At some point, in your Data Governance initiative, you are going to need to think about setting up a Data Governance Committee. In this article, I want to look at what a Data Governance Committee is and what it should do.
Before I look at this in detail, I want to remind you that you may not call yours a Committee, and that is fine. The titles of roles can be emotive and we need to be pragmatic about their use. The same is true for your Data Governance Committee. You may have a Data Governance Forum, Data Steering Group, or something similar. Whatever you call it, is not important, it is who sits on it and what it does that is important.
What is a Data Governance Committee?
A Data Governance Committee is simply the forum where you get all of your Data Owners together. Now, of course, that is an oversimplification; but it’s a good starting place. I’ve worked with some excellent Data Owners over the years. But it would be naive to think that they could’ve run the Committee on their own. They need some expert advice and guidance to help them make the right decisions about your company’s data.
These “experts” will include the following roles: Enterprise Data Architect, Head of Internal Compliance, and Head of Operational Risk. In more than one client, the CIO has been an attendee. Deciding who you will invite as your experts, of course, depends on the remit of your Data Governance Committee, which we will look at a little bit later. Before I move off the topic of expert advisors, I want to consider culturally how you will sell the concept of attending these meetings to the experts.
By the time you set up your Data Governance Committee, you should have spent a considerable amount of time and effort identifying and engaging your Data Owners. You have succeeded in getting the agreement of senior roles within your organization to be accountable for the data quality of several data sets. Then, you tell them that they can’t make decisions on their data alone…
Depending on the culture of your company, this may not go down too well! In many organizations, this isn’t an issue. However, with some of my past clients, to avoid any unnecessary tensions, the terms of the committee have made it clear that the Data Owners are the “members” of the committee, and are the only people who can make decisions. The “experts” are “attendees;” there to provide advice and guidance to help the Data Owners make their decisions. (Notice that I don’t say “the right decisions,” that phrase could also open up a myriad of tensions and issues!)
There are three more people who are key to the success of your Data Governance Committee:
Firstly, having a strong chairperson is crucial. While I have observed successful outcomes when a Data Owner has assumed this role, it is generally preferable for the chairperson to be someone who is not a Data Owner. This helps maintain neutrality, especially during any heated discussions or debates. Ideally, this person is the executive sponsor of your data governance initiative. This approach ensures they have a vested interest in making it work. Additionally, it positions them to escalate issues to the Executive Committee if needed.
Secondly, you should be there! I am, of course, assuming that you are the Data Governance Manager or the person leading the data governance implementation (whatever your title happens to be). If so, you need to be an attendee. You are key to reconciling the agenda with the Chairperson. In the early days, you will be presenting many proposals for activities you want to start or include in your Data Governance initiative. These proposals will need to be approved by the Data Owners.
Finally, you are going to need secretariat support for the Committee. Arranging meetings, booking meeting rooms, circulating papers in advance, and taking minutes are crucial for the successful running of this Committee. If your organization is small, you may have to do this yourself. You might find assistance from a colleague on the data governance team or support from the Chairperson’s assistant.
Hopefully, that has given you an idea of who to invite. However, you can’t invite them without being able to explain to them what it is they need to do.
What does a Data Governance Committee Do?
As with all things data governance, what the committee is responsible for depends on your organization and its data governance framework. It also depends on when you set it up. At the very least, the committee is responsible for the oversight of the data governance framework and monitoring material data quality issues. The committee might also be responsible for ensuring compliance with relevant data-related regulations. And steering other data projects, such as master data management, or the implementation of a Data Warehouse.
Depending on when the Committee is set up, its role in the development and implementation of your data governance framework may also be dictated. Over the years, I have seen such forums set up at various times: before the data governance initiative has begun; as it starts; and once the data governance initiative has started. My preference would be for the latter, but let’s look at each in turn:
Data Governance Committee First
This usually happens when a senior stakeholder recognizes the need “to do something” about their dat. They then invite like-minded peers to a forum to discuss and agree on what it is they can do. Sometimes, this can be a useful step in identifying the need for and starting a data governance Initiative. At other times, they can be a talking shop where attendees share their issues and everyone agrees that it is a problem. But not what should be done to resolve them.
If this is what you’re facing, view this as your self-identified stakeholders. Work with them to get the initiative started. They will then be instrumental in all stages of designing and implementing your framework. At some stage, you will have to review the attendees as it will become obvious that not all of them are Data Owners. As a result, new Data Owners will need to be invited.
Data Governance Committee as Initiative Starts
In my opinion, this is still a little early. Things move slowly at the start. It can be challenging to keep all attendees engaged if you don’t have much progress to report. You also have the issue of how to identify the attendees if you haven’t designed the framework and identified the Data Owners.
In this situation, the sponsor has identified key stakeholders and invited them. This can lead to engagement issues – if they really aren’t interested – plus, you will have the same need, detailed above, to review and change the membership a few months in.
Data Governance Committee on Data Governance Has Started
My preference is to set up the committee after you have designed an initial high-level data governance framework. This should be done once you have identified and agreed upon who the Data Owners are, or as a step to agree on them. At this stage, you will be starting with a clear purpose and the correct attendees. This will ensure they can focus on overseeing the detailed design and implementation of the data governance framework.
Whichever of the above situations you’re facing, you must be clear from the start that the terms of reference for this Committee will evolve and transition. Initially, it will oversee development and implementation. And later, it will focus on the ongoing oversight and governance of your data governance framework.
I do hope that this has clarified what a Data Governance Committee is and what it should do. But please don’t rest on your laurels once your committee has been set up. It requires a lot of effort to make and keep such forums successful. You can read my top tips for how to go about that here.
This article is authored by Nicola Ashkam, Data Governance Coach at Nicola Askham Ltd.
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