Page 168 -

Overview 147

• Follows best practices and provides some metrics for consideration
• Offers sample tools for planning, assessment, and support of stakeholders and sponsors

The right sponsor for data governance is an essential OCM “best practice” that must be addressed early
1
on. Without a sponsor who has the political capital and backbone to drive the required changes, your
chances of success are slim. Also, in most organizations IT does not have the credibility to sponsor
something like DG. Go after a business executive and keep pushing until you get the right one.
Stakeholder analysis should be done considering all those who are impacted, to what degree, and
what their likely reaction(s) will be. It will be important to understand how people will react so you can
develop methods or approaches to address their resistance or engage their support.
Open, honest, and frequent communication is absolutely critical, and it is not through a list of
required PowerPoint slides. Various stakeholder groups will require different and differing levels of
communication and opportunities to provide feedback. Communication must be two-way. Only if you
know what people are thinking or how they are reacting will you be able to “course correct” your plans
and address the issues.
Managing resistance is essential. It is out there and cannot be ignored or it will undermine all your
efforts, guaranteed. There will be varying levels of resistance, from openly hostile to passive. The
important thing is to understand why people are resisting and to try to address it. Answering “What’s in
it for me?” (WIIFM) is an important OCM principle. It helps people connect to what is happening and
move through their resistance to support.
If you have been doing this for a while, you have become accustomed to resistance in all of its
forms. However, as someone who may be new, please bear this in mind: Many of the behaviors that DG
deems risky (e.g., departmental databases with mission-critical spreadsheets copied to USB drives,
etc.) are viewed as necessary and acceptable. Keep a positive outlook, identify available incentives,
and provide education on the benefits and rationale for doing DG. Engage people in the process as
much as possible. Keep negative responses as a tool, but deploy them only after trying the positive.
Sample Output

Due to size limitations, the appendices contain examples and templates of the following outputs:
• Stakeholder Analysis Grid
• Change Capacity Assessment
• Leadership Alignment Assessment
• Metrics for Sustaining DG
Tips for Success

The DG team would benefit greatly from the help of an organizational development (OD) specialist to
help define the sustaining requirements and the change management plan. Many HR organizations
have a unit of these professionals to help with change efforts. Make use of them if you have such
a group in your organization.
Picking the right sponsor for DG (i.e., from the business) is essential. Per the Prosci Best Practices
surveys since 2003, the right sponsor has been the number one success factor for any change effort. That
person has the influence and political power to make things happen; get him or her engaged very early on.

1
Prosci , "Best Practices in Change Management" Prosci, Loveland CO, 2012.