Interesting question. Super context dependent but worthwhile to think about in each of our professions.
In my line of work, which is academic research in economics, I think this is my rough ordering of priorities
  1. Well formulated research question and understanding of what the contribution is.
  2. Understanding of the ideal data source would be and potential candidate data sources.
  3. Checking availability and quality of data sources. Cleaning the data to meet requirements.
  4. Iterative step of analysis, re-checking the data, and re-checking and/or modifying the research question or hypothesis based on what the data is showing. Maybe the hard decision has to be made to stop pursuing this line of work or modifying the goal drastically.
  5. Gathering together a first draft of presentable results. Present results for feedback.
  6. Further iteration of steps 3-6
Works for research, not just of the econ variety. I work with healthcare data.
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