People (Human Resources) are an important part of data governance and data intelligence. They are part of the necessary framework. Data governance is about helping people and providing guidance. Whenever you are discussing people at an organization you think of areas such as training, education, and communication. This is true when related to data governance as well. People must have the right skills (hard and soft) and training (about the data, data governance and the tools being used). And people must know what is going on, thus need data governance-related communication. And people must engage with the data governance-related content (business glossary, report specifications, data system inventory, reference data, and data requests) so they must know how to engage with content (points of engagement) and understand the processes in place. This blog post will discuss the people side of data governance including culture, data stewardship, leadership, points of engagement, processes, training, and communication along with pointing you to educational resources (blog posts, videos, and recorded webinars) that are available on this subject.
There are many people involved with data and data governance at an organization. This includes the users or consumers of the data who are entering information or looking at reports. Also, there are data stewards or subject matter experts that are handling the questions or resolving the data requests and issues. Another important group is the management or leadership team who is involved in overseeing the data governance initiative.
Culture
Having a data culture is critical for data governance success. Culture is many things, takes time to create, cannot be forced, and is created with training, policies, and management. Data is a valued organization asset. Data is continually flowing and changing and growing. An organization needs to properly manage data all the time. Data governance is not a one-time project or initiative and needs to be a part of the organization’s culture.
Resources:
- Blog Post: “Data Governance is Culture and Not a One-Time Project”
- Blog Post: “Resources on Achieving a Data Governance Culture”
Data Stewardship
At the start of implementing data governance there needs to be a team focused on implementing data governance. But for data governance ongoing support there needs to be a team of data stewards in place who handle the requests that come in and create the content. The better trained and knowledgeable these individuals are, the better the data governance at the organization will be.
Resources:
Blog Post: “Data Stewardship is Critical - Here are Some Resources”
Leadership
An important part of data governance is the data governance leadership and oversight committee. They have many responsibilities including setting a roadmap, getting buy-in, setting up data stewardship, setting up training for data stewards and other data governance, monitoring data governance activity, and resolving differing opinions.
Resources:
- Blog Post: “Responsibilities of a Data Governance Leadership and Oversight Committee”
- Blog Post: “Resources to Assist with Data Governance Oversight and Management”
Points of Engagement and Processes
Value is only added if there is engagement with the data governance-related content that supports an organization’s goal. People need to have points of engagement (or entry) with data governance content for data governance to be successful. These data-related points of engagement or entry include such items as requesting new business glossary entries, requesting a new report, documenting a new integration, and reporting a data quality issue. Processes need to be in places that are accessible and easy to use. The data governance team must understand the staff’s perception of each data governance process’ importance and effectiveness. The team must also review these processes periodically with the purpose of improving them.
Resources:
- Blog Post: “Understanding Data Governance Points of Engagement”
- Blog Post: “Evaluate Your Data Governance Processes”
Communication and Training
For a data governance and data intelligence initiative to succeed it needs to have trained staff and communication with those involved, which is every data user at the organization. Onboarding, training and communication plans need to be created, maintained, and modified.
Resources:
- Blog Post: “Effective Data-Related Onboarding and Training”
- Blog Post: “Have Data Communication Plan”
- Blog Post: “Here's Some Data Intelligence Resources Regarding Communication and Training”
We hope that this blog post will assist you and your organization. Additional people-related resources can be found in this “Here’s Some Resources Regarding People and Data Governance / Data Intelligence” blog post.
Additional resources on data governance, data intelligence, and data management can be found at www.datacookbook.com/dg.IData has a solution, the Data Cookbook, that can aid the employees and the organization in its data governance and data intelligence efforts including data requests. 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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