The one Playbook every C-level asks me for
#30 Steal my secret weapon
Hello 😀
This is requested every time. Every new engagement, I have to write a Data Governance Playbook (did you notice it’s also the name I chose for this newsletter 😅). Well it took me 30 editions to tell you what it means !
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Agenda
What’s a “Playbook”
How to use it
Spread it
What’s a “Playbook”
A Data Governance Playbook is here to give the why, what and how of each data governance initiative.
Every C-level is asking it because they need a strategic vision to defend the investments that will be made. This means they want to know what it will bring to the company, the benefits, and how we’ll go there.
Mh I see… so what makes a great data governance playbook?
Let’s start by listing what we need. To do this, go straight to the point. Imagine that someone who never heard the word “data” will read your playbook.
Here’s your checklist :
1️⃣ Context reminder
This part is basically a hook. Your playbook should articulate the 'why' behind your governance strategy. It is very specific to your company, you’ll need to articulate your key business objectives and how data will help reach them.
And also you must tell people what's in it for them ! Start with what is currently stopping people from using data properly so they can understand what you’re talking about. Could things get better?
2️⃣ Vision and missions
The vision must be inspiring and aligned with business goals. It should answer the question “What success look like?”. An example of vision could be “Support faster decision-making by increasing certified data use by 50%.”
From this you can deduce your missions as Data Governance team : define and implement data certification process, activate related roles, etc.
3️⃣ Guiding principles
These are short, memorable rules of thumb (I’d say no more than 7) that your team can recite in corridor conversations. Typical examples :
Value over volume : we catalogue what drives decisions, not every table.
Embedded ownership : stewardship lives with the people who know the data best.
Federated rather than centralized : domains should manage their data scope.
Automation first : manual checks are a stop-gap, not a strategy.
Write them in plain language, the acid test is whether a non-tech executive can paraphrase them back to you.
4️⃣ Framework
Think of the framework as the Playbook’s table of contents : each pillar maps directly to detailed elements or template in the annex. Here’s an example of pillars that compose the framework :
Key take-away : a Playbook is execution-ready. Every bullet must link to a real person, a real artefact, and a real date.
5️⃣ Success metrics
How do you measure success? Your success metrics section translates goals into numbers everyone can track : quality score of assets, % critical data objects with a named steward, % of certified assets, etc.
But usually here it’s not necessary to go into too much details, you can focus on ROI estimation of your key initiatives as this is what execs will look at !
6️⃣ Roadmap & decisions
Write a high level roadmap for the first year but also more concrete actions for the next 90 days : who will do what, when, with which tools? It must be pragmatic in the short term with clear deliverables.
Define decisions committees as well in this section, especially the Data Governance board who will validate your next priorities.
How to use it
The Playbook is drafted by the Data Governance team, obviously! Yet it only gains traction once 3 key voices give it a nod :
Head of Data / Chief Data Officer – keeps it aligned with analytics and AI roadmaps.
IT Director – sanity-checks infrastructure, security, and key policies feasibility.
Business Sponsor (one, not ten!) – ensures it tackles a real revenue, compliance, or pain point.
Good news : the sign-off is informal. A 👍 in Teams or Slack is enough, avoid marathon steering committee. The Playbook is a living doc, expect and embrace evolution.
The flow that works
Week 1–2 Draft v0 : Data Governance team sketches scope, roles, and first-90-day wins. No perfectionism here.
Week 3 First approval : 30-min huddle with CDO, IT, and Sponsor. They red-yellow-green every section, reds get owners, yellows get follow-ups.
Week 4 Publish v1.0 : Post to Confluence/SharePoint/Notion where people already live. Label : “Living Document”.
When needed : Iterate based on steward feedback, policy and processes tweaks. Keep a transparent change-log to avoid surprise pivots.
Quarterly pulse : 30-min checkpoint with the 3 approvers to discuss outcomes and what’s missing / to be updated.
Annual refresh : Re-align with next-year OKRs and tech-stack shifts, archive last version for audit traceability.
Slide-ready excerpts
Because the Playbook is modular, you can lift individual sections (vision, roles matrix, data-quality KPIs, 90-Day Roadmap) into slide decks or board briefs without re-writing. Just copy the relevant page and drop it into :
Steering committee updates : show progress on ownership and metrics
AI / Analytics project launch : highlight data quality roles and process
Regulatory risk briefings : pull the privacy & retention policies section.
Your one reference document will be used everywhere, trust me !
Spread it
A Playbook that sits on SharePoint is a wish list. A Playbook that everyone quotes in meetings is a culture.
Here are examples of what you could do to diffuse it :
Weekly Teams posts : share a publication on Teams every week with a reminder on key elements “what’s a data steward?” “what’s our privacy policy?”
Gamify contributions : badges for “Data Steward of the Month”, shout-outs in the company Slack
Playbook quizz : run fun quizz at the end of community meetings, or add them in an online data governance training
Quarterly ‘Playbook Pulse’ survey : 2 questions: Have you used the Playbook this quarter? and Did it help you make a decision? Publish results transparently
On-boarding starter kit : new hires get the Playbook in week 1 alongside their laptop
These techniques are great to keep it alive over time. But like I said, you need it to be interesting, and for that you need story telling.
Tell a story
Each audience needs a story. This means you’ll probably have to craft 3-4 different stories that will stay in your Context section. The first story I always write is the one for executives, because selling the program to them is mandatory before starting anything.
Here’s a typical selling story from one of my Playbook :
“The €2 Million Data Dividend”
Let’s have a look at last quarter’s hidden data costs:
• €420k analyst re-work
• €380k duplicate vendor payments
• €1.2 M stalled AI use-cases
Caption : “Bad data is already on the P&L.”With this slide at the top of your Playbook, you’ll open with money. And that’s good. Execs react faster to quantified waste than to “better data hygiene.”
See you soon,
Charlotte
I'm Charlotte Ledoux, freelance in Data & AI Governance.
You can follow me on Linkedin !