Nine tips to ensure information governance success
Tip 6—Gather Key Metrics
Like anything, it all comes down to numbers. Make sure to compile and gather key metrics to gauge your success. You’ll obviously want to share and communicate your successes and progress so you can show others that the information governance process is working. Additionally, you’ll also want to be able to identify your weaknesses so you can focus more on those to get back on track more quickly.
Tip 7—Leverage Expertise
Be sure to leverage the expertise of your committee members. These individuals will have a diverse background – take advantage of their knowledge, but don’t monopolize their time. Have regular meetings in order to convey to everyone what each individual is doing, discuss any weaknesses, and find out what’s working or what’s not to keep the process moving. When they come together as a team, make sure to leverage all that they have to offer.
Tip 8—Communicate with the User Community
These are the wild cards—the users. Be sure to tell all the employees why IG is important, help them understand. Be explicit – ambiguity is not your friend. Don’t let the users connect their own dots, do it for them. Don’t hide behind a newsletter or email. Discuss face-to-face and encourage questions from them so they’ll know that they’re involved and you’re listening to them. Make sure that they understand they are an important part of making this process successful.
Tip 9—Train Everyone
Make sure that all employees are involved in training so they understand why you are doing this, how it affects them, and why they’re included. Be sure to setup some frequency – whether it’s annual or semi-annual to have their training refreshed.
SUMMARY
Doing nothing is not an option, and pretending your data isn't evidence is naïve. Make sure you know where all your data is, regardless of the intent of the data— it IS evidence. So, create a plan for your information governance, be sure to communicate the plan, and then implement the plan, train, train, train, and communicate, communicate, communicate.
Sherpa Software is a leading provider of technology-driven information governance solutions who has helped more than 3,500 companies worldwide. Sherpa's award-winning software, services, and support address information management, regulatory compliance, electronic discovery, PST migration/management, email archiving, and more. Sherpa Altitude IG, Sherpa Software's signature information governance platform, connects to more data sources than traditional platforms, leaves your data in-place, and offers robust analytics and metrics, while addressing core business issues. For more information, visit www.sherpasoftware.com or follow @SherpaSoftware on Twitter.