Data Governance for the Executive Level

You’ve done your work. You understand the issues. This is your one chance, so it better be smooth.

My previous blog posts have focused on Lightweight Data Governance for the most part. I’ve sprinkled in some more fomal theory that I’ve learned from the experienced pros, but for the most part I’m writing about my own experience with Data Governance. If I sat here and told you the best way to manage a mature interdepartmental Data Governance practice, you’d call B.S. And you’d be justified in doing so.

With that backdrop, I’m going to begin to describe the transition from Lightweight to Formal practice. I don’t yet know where I’ll end up, but along the way I’ll try to help others with their journey. At some point you will find the limit of project based, department level Data Governance. Whether it’s funding for resources and tools, or interdepartmental coordination, you will need to present Data Governace to a room full of executives.

Do you have a mature presentation ready at a moments notice?

You never know when you’re going to be asked to present. Your boss may say something in a meeting and the next day you get your opportunity. You should create a short 3 or 4 slide presentation that quickly justifies the work your team does. It should be provocative, show the problems and your solutions to them, and clearly demonstrate the value your team represents to the company.

The slides should include:

1. Your Company’s Problem and how Data Governance can solve it
2. Your Current Work Plan, which should be High Level and written in business terms
3. Your roadmap for the next 12 - 24 months
4. Challenges (funding, resources, roadblocks) and your solution to them

Do you have sponsors who can describe your value?

If you are the only one who believes your work is necessary, then it’s not. You must build relationships with the teams you work with, and build credibility with their management over time. If you were called into a meeting right now, which three executives one or two levels above you would you invite? Who would be invited by the organizer. They should understand how your work benefits them, and be willing to stand up for you.

Get right to the point.

Why do the executives need to spend this 30 or 60 minutes listening to your presentation? Think about it from their perspective. They have much better things to work on than this, right? Tell them why it matters up front. Make it about revenue potential, solutions to business (not data or technology) problems, or cost savings. That’s the way an executive thinks. You can also talk about control, compliance, and the corporate maturity that your work representes. But, trust me, focus on the dollars and business problems first.

How can Data Governance increase revenue?

This one is especially important during this terrible economy. What’s your company’s #1 goal this year? Sales. Nothing else matters if there’s no money coming in the door. How can Data Governance help the Sales team?

1. Clean up customer data so the reps know what to focus on. This will require improved systems, better processes for reps, Finance / Order Administration, Customer Service, and anyone else who touches customer data. That interdepartmental coordination requires Data Governance to understand the issues caused by poor data quality.
2. Improving the data will remove inneficient admin tasks from your Sales Rep’s day, allowing them to focus on selling more. If the Rep needs to sift through old prospects that will never purchase to find the hidden gems, they are not working efficiently. Data Governance should develop the processes to maintain the Sales reps portfolio systematically so they have fresh data to work with. Obviously, this is more important as your Sales organization and customer base grows. If you have 100s or even 1000s of customers, you can probably ignore this one.
3. Allow management to focus on the issue, and not the noise. Every time a Sales rep sees a bad row of data, they either move on, cringe and move on, or scream about it. The ones who move on quickly make the most money. The ones who scream are looking for excuses not to sell. They will complain to their management, who will invariably complain to those responsible for the data. Is that you? By removing the excuse that the data is bad, management can focus on the real issues of Sales productivity.

What business problem problem are you solving?

I think the fun part of Data Governance is that it allows you to help resolve longstanding business problems and answer tough questions. If that’s the result of your early data governance work, you’ll get funding to do more. What is the direct business impact caused by inconsistent, incorrect, or misleading data permeating your organization? Who screams about it in meetings? Go ask them how you can help. When you understand their business problem you will know where to start.

Lastly, how can it reduce costs?

The most important part of that question is “Lastly.” Everyone else starts there, but I think it’s the hardest to sell to your management. A revenue or business problem based justication is more strategic than a cost savings plan. Anyone can save costs. Cutting resources or choosing different tools is easy. Look around. Your management has done it repeatedly this year.