Most companies build a data warehouse with some pretty strong expectations about achieving a Return on Investment. Most companies are still waiting on those returns. Why are the promises (and potential) of BI investments returns not being seen?

In its simplest form, the problem is with the model, and we don’t mean the data model. What improvements drove the business case for the BI system in the first place? You did create a business case, right?

What measures are really driving profit in your business? How does your data warehouse improve the Key Performance Indicators you use every day to track the health and success of your business? If you don’t have the answers to those questions, the ROIs you seek will prove to be very elusive.

Your BI environment should assist you in monitoring and measuring your success against KPIs. Are the processes you manage improved by the information you are able to obtain from the BI environment? While ‘better reporting’ is one benefit of an adequately built BI environment, that isn’t going to cover the high cost of building one.

Now for the hard part – what KPIs are important? Does every department understand how the work they do impacts those KPIs? Does every department even agree on what the KPIs are? These questions should be answered ideally before you even embark on a BI initiative. What if you’re already knee deep in an implementation or have a ‘legacy’ BI environment? Consider a Business Intelligence Competency Center (BICC). A BICC should have one primary goal, and that is helping your organization achieve a Return on its BI investment.

Congratulations!  By this step you have made the commitment to protect your most valuable data assets, identified key stakeholders, established regular discussions with these stakeholders, and identified the scope of your governance initiative.

Remember a key to success will be keeping this small, gathering senior level support, and celebrating frequent successes.

The governance model has several components; business elements, actions, metrics, agents.

In your stakeholder meetings you likely have discussed the scope of your initiative and through that discussion identified the key business elements that need governance.   These should be the business’s most important or most used data.  It is also likely to be the most confidential or most controversial.  And for all of these reasons each line of business, business department, or analytic team probably has their own data store and their own data definitions for these (therein lies the problem that you are working to solve).

Next, you and your stakeholder group will define the actions or operations that will be used to align these business elements across the disparate teams, data stores, or reports and get a common definition and common method of handling this data.  How will your group make decisions, process approvals, and reconcile differences?

It is critical at this step to be selective and pick the low hanging fruit and the items with the biggest bang for the buck.  Don’t try to define actions that cover all situations or you will find yourself endlessly meeting and discussing to account for every possible scenario.  I have seen many data governance initiative die at this point because teams cannot agree.

Next, we focus on metrics and the agents that will enforce the model you create.

A  Data Governance framework is comprised of the following parts;

• Oversight Board
• Stakeholder Forum
• Process Agents
• Business and Technical Liaisons
• A Repository
• Defined Focus Areas

Approaches that begin with spending money are doomed to failure, so start by building the portions that don’t require capital expenditures yet have real business impact.  The Stakeholder Forum is a perfect place to start for both of these reasons.

Stakeholders are the people, functional groups, and teams that depend on the data within the scope of your governance initiative.  To incubate this initiative, be sure to hand pick stakeholders that are already active in data.  Business analysts make excellent candidates because the quality of their reports and analytics are directly dependent on the data you are trying to govern.

Establish a roundtable with these stakeholders where you jointly identify the business needs and justification for a Data Governance function in your organization.  Next, define the role of Data Steward and leverage the Stewards to solve problems that arise with your data, such as conflicting data definitions.  Finally, establish some training, even if just simple documentation. 

Remember to start your Data Governance program by identifying the business’s most important or most used data.  Select a team of folks (such as business analysts) that use and depend upon this data and therefore have a vested interest.  Then leverage this team to create a Data Stakeholder forum and define needs, solutions, and training.

The topic of Data Governance can be abstract and difficult to define, furthermore, it often fails because of a lack of business focus.

Don’t let these challenges keep you from managing your extremely valuable data assets. Data Governance, done properly, establishes a foundation for defining, managing, changing, and integrating the Data in your organization. It enables the processes that will care for your Data and outlines the organizational decisions which impact Data’s meaning and value.

In this series of posts, we’ll outline the steps in building a framework to give concrete meaning to Data Governance in real business terms.

Your starting point is to create a Data Governance Framework which defines the essential scope and supporting processes. The goal is to align business needs with the governing functions, ensuring that the most important and most necessary pieces are established first. Move one step at a time and do not try to tackle the entire framework at once (it’s too daunting).

Before you can obtain the support of your executive management team, you first must identify critical business data needs and then pick the one most relevant to your business. If you are unsure where to start, try in sales or financials. Find the data elements are most controversial, most used, most confidential, or most regulated. Use these examples to build your business case and your sales pitch to gain executive leadership support for the concept.

Assuming you have support for the initiative, establish your Data Governance Organization. This is the authoritative body when it comes to Data decisions. Most importantly, it can be virtual and does not require additional staff (avoiding additional costs will be key to your success). This organization is responsible for the guidance, planning, and stewardship of your Governance initiative and we will define these responsibilities in more detail in the next post.

Let the framework serve as your roadmap to creating and launching a successful and business focused Data Governance program.

 First of all I want to credit my friend, client and fellow golfer, Deb Waitkus, with the idea for this article.  Deb is the founder and CEO of Golf for Cause.  She is an expert in demystifying the game, turning ‘Golf into Gold^TM, and leveraging golf for business.  The Rules of Golf which as you may know can be very obscure, daunting, and at time bewildering.  It struck me as I read them there are many parallels between golf and leading a business.  The rules of leading effectively can also be quite daunting and at times bewildering. 

The Royal and Ancient Club may not have had business lessons in mind when those rugged Scotsman devised this challenging game, but they did us all a great service both recreationally and professionally when they codified the rules of the game over the years.  Here are a few samples of how golf and business parallel each other.

For those of you that are golfers I have adapted the Slow Play Test from Golf for Cause newsletter to a Slow Play Test for Leaders and Managers.

Slow Play Test for Leaders and Managers                                                                                      Yes      No

 http://www.peakperformancecorp.com

http://www.joycefriel.blogspot.com

An article, “The High Cost of Employee Disengagement”  (http://www.wistechnology.com/articles/983) is not only informative, but also quite startling.  As a leader of your organization you are also likely to find the content disturbing because it presents such a challenge to us as leaders.  I suspect we all think we are doing a better job than we really are. 

I am in the midst of an organizational assessment for a regional professional service firm.  Fortunately, I am finding the vast majority of their employees are engaged which is demonstrated through their hard work and committed to results.  Further, the great news is the leaders want to know how the entire organization can be more successful, thus the request to conduct the assessment. While most of their employees are already engaged, I want to help them see the ROI potential they have by providing the direction and culture through which ALL the employees can become fully engaged.

The Gallup Organization’s most recent Employee Engagement Index reports:

• Active disengagement costs the US $300 billion a year in lost productivity at a time when we cannot afford it (just imagine the positive impact on our economy if we could turn this around)
• 17% or 22.5 million workers are actively disengaged (unhappy, busy acting out their frustrations, angry, alienated, poisoning others, involved in idle chatter, etc.)
• Each one of these disengaged employees costs their employer $13K per year in lost productivity
• Only 22% of workers are truly engaged working with passion and commitment to their company
• At least 71% are on cruise control

So why do 7 out of 10 workers feel a high degree of apathy? And, more importantly, what can you as a leader do to avoid this drain on your organization?  

For decades, employees have been saying the same thing in almost every employee survey report.  Their lack of engagement comes primarily from managers whom they perceive do not care about them, lack of clarity about the goals of their organization, poor communications (lack of information needed to do their job well, about company performance, and about their own personal performance), the perceived inability to influence the results of the organization, and weak accountability.

Those of us in the organizational development (OD) profession would say the source is the lack of an effective organizational culture. A culture that lacks leadership, a clear vision of where the organization is going, an appropriate organizational structure, accountability and measurements of success, an intentional communications systems, etc.  When employees have clarity about where the organization is going and how they can add value, when they believe their manager cares about their welfare and their contribution, they feel respected, valued and are rewarded appropriately, and when they have the information and tools to do their job well, the vast majority of the time they will be engaged, committed and contribute positively.

So if you have an abundance of ‘water cooler conversations’ going on in your own organization, take a quick assessment of what might be missing from your culture that is allowing so many employees to spend some portion of their time unproductively.  Leading by example and holding everyone accountable for results are critical to producing results through highly satisfied employees. 

http://www.peakperformancecorp.com

http://www.joycefriel.blogspot.com

You know the old adage…’there are two kinds of people in the world’.  There are many ways to look at this dichotomy – men and women, old and young, tall and short, and so on.  I’d add another. There are process people and those who can’t stand process.  I’m the process type.  This article focuses on the valuable role a skilled facilitator can play in helping you and your group move toward achieving better results faster.  

What is a facilitator?

A facilitator is a process person.  Their job is to manage the process of information exchange, decision-making, discussion-guidance, and effective group dynamics in order to achieve the results you are targeting for your work session.  In short, the facilitator’s responsibility is to address the journey rather than the destination.   You concentrate on the content and destination and the facilitator concentrates on the process and journey.

Why would you want to use a facilitator?

That’s easy!  You want to use a facilitator in order to free yourself and other group members to be able to concentrate on the quality of the content and decisions, to optimize your time, and to maximize group effectiveness.  Gee!  With all those benefits, why wouldn’t you want to use a facilitator?

When would you want to use a facilitator?   Anytime you are concerned with…

* both the decisions and how they are made

* optimizing the time invested by the group

* ensuring an inclusive process and quality results

* reducing resistance and increasing employee buy-in

* accommodating and managing a variety of styles, interests, and agendas

In short, anytime you and your staff as content experts want to be free from managing the process, and need to optimize time, effort and results.

How do you specify your needs?

A good facilitator will know how to help you design the work session in order to optimize results, but it is helpful if you can…

* articulate the outcomes you want to achieve

* characterize the perspectives of the participants

* share the norms the group currently uses

* lead by example so others are willing to give up their sense of control of the process in order to concentrate  on the quality of the content and the decisions being made.

http://www.peakperformancecorp.com

http://www.joycefriel.blogspot.com

Don’t get me wrong – I love routines.  They are familiar, easy, often effective, some times pleasurable. But that may be precisely the problem.  For the very same reasons, routines are also dangerously seductive.  Undue reliance on them can cause us to become handcuffed, ultimately causing our today’s and tomorrow’s to look like our yesterday’s.  Daily, well-trodden pathways can produce well-worn feelings.  Be careful of routines, sometimes they are so good they are bad.

Of course, routines cannot be beaten when they help us accomplish recurring tasks, but if we want to construct wonderful memories, then we may need to halt what is ordinary and orderly in order to do what is   extraordinary and new.

For many of us, our professional lives do us a favor.  They provide variety and challenge.  Even so, there is routine. We leave for work at about the same time each day, we travel the same route, we do similar tasks each day, we go home by the same route at about the same time, we eat, watch TV, check e-mail and voice mail, go to bed at the same general time, etc. And wake up tomorrow in order to leave for work at the same time and do it all over again.

How about it?  Will you remember today, tomorrow or the next day one year from now?  If not, then maybe it’s time to give yourself a break from your routine.   Have an adventure. Make that call.  Arrange that trip. Visit that place. Introduce yourself. Make a beginning.  Make an ending.  Write it.  Buy it. Say it.  

You gave many other people gifts. It’s time to give yourself the gift of possibilities and make your days and your life memorable. 

http://www.peakperformancecorp.com

http://joycefriel.blogspot.com

I have recently aided several clients with policies for their organizations.  This work underscored that no matter what the situation, when there is a major crisis, leadership and communications are vital.  This article is about communications before, during and after a crisis situation. 

Oh, My Gosh!  No Phones!

You probably have a list of emergency phone numbers and contacts in your contingency plans. But what if both land lines and cell phones don’t work?  Do you have a method in your contingency plan that tells people where to get information when it is impossible to reach them?  For example, is there a centralized community bulletin board or community emergency disaster center in your area?  Or consider establishing an emergency internet site which even in time of non-emergency tells people what to do in case something occurs.

Remote Contacts and Storage Locations

That emergency contact list you have for all employees, does it list people who live with them or contacts in another area?  Consider asking for a contact that doesn’t live in the area in case the entire area is affected by a disaster.  

Double check to ensure all your information is stored in a safe place.  It is likely that if you have an emergency contact list off site – possibly at your home or at your HR manager’s home.  Sounds safe, but in the case of Katrina all the homes were destroyed also.  Think about storing a copy in a remote location or use a commercial vendor to store confidential data of site as a back-up.  A friend of mine is an HR VP for a company that was in the World Trade Center.  Fortunately, she had a copy of all their employee contacts in another state so she could readily get access to vital information.

Top of Mind Questions

The most important questions after finding out if family members are safe are all about leadership.  Things like…

Do I still have a job?   Will my benefits continue?    Where will I find temporary housing and what about school and day care?   How will I get paid if I am not in the immediate area?  How will my insurance claims be handled if I have to use out-of-network providers?  Can the Employee Assistance Program help me and how can I reach them?   And on and on.

How Can I Help?

Also anticipate the communication needs of employees who are not affected. They want to help, but need to know how to do so and what help is needed. Again the community disaster bulletin board or an emergency internet site can be very helpful.  

Of course, my hope is that no one ever has to deal with these concerns, but as the leaders of our organizations we have the obligation to be prepared. 

http://www.peakperformancecorp.com

http://www.joycefriel.blogspot.com

Do you find yourself stuck in the proverbial box?  Can’t figure out how to get out of it?  Wish you were more creative, innovative, original?                             

I’ve often wished I were more intuitive and creative.  I admire people who have intuition and creative ability. I marvel at their sense of originality.    My sister is a very talented fine artist and compared to her I have always felt I had very little creativity.     Oddly enough, she thinks I am very creative, but in a totally different sense.  She in fine arts, I in finding solutions to business problems.

I don’t have any empirical research to back up my hunch, but I’d bet that one of the reasons we often have difficulty getting ‘out of our box’ is that we simply don’t slow down long enough to listen to the intuition we do possess.  I know it is very easy for me to get caught up in the activity trap and not spend enough time in simple reflection. 

Look what happens when we take the time to intentionally ‘get out of our box’. Here are three examples of how I’ve been able to tap into my creative side and take a non-traditional approach to an age-old dilemma. The age-old dilemma is how to get the business of a potential client or even get in the door.  My ‘out of the box’ approach follows….and by the way, I got the business.

* I wanted to meet an influential person who was on a Board of Directors so I offered to design and facilitate the Board of Directors retreat on a pro bono basis. 

Out of the Box Thinking – Find a creative way to meet those who make the decisions!

* I wanted to be the provider of choice for selected topics for programs offered through a community college so I made it a point to meet each of the members of the College Board of Directors. 

Out of the Box Thinking – Figure out who has the power to influence the decisions!

* By inquiring about the typical work pattern at a potential client site, I figured out when the key Director I wanted to meet would most likely to be in the office.  By dropping in at this opportune time, I was able to get an impromptu meeting with the Director I needed to see. 

Out of the Box Thinking – Find out when the person you need to meet is most probably available. 

I know if I stop and listen to my intuition, if I intentionally get out of my ‘activity-trap box’, I am just as creative as my fine-arts sister, but in a very different way.  While she can take ordinary things and make them beautiful, I can take ordinary situations and turn them into business solutions.  Try it, I’ll bet you can too! Let me know if these TIPS help you get out of your box.

 http://www.peakperformancecorp.com

http://joycefriel.blogspot.com