You’ve just been promoted to a data governance leadership role. How can you ensure your team’s success?

1 Align with business goals

Data governance is not an isolated function, but a cross-cutting one that supports and enables the business objectives of your organization. Therefore, you need to align your data governance vision, mission, and roadmap with the strategic goals and priorities of your stakeholders. Communicate clearly and frequently with them to understand their needs, expectations, and challenges, and to demonstrate the value and impact of data governance. Establish clear roles and responsibilities for data owners, stewards, users, and consumers, and foster a collaborative and accountable data culture.

2 Define and implement standards

Data quality, security, and compliance are the pillars of data governance. To ensure that your data meets these criteria, you need to define and implement standards, policies, and procedures for data creation, collection, storage, access, usage, and disposal. These standards should be based on best practices, industry benchmarks, and legal requirements, and should be documented and communicated to your team and other data stakeholders. You also need to monitor and measure the performance and adherence to these standards, and to identify and resolve any issues or gaps.

3 Leverage tools and technologies

Data governance is not only a human endeavor, but also a technological one. You need to leverage the tools and technologies that can help you automate, streamline, and optimize your data governance processes and tasks. For example, you can use data cataloging tools to create and maintain a metadata repository that describes your data assets, their lineage, and their quality. You can use data quality tools to check, validate, and cleanse your data. You can use data security tools to protect your data from unauthorized access or breaches. And you can use data analytics tools to generate insights and reports on your data governance metrics and outcomes.

4 Build and develop your team

Data governance is a multidisciplinary and collaborative field that requires a diverse and skilled team. As a leader, you need to build and develop your team by hiring, training, mentoring, and empowering your data governance professionals. You need to assess the current and future skills and competencies of your team, and to provide them with the resources and opportunities to learn and grow. You also need to create a positive and supportive work environment that fosters trust, respect, innovation, and feedback.

5 Adapt and improve

Data governance is not a static or one-time activity, but a dynamic and continuous one that evolves with the changing needs and demands of your organization and the external environment. As a leader, you need to adapt and improve your data governance practices by staying updated on the latest trends, developments, and best practices in the field. You need to solicit and act on the feedback and suggestions of your team and other data stakeholders. And you need to review and revise your data governance goals, plans, and actions regularly to ensure that they are relevant, effective, and efficient.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?