We’ve talked a lot about the mechanics of implementing an Information Governance program in your organization. When you are implementing a new program, regardless of what it is, your bigger challenge is getting everyone to go along with it. Ever heard “We’ve being doing it this way for 30 years!”? Change Management is one of the most critical soft skills you can have in your toolbox. In this issue of Information Governance Insights we’ll look at some of the more common issues and suggest ways to overcome them.
Let’s get this one out of the way first: The biggest issue you’ll ever encounter is the lack of Management Support. This is a definite show stopper. If you do not have a program champion in the “C” Suite or senior management, someone that believes in the program’s benefit and Return On Investment, you’re done. Do not pass Go, do not spend any time or money – period. Go back through your business case and make the improvements you need to convince this audience that these changes are worth making. Information Governance isn’t something that can be done bottom up. It has to be a top down thing.
Next up is a more common issue; dealing with your friendly neighborhood Information Technology department. Many of us in Information Governance already know plenty about this group because we’re part of them! Like it or not, most organizations consider that Information Governance comes under the purview of the Information Technology. The one thing that many Information Governance professionals fail to understand is that the job of Information Technology is to keep the computers running. They are mechanics, highly skilled and very adaptive, but they want to solve problems and keep the trains running. They can find new software, add new servers to solve business issues, and implement it faster than you can keep up with.
The best way to solve this is to get involved! Do what you can to become an active part of your organization’s procurement process. Adding more storage on to the existing infrastructure or implementing a new software package may be the easiest and quickest solution, but it may not be the best solution.Many organizations have an Enterprise Architect.
