Progress Is Made Where Progress Is Measured – Measure Your Data Governance Success With KPIs & Metrics
One of the most frequently asked questions I often heard from clients is how to track the effectiveness of their data governance adoption. How do we track how we're doing overall? This is a great question I love hearing from senior leaders taking their data governance journey seriously.
It warms my heart every time I hear this, especially if the question comes from senior leaders in the organization. Every data governance leader should weave this into their execution framework as measuring your progress is fuel and inspiration to your success. This is one of the most critical ingredients many forget to include or downplay in their execution playbook.
Why is this important?
It is essential to include your KPIs and metrics for success as part of your governance gameplan simply because we all know Data Governance is a journey. Your end in mind is to continue to evolve and mature as you find more insight into your data asset's richness. The more you mature out, the more you realize the potential in your data asset is limitless. You get to decide how far and how deep you want to take your journey in terms of maturity as you evolve. To this effect, your organization and senior leaders need to see a show of progress along the journey without having to wait out the long haul.
Tracking your governance KPIs and metrics is one of the most powerful ways to accelerate your Data Governance adoption and begin to woo your stakeholders to become key allies of your governance mission. This will quickly present them with tangible evidence of progress in treating their endemic data pains.
Measuring your KPIs provides an opportunity for you to celebrate quick wins along your governance journey with tangible 'show and tell' accomplishments.
It is also an honest and proactive way to remain transparent with your sponsors and track expectations along the journey.
Your KPI measurement is a natural booster to build confidence around your data governance adoption.
So, How Do You Select The Right KPIs and Metrics to Measure Progress of Your Governance Adoption?
The following are some fundamentals you need to factor into your KPIs and metrics selection for your governance success:
1. Select KPIs and metrics that rightfully focus on your critical milestones for each phase of your governance adoption and your Standards of Care
2. Align your KPI measurements to your strategic goals and your key drivers
3. Select and prioritize critical metrics that are relevant to your business stakeholders.
4. Ensure your KPI metrics show maturing progress of your data governance adoption to deliver impactful business value.
5. Highlight quick wins with your KPI metrics.
Examples of Key Metrics to Measure Along Your Governance Journey
Your key metrics to measure truly depends on several things. i.e., your prioritized goals, your key drivers, where you are along the journey, and your end in mind for each of your strategic governance pillars. However, the following are some of the key foundational KPIs and Metrics that would help jumpstart your progress measurements:
TRAINING
Metrics:
· Number or Percentage of Employees Trained on Data Governance To understand Their Roles & Responsibilities.
· Number or Percentage of Employees Trained on Data Literacy & Awareness Companywide To Sensitize The Enterprise on Data Governance Adoption
· Number or Percentage of Employees Trained on Company's Data Policy
· Number or Percentage of Data Roles Trained with Required Skills and Competencies
OWNERSHIP & ACCOUNTABILITY
Metrics:
· Number or Percentage of Data Domains with Defined Data Owners
· Number or Percentage of Data Domains with Ratified and Formalized Data Roles
METADATA MANAGEMENT
Metrics:
· Number or Percentage of Data Elements with a defined Taxonomy
· Number or Percentage of Data Domain and Elements with Agreed/Approved Data Definitions Published
· Number or Percentage Data Domain and Elements with Complete Metadata
· Number or Percentage of Data Domain and Elements Linked with Business Glossary
DATA QUALITY
Metrics:
· Number of Data Issues Logged Requiring Data Correction and Fixes
· Number of Data issues Remediated Per Data Domain
· Number of Recurring Issues
· Number of Data Audits with Passed/Failed Status
· Number of Exceptions Escalated For Remediation
· Number of Exceptions Escalated and Granted a Waiver
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Metrics:
· Number or Percentage of Data Consumer's Satisfaction "at or exceeds expectation" for Quality of Data
· Number or Percentage of Data Consumer's Satisfaction "at or exceeds expectation" for Accessibility of Data (internal and external)
In a nutshell, the criticality of showing progress of your Data Governance adoption and its added value cannot be over emphasized as one of the most critical success factors of your governance journey. This will help you quickly show the value of your enterprise investment in data governance. It will reinforce the pivotal role of continuous investment in Data Governance to position your organization to be truly data-driven to achieve its strategic goals.
Need help carving out an execution roadmap with compelling KPI measurements to accelerate your data governance adoption?
Book a free call with me to discuss your current challenge and engage via my profile (link in featured section) or https://calendly.com/lara-gureje/30min