October 10, 2014

Building Relationships and Rapport

October 10, 2014/ Nicola Askham

I spent last week at two amazing data conferences in the US. Firstly I was at Enterprise Dataversity in Chicago and from there I flew to Richmond, Virginia to join the International Data Quality Summit. Both were excellent events and gave me the opportunity to meet in person some data friends that until then had only been “virtual” friends via the wonders of social media. Of course I also got to meet up with others who I had been lucky enough to meet previously and finally there are my new data friends who I would never have come across if I had not met them at the conferences.

Going back to my virtual data friends, I have always considered that I had good relationships with these people, but it's amazing how much better I know these people now that I have actually met them and spent some time with them. It really doesn’t take long to build rapport with people, just a chat over coffee or a meal makes a huge difference in building relationships.

It bears out something that I taught on one of my tutorials this week - the importance of building relationships and rapport with your stakeholders (especially your Data Owners and Data Stewards). Sending an email asking them to be a Data Owner is unlikely to be successful, but meeting them face to face and explaining what data governance is and why you think they should be a data owner will be much more successful. Especially when you take the time to get to know them and the challenges that they are facing, so that you can articulate what being a Data Owner will mean to them.

Sometimes it just isn’t possible to meet up face to face and in those circumstances you will need to work hard to make the most of the communication options that you have available. But as I experienced on numerous occasions last week, good long distance relationships can very quickly become so much stronger when you can meet up in person.

So if it is possible to meet your senior stakeholders when implementing data governance, make sure that you do and make the most of that opportunity to build relationships and rapport. And of course if you get the opportunity to attend a data conference, make sure that you take it. It really is an excellent environment for learning from others experiences and meeting and networking with your peers.

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September 15, 2014

Data Governance Interview - Jim Harris

September 15, 2014/ Nicola Askham

I'm very pleased that Jim Harris agreed to be interviewed for the first blog in my new website...

Jim Harris is a recognized industry thought leader with more than 20 years of enterprise data management experience, specializing in data quality, data integration, data warehousing, business intelligence, master data management, data governance, and big data analytics.

As Blogger-in-Chief at Obsessive Compulsive Data Quality, Jim Harris offers an independent, vendor-neutral perspective and hosts the popular audio podcast OCDQ Radio. Jim Harris is an independent consultant and freelance writer for hire.

August 03, 2014

Data Governance Interview - Bob Seiner

August 03, 2014/ Nicola Askham

I am very pleased that Bob Seiner agreed to be interviewed for my blog. I attended one of his workshops nearly ten years ago and have been a fan of his approach to Data Governance ever since. Bob is the President & Principal of KIK Consulting & Educational Services (KIKConsulting.com) which is the Home of Non-Invasive Data Governance™. Bob is also the Publisher of The Data Administration Newsletter (TDAN.com) since 1997, has a regular webinar series through Dataversity called Real-World Data Governance, and speaks regularly at data and data governance events internationally. Bob's new book on Non-Invasive Data Governance will be released this September and he welcomes you to visit KIK's newly refurbished web-site. Bob was one of the early adopters of the data stewardship and data governance disciplines.

May 27, 2014

Data Governance Interview - Janani Dumbleton

May 27, 2014/ Nicola Askham

This week, I'm very pleased that Janani Dumbleton agreed to be interviewed for my blog. I always enjoy discussing all things Data Governance with her, as she obviously shares my enthusiam for the topic. Janani describes herself as as the perennial consultant, but I'll hand over to her to explain more in her own words...

April 23, 2014

Data Governance Interview - Richard Lee

April 23, 2014/ Nicola Askham

I'm delighted that Richard Lee agreed to be the subject of my next Data Governance Interview. Richard is the Managing Partner of IMECS, LLC, an executive consulting firm that works with Senior Executive Teams in the domains of Business Transformation, Governance, Risk & Compliance, Advanced Analytics and Business Informatics.

March 17, 2014

Still Defining The Undefineable?

March 17, 2014/ Nicola Askham

This week I am reposting an updated version of a blog, which I originally posted last February. The reason for the repost is that now Solvency II timescales are confirmed, the topic is very much back on the agenda. So much so that I have been asked to repeat the Solvency II Data Quality Course I originally did last year.

March 11, 2014

Parenting Your Data

March 11, 2014/ Guest User

I am pleased to welcome Guy Harvey as a guest blogger to my site this week. Guy is an independent consultant with over 18 years of Information Management and Data Warehousing experience under his belt. Having worked with some of the UK largest companies, he has had the opportunity to view data management from many angles and experienced both success and failure along the way. Guy firmly believes data management starts, and remains as the responsibility of those who are involved with its creation and IT as an integral partner to deliver a quality service. Following this approach has delivered the successes but fully understands that each company brings challenges rarely seen anywhere else.