Threading the needle: How to set up the right Master Data Forum
The Master Data Forum is the backbone and one of the most important items in your Data Governance toolkit. It is where knowledge about business processes, data domains and IT landscapes gets fused into the real and actionable guidelines and standards that become transformational.
Implementing a Master Data Forum for a particular Master Data domain is equal parts art and science. There are many formalities and practical details that need to be in place, but at the same time, you need to find the right people and enable them to take the right decisions.
Here are some of the things you need to do to create a robust and efficient Master Data Forum – and the pitfalls you should be aware of
Don’t rush it: Too often, Master Data Forums are implemented to support large transformational IT projects where someone suddenly realizes that it is impossible to consolidate data across systems, because they are not harmonized. The immediate reaction is often to just start cleaning data based on whatever standard the project has developed, but if you don’t take the time to ensure that there is clearly defined governance and ownership, you risk having to start completely from scratch.
Focus on impact, not titles: One approach is to invite all employees with the same roles e.g. all Business Process Owners or Data Specialists to the Master Data Forum. I will tell you, that there is no faster and more guaranteed way to completely tank your entire Data Governance initiative than doing this. Instead, you need to look around the company and spot the people who know about data, but are not necessarily specialists themselves, who have a broad network in their respective business units and who are known for getting things done.
Find the right number: Just like in the fairy tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, you can have both too few and too many participants on your Master Data Forum. On one hand, you need to make sure that the relevant stakeholders who could otherwise sink your Data Governance initiative are included, on the other hand, the larger the group, the more administrative overhead you should expect. The difficult trick is to get it just right.
Embrace the troublemakers: When creating a Master Data Forum, you tend to mainly include the stakeholders that are sympathetic to your views, especially for large data domains such as Product Master Data. Instead try to be open and include the ones who may not agree. If you have done the legwork in terms of Data Governance, you have a much better chances at getting them on board on the Forum, than if they are kept outside.
Start small: When creating the very first data standard, there is a tendency to want to make a big splash and tackle a large problem. However, what people usually discover too late is that complexity often increases significantly once you start peeling away the layers. Therefore it is a good idea to instead start with a small problem and create and end-to-end solution including a data standard, process alignment and clean-up activity. This proves the viability of the Master Data Forum, and reduces the risks of paralysis through analysis.
These suggestions should make it easier for you to establish and navigate your first Master Data Forum, and make sure that actual change comes from it.
Are you planning to start a Master Data Forum or a Data Governance strategy and need some sparring? Feel free to book a free 30-minute call with me, to discuss strategies for how to achieve success.