Best practices for building an information governance program that will last
This Q&A with Aaron Bryant, PMP, is based on a series of interviews I’m conducting with thought leaders who are steering their organizations through the challenges of developing an information governance program.
Over the last 15 years, Aaron has run IG programs and designed, implemented and maintained information management systems to support them. He has worked as a mid-level manager and an executive, most recently as chief information governance officer (CIGO) at Washington State Department of Health. His experiences in these roles and his differing levels of success have informed his thoughts on what it takes to build a successful information governance program. Aaron is also a CGOC Faculty Member.
For this article, I asked Aaron about the signs that an IG program is in trouble, what the keys to success are, and how to overcome the obstacles to that success.
Information Management: Information governance is tough. What’s the one bit of advice you’d give to a company that’s struggling?
Aaron Bryant: Get buy-in across the executive management team, and make sure there’s a hands-on, C-level executive leader in charge, not a manager. A mid-level manager just doesn’t have the power and influence to overcome resistance to change.
For example, a few years ago, as a law firm records manager, I controlled client data but not the firm’s administrative data, which was managed by IT. Since I had no influence to change the management structure, there was no opportunity to move the firm toward a comprehensive IG program.
In another instance, despite being a hotel chain’s records and information governance director, a lawyer who understood only the IG issues related to e-discovery took control of the company’s IG program. As a result, I had no ability to communicate at the executive level the broader perspective required for IG success, and a true IG program never got off the ground.
Today, as the CIGO of a government agency, I now have the influence and in some cases the authority to effect cultural change across the organization. For example, I created an IG steering committee with the power to impose IG best practices on people, processes and technology.
But even with an executive-level position, it’s critical to obtain support from other executives. Creating an IG program requires cross-departmental changes, including in data management, privacy and security.
These changes may require some departments or individuals to cede some control or responsibility to the IG program, and resistance to those changes can come from other executives. A single executive cannot set the overall organizational strategy for handling information and will likely not be able to overcome resistance at the top or resolve issues of misunderstanding and miscommunication. The more support there is at the executive level, the easier it will be to produce change.
