The Missing Link: How to get management approval for your Data Governance initiative
In the world of Data Governance and Data Management, there are two very inconvenient truths. Firstly, it is virtually impossible to drive a successful Data Governance initiative without Senior Management support. And secondly, it can be incredibly challenging to convince Senior Management that Data Governance is a discipline that should be prioritized.
This puts many organizations at an impasse; they see the need for stronger governance, but ultimately, they do not have the mandate that is necessary for it to succeed.
Fortunately, creating a strong business justification, can be done. Here is what you need to do to convince senior management– and the pitfalls you should be aware of
Create a data-coalition: You should always seek to create an alliance of different business units throughout the company that feel the pain from disharmonized data. These can usually be found in cross-organizational area such as finance, procurement, supply chain and IT. If you can get them on-board as Data Governance ambassadors, this increases your chances for success drastically.
Look for the cracks: A skilled Data professional may be able to debate the subtle difference between data governance, data management, Master Data and data quality. However, this should never be your starting point. If you ask about where people experience “a lack of governance”, you are likely to get a blank stare in return. However, ask where people have seen examples of poor data quality, of processes that break due to inconsistent data, and anecdotes of where things failed, because someone did not know the data, and you will get much further
Use the data: Quantifying the time spent on data management is usually a powerful argument. If you can indicate that between 30 and 60 FTEs are working on creating, modifying, reconciling and updating data records across the company, asking for 3 people to help drive the Data Governance process suddenly sounds like a pretty compelling business case.
Show the strategic link. Analyze where data quality issues are most likely to wreak havoc on the company’s strategic ambitions. If for instance, you can show that stronger ownership and alignment of data is a foundational part of a large push for digitalization, or a consolidation programme, this will resonate much better with the C-suite, than just arguing for Data Governance on its own merits.
Know your audience: When you get the chance to state your case to Senior Management, keep in mind what a given executive will be looking for. For instance, if you are talking to a CMO, it might make sense to point out that issues with misaligned product data can seriously damage any eCommerce or Omnichannel plans. Alternatively, if your point of contact is the CFO, pointing out the sheer number of employees working with Data Management usually gets his or her attention.
All these steps will dramatically increase the likelihood that you manage to convince senior management, that they should take data governance seriously, and give you the mandate to do some actual changes.
Are you trying to get your Data Governance strategy up and running and need some sparring? Feel free to book a free 30-minute call with me, to discuss strategies for how to achieve Data Governance success.