In this blog post, we are going discuss the when, who, and how of creating good business glossary definitions. The business glossary should be accessible to employees would have a need for it. A business glossary is very beneficial when onboarding new employees so that they quickly learn the necessary terminology in the organization. The business glossary should be maintained and added to as the organization changes.
The When
When should a business glossary definition be created?
We do not recommend going through all your legacy reports and creating definitions. We do not recommend forming a committee to create definitions. Our preference is to use a just-in-time, customer service, and help desk approach to data governance and data intelligence on what business glossary definitions to do next. We recommend empowering data stewards to create definitions when requested.
Some examples of this approach are:
- Reports - Maybe just take a few of your most critical reports and make definitions that relate to these reports. A great time to create definitions (the columns in the report) while working on new reports. Example: If you are working on an external report for a state government then definitions should be created if they do not exist for that report. These definitions can be shared with the external organization so that there is no confusion on how the information was determined.
- Employee Requests - Another good time to create a definition is when an (could be a new one) employee makes a data request for a definition for a term that they are confused about. When done, this will aid other employees who might have a question on the same term. Example: A new key performance indicator (KPI) is established. A manager makes a data request so that this KPI is documented and put in the business glossary so that there is no confusion in what it is and how it is measured.
- Technology Projects – A great time for definition creation is during a major technology project, such as implementing a data warehouse or switching over to a new ERP solution. This will eliminate the confusion of terms which will save time later.
- Definitions from Definitions - Another good time to create a definition is when other related definitions are being created. Example: I am defining what a full-time employee is, which is an employee who is active in our organization and is working more than thirty-two hours a week. So, an additional definition of what it means to have active status needs to be created.
The Who
Who are the people who can assist with writing good business glossary definitions?
There are many including:
- Report writers – These individuals might have knowledge related to the report they are creating and can easily create the necessary definition.
- Data stewards – These individuals receive a data request for a new definition where one does not exist or be assigned a report that needs columns defined.
- Report requesters – These individuals might be providing functional definitions. Requesters might also be able to provide feedback or comments.
- Other departments or existing organizations – These groups might have resources of business glossary definitions that might fit your organization which can be imported into the organization’s business glossary. Example: a national organization what specializes in your industry might have a glossary that could be easily imported into your organization's glossary.
Example: I am writing a requested report that has a column for retention rate. I do not know what that is. Rather than me struggling and writing a definition for that, I create a business glossary definition and for that definition request help to fill in the definition. There should be a workflow to assign the request to the appropriate data steward (our solution, the Data Cookbook, has the right methodology and workflow to assist with this) who can finish the retention rate definition. Once the definition is written, I can finish the requested report, and the workflow will notify the requester.
The How
So how are business glossary definitions created?
Here are a few things to know about business glossary definitions creation:
- Import existing definitions from other sources (such as definitions done in certain departments that are in spreadsheets or from external organizations). This creates a good starting point.
- Have a known business glossary definition request process in place that automatically routes to the appropriate data steward for resolution. This provides a priority list on what to do.
- Definition names in the business glossary should be specific and unique. If there is a different context then that difference should be included in the name. Example: You do not want to have two entries in the definition for employee where one of them is active employee and the other one is any employee that has ever been in your organization. You should have an entry for an active employee and an entry for employee.
- Avoid paralysis. You do not need to all agree on a single business glossary definition. It is OK to have two definitions.
- Functional definitions are data system agnostic while technical definitions can mention the data system. Link your technical definitions to your functional business glossary definitions.
- Writer of the business glossary definition should edit the entire definition from the perspective of a smart person who is not familiar with the subject of the definition. The definition should be free of technical jargon and be grammatically correct.
- Define who owns the business glossary definition (which department). The owner has the final say on the definition.
- Have a data governance committee (or data standards group) that can handle business glossary definition issues such as collisions or disagreements.
- Writing one business glossary definition often leads to creating additional definitions for your business glossary. This is a good thing as it keeps the business glossary growing making it more attractive to use by employees.
- Where possible, use links or references to other business glossary definitions, making staff more data literate.
We hope you enjoyed this blog post on when, who, and how a good business glossary definition is created. Additional business glossary-related resources (blog posts, videos, and recorded webinars) can be found on our spotlight web page located at www.datacookbook.com/business-glossary-spotlight.
IData has a solution, the Data Cookbook, that can aid the employees and the organization in its data governance, data intelligence, data stewardship and data quality initiatives. IData also has experts that can assist with data governance, reporting, integration and other technology services on an as needed basis. Feel free to contact us and let us know how we can assist.
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