You're struggling to communicate your data governance. What are you missing?

Drawing from my experience and lessons learned, Data Governance covers a vast area, requiring different communication strategies. To effectively convey your efforts, consider two main approaches: - For senior stakeholders, keep communications high-level, concise, and metric-driven to highlight the tangible value and progress. - For more detailed discussions on specific topics like policies, quality, glossary, and catalog, focus on the impact and benefits for those involved and target mainly those affected by the topic. Leading by example is crucial; ensure you have a well-defined glossary to clarify terms and metrics used in your communications. This minimizes misunderstandings and promotes clear, effective dialogue across the board.

Critical for any data governance program is C Level support and understanding that data governance is cornerstone of digital transformation and key to becoming data driven company

In my experience working in the banking industry, I've learned the importance of tailoring data governance communication to different audiences. For example, when engaging with executives, I emphasize how data governance can mitigate financial risks, ensure compliance with regulations like Basel III, and drive strategic decision-making. Conversely, when collaborating with IT teams, I delve into technical aspects such as data security protocols and integration with banking systems. By understanding and adapting to the unique needs of each audience, I effectively convey the value of data governance in banking and foster productive discussions.

Communicate the value Data Governance initiatives is talking to the business in business terms such increase business capabilities (e.g., enabling customer 360), reduced business cost (e.g., reduced processing cost using accurate data), or meeting regulatory requirements to keep the business in compliance and avoid sanctions or fines (e.g., state privacy laws).

Leveraging a RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) Matrix is a key communication segmentation strategy. Differentiating your message based on RACI allows you to be subject relevant and concise to the specific audience. Many DG efforts fail because we try to communicate to our community as a whole. Be specific, be transparent, but ultimately be focused on exactly who you are talking vs. only thinking about the message you are trying to send.

In my experience multiple channels are required. It is not enough to send an email. Some people may ignore or miss it, some people will join the company after you send it. Additionally you need to publish it, arrange a townhall and/or a series of workshops for target audiences. A good practice is to put links on most popular dashboards with business metrics, KPIs/OKRs.

Tailoring the medium, frequency, and timing of communications shall significantly enhance engagement, compliance, and the successful implementation of governance policies. It makes sure that relevant stakeholders are informed, educated, and able to provide feedback in a timely manner, therefore improving data governance performance by fostering a culture of transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement across the organization.

Consider your audience when selecting communication channels. For retail banking customers, use mobile apps, email, and social media. For internal stakeholders, utilize internal portals, intranet, and staff meetings. Tailoring channels ensures effective engagement and promotes a culture of data governance in banking.

In almost any field, including governance, the ability to measure outcomes is crucial for demonstrating success. To effectively communicate, ensure your messages are timely, updated regularly, and consistent in presenting measurable results tailored to each audience's pace of consumption. For instance, executives often prefer quarterly dashboards highlighting progress against goals. Data owners may prefer weekly summaries tracking progress in cataloging data sets. Data consumers may seek immediate email alerts for new data products or changes in data restrictions.

Innovative messaging which piques the interest of the audience - success stories from the business, corporate world (from other industries/geographies). For e.g. A global entertainment streaming platform owes its success to "disciplined data governance" among other things. Could be a one screen message over email, messaging (MS Teams) or a short video.

Utilizing clear and consistent language serves as a crucial component of understanding your audience. It's imperative to tailor your Data Governance approach to resonate with the language already familiar to your audience, such as emphasizing financial benefits for finance and business lines and highlighting time-saving efficiency for data workers. As you articulate the myriad benefits of Data Governance, it's essential to offer the appropriate incentives that align with their priorities. Often, the process of socializing a project is tantamount to effectively marketing or even evangelizing it. As the designated spokesperson for Data, envision what resonates best with your audience and how you want Data Governance to be perceived.

The saying "I am responsible for what I say and you are responsible for what you hear" sum up the accountability in communication. Involving people in data governance work and establishing effective communication channels ensures that information flows both ways. Miscommunication or misunderstanding can indeed lead to disastrous outcomes. Using precise language enhances clarity and reduces the risk of errors. In situations where precision is essential each action is accompanied by precise words. Employing clear and consistent language promotes effective communication. It enables stakeholders to understand their roles, responsibilities, and expectations clearly, ultimately leading to better decision-making and outcomes.

Create a communications plan that you can follow, including who you want to talk to, what messages you want to get across, the timeline, and metrics to measure success.

Using clear and consistent language in data governance is vital. Whether communicating with customers about privacy policies or training staff on data handling procedures, clarity minimizes confusion and ensures compliance. Consistent language fosters understanding across departments, promoting effective data governance practices and regulatory adherence.

I have found throughout my career that data is private and to many personal, it must be treated with respect. When you take a moment and realize what is within your data you can better respect the governance and respect it requires

Communication should be two-way. Make sure you're involving people in your data governance work, and creating communication channels that work both ways, and allow folks to give you feedback - both positive and negative.

If you find yourself struggling to effectively communicate, it's likely that your audience needs more context and understanding of the program. It's crucial to emphasize DG role as an enablement role. Often, businesses are preoccupied with their priorities, making it essential to identify the right resources from within the org and engage them in meaningful conversations. - simplifying the language to explain DG concepts. - adopting a collaborative approach is vital - listening to the requirements of stakeholders and soliciting feedback ensures that the DG program aligns closely with the their needs and goals.

- Feedback também é outra essência ao programa de Governan?a de Dados, pois assim é posto em check o momento do recuo e início do projeto, pois em alguns casos em que a empresa está com um grau bem baixo de maturidade é necessário outro escopo e direcionamento para a empresa e n?o a implanta??o de um programa de governan?a de dados.

show them the benefits of data governance as quickly as possible. Start small on something that has a highly visible impact. it can be as small as automating the most time consuming report in the company by ensuring all sources follow a simple set of governance rules. present the time saved as a $$$ cost saving (hrs x employee rate for every time the report is created). this will help the business understand the benefits of transforming the way that they work to incorporate some sort of data governance. starting small creates business value faster & is easier to understand for the non-data people of the business which will build better support & adoption.

Lack of tangible evidence to showcase impact often leads to struggles to communicate the value of your data governance program. ? ?????????? ???????? ?????? "??????": Recap the initial goals and objectives you set for your data governance program. What specific problems were you trying to solve, or what opportunities were you aiming to capture? ? ?????????????????? ???????? ??????????????: Convert those goals into measurable metrics that directly connect to your objectives. For example, if your goal was to improve data quality, your metrics could track the percentage of data inconsistencies rectified or the reduction in missing values within datasets. ? Data governance is not just about data – it's driving positive business outcomes.

From my experience, you are missing the WIIIFM " What Is In It For Me", communicate with your stakeholders especially data owners and data stewards and showcase how data governance will lead to successful strategy implementation can be a game changer in your journey, plus when harmonizing data governance with proper change management plan where all users are engaged in it.

This is a human centric journey (not project ??). There is a big need for upfront evangelization across all management layers (Starting from the top) Then building open communication channels with the business is key to: 1. Explain the WHY of data governance 2. Understand business challenges 3. Build use cases

1) Really dive into the human-factor of data governance. Actually explain how people’s diligence keeps data, their colleagues and themselves safe and secure. 2) Avoid security theatre and be realistic - not all threats have a vulnerability they can manipulate, and not all vulnerabilities are threatened. 3) Its an important, dry subject - give it life and NEVER EVER apologise for delivering training.

Often overlooked is the crucial aspect of cultural sensitivity in data governance training. It's essential to align principles with diverse cultural values, ensuring inclusivity in materials and examples that respect and acknowledge cultural differences. Foster an open dialogue for sharing cultural insights, adapting training approaches accordingly. Incorporate case studies featuring various cultural scenarios to underscore the relevance of data governance in different contexts. By recognizing and respecting cultural diversity, we create a more inclusive and effective learning experience for participants from varied backgrounds.

Data Governance is a business transformation journey, and it will need to adapt to the culture and ways of thinking of the company. Just trying to implement a framework will only bring partial results. Listen to the stakeholders, understand the processes and build a communication and result driven approach based on them. Technology is the last step to harmonise and standardise the approach, the starting point should be smaller pieces (data domains or even sub domains) that can be used as light houses. Rome was not build in 1 day, neither will your data governance journey.

Tailor message to audience understanding Simplify complex concepts with relatable examples Emphasize benefits: data quality, decision-making, compliance Utilize diverse communication channels: presentations, emails, workshops Solicit feedback and address concerns actively Highlight real-life examples of data governance success