activities

• Which projects truly impact business decisions?
• Where do you currently spend most of your time?
• What do you want to shed or not do anymore?

Step 2: Identify Your Strategic Core

• What must remain internal to maintain strategic influence?
• Which activities position you as a business advisor?
• What are your unique strengths as an insights professional?

Step 3: Map Your Expertise Gaps

• What specialized skills do you need access to?
• Which methodologies require external expertise?
• What category knowledge would enhance your insights?

Step 4: Evaluate Technology Needs

• Do your current tools support a networked approach?
• Can you easily onboard external experts?
• How much time is spent on administrative tasks vs. strategic work?

Studio addresses these needs by providing a single platform where you can find expert moderators, manage projects, and collaborate with your team all in one place.

From Team Builder to Network Orchestrator

The most successful CMI leaders are evolving from team builders, to network orchestrators. They maintain strategic control while leveraging specialized expertise and integrated technology to deliver faster, deeper insights.

As one research leader put it: "I don't need to be the expert on everything. I need to know how to access the right expertise at the right time and translate those insights into business impact. Studio gives me that capability without the overhead.”

This is exactly what Studio was designed to enable. Empowering you to orchestrate the insights function without getting stuck in the weeds, easily tapping the right expertise when you need it.

Taking the First Step

Building your professional research network doesn't happen overnight, but it starts with a simple question: what would your role look like if you could focus exclusively on strategic impact rather than research execution?

Imagine moving from juggling all the tactical research details, to fully stepping into the role of strategic leader that your business needs. With a network approach, you can deliver faster, deeper insights that drive real business impact. Even through the endless reorganizations, budget constraints, and competing priorities as your business evolves.

Book a demo today to see how Studio’s network model connects you instantly with expert moderators, strategists, and other qualitative professionals and gives you the tools to manage your research from end to end—all in one place.

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