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Does your choice of words have an impact?

Author

Charles Joseph
March 15, 2023

Does your choice of words have an impact?

The subject line of this email. Did you notice it? Did you think it was a mistake? Do you think it was done on purpose?

However you interpreted it, it would have had some impact on your decision to open this email, and what you expected when you did so.

I’ve long felt that Data Governance suffers from its use of terms which do little to inspire.

Should we use different terms? I’ve avoided doing so. My view has been that terms such as “data excellence” or “data assurance” don’t have an established meaning and, if anything, cause more confusion.

Discussing this with a client this week made me reconsider, and this was amplified in a preparatory call with Ross McGee, one of the speakers in this month’s webinar, Data Governance and the CRO.

It comes down to this.

What are we looking to achieve as Data Governance role holders?

Ross explained to me that as a senior risk management professional, he sees it as his role to find opportunities for the business. It’s not enough to simply challenge them.

In our Data Governance world, a few years back, we simply needed to ensure that our organisation complied with its relevant laws and regulations. Our role was not too far from Compliance (let alone Risk Management) and our language reflected that.

Governance

Control

Monitoring

Standards.

I don’t think this is enough any more. Data Governance is now about data enablement. People need trusted data which is of sufficient quality and availability to do their jobs.

We put the people, process and tools in place to help that happen.

How we describe ourselves and our work contributes to the impression that our colleagues create about us.

We can’t afford to be seen as the “data police”.

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Come and meet me - in person or online

  • Data and the CRO - an/ interactive discussion with some Chief Risk Officers to discuss the interactions between data teams and risk teams.

    • Thursday 16 March at 12pm GMT, Online Open to all - register here.

    • Sponsorship opportunities available.

Are there any other events that you think I should attend or be speaking at? Let me know.

The Datazed of Data Governance training course

There are plenty of courses out there that will teach you about Data Governance, but they generally focus on theory, and some will help you with implementation skills.

Similarly, there are some one or two day courses out there which give you lots of information, then you are back at work and buried in the day job.

What I want to do is to train and advise you over several weeks. We'll go all the way from what you do when you start in the role, through to understanding your aims and objectives; delivering them; and then looking how you can develop your function/team and ultimately advance personally and professionally.

Of course we'll also cover the Data Governance theory as well.

I want to do this across a series (probably eight) sessions online, with interactive discussion. For the ones you can't make, recordings will be available.

Finally, there'll be a group set up for each cohort to connect during and beyond the course.

Have a wonderful week,
Charles

P.S. Don’t forget that I’m looking for contributions from guest writers, which may have been published previously; or you can come up with something new. This is a perfect opportunity to share your thoughts with a focused audience.

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