Practitioner's Guide to Operationalizing Data Governance

CHAPTER 6Data Governance Planning

RESULTS YOU CAN EXPECT WITHOUT PLANNING

With Data Governance we often ask people to change how they do their jobs or even take on new roles in support of the program. In order to get buy‐in for participation and from leadership, people need to understand why the organization is taking on Data Governance. If you cannot explain the why, people usually respond with “why bother then?” Or people take on a role and have no idea what they are supposed to do. Lastly, there is no way to define a program because there are no defined objectives.

DEFINING OBJECTIVES

Having program scope allows you to define program objectives. They are truly the cornerstone of the program and serve several purposes. The first is the communication mechanism for senior leadership. We need their buy‐in and sponsorship in order to sustain the program. Because of that, we need to tell them why it is important and what we are trying to achieve. The second is that objectives drive activities and decisions that ultimately drive roles and responsibilities for program participants. Lastly, objectives determine how we will measure program outcomes.

I have worked with a lot of customers who have been part of a derailed Data Governance program. My first question to them is “have you defined objectives?” More often than not, the answer is no. Or sort of. My first recommendation then ...