ADG 7: Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

Alex Leigh

November 04 2025

4 min read

At the start of 2025, we ran the Agile Data Governance (ADG) webinar series.  In this collection of short articles, we’re going to look back at each one to summarise the most important takeaways. It’s been fun going back after a few months to see if there’s anything we missed or even forgotten!

ADG 7 - Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

Overview:

Identifying and avoiding common mistakes in data governance.

Key Points:

• Lack of clear ownership.

• Overcomplicating processes

Good to great: building your DG capability

Data governance is often misunderstood as a technical or abstract concept. If you’re read our previous blogs, we hope you share our view that, at its heart, it’s about helping institutions manage their data for tangible outcomes. We measure these outcomes by our ability to make data informed decisions, assure compliance requirements, and support our staff and students more effectively.

This doesn’t mean though that things don’t and won’t go wrong. So let’s look at why that happens, what is the impact when it does, and how to steer clear of the most common pitfalls.

Challenges versus pitfalls: what’s the difference and why does it matter?

Not all problems are created equal. Some are challenges—things like getting buy-in from leadership or persuading staff to take on data governance roles. These are tough, but they can be overcome with time, effort, negotiation and honest discussions about what’s possible.

Pitfalls, on the other hand, are deal-breakers. If you don’t have the right roles in place, or if no one sees the value of the data governance capability, your efforts might never get off the ground. One team (or one person!) alone clearly cannot manage data across an entire institution.

So you need your network of owners and stewards to bring the ‘data management franchise” into existence and make them feel nurtured to do so

We’ve often seen role definitions written but never acted upon. Hint: don’t send a data owner a out-of-the-blue email informing them of a raft of new activities and expect anything to change!

Culture and communication: the most important things you can do

Data governance isn’t just about data quality and compliance, it’s about people. Many institutions suffer from over protection of “their data” or little interest in how that data is used elsewhere. Or both!

While it may seem obvious why this needs to change, you absolutely must make the case. Remember these efforts are change management activities to make the right thing the easy thing. Ask people to do more, and you’re going to be less successful than offering them a way to improve their own lot, and that of the university.

This will take time. You don’t need a perfect culture from day one, but you do need fellow travellers; for example, teams willing to collaborate on data issues and try to solve them using new approaches. These early adopters can help build the case for governance and show others what’s possible.

And don’t underestimate the power of just talking to everyone. Share updates, even if progress is slow, it still shows that something is happening, what’s coming next, and why it matters. Repeating the message isn’t a bad thing—it’s how you build trust and visibility. We’ve said before there’s a “fake it before you make it” thing going on when establishing your DG capability.

Do not treat DG as a project!

One of the biggest mistakes institutions make is treating data governance like a short-term project. You get approval, run some workshops, maybe set up a few roles, do some DQ stuff to support the project and then the project ends. Those roles disappear, no one wants to look after the data now the project is done, and it’s not clear whose responsibility it is anyway.

DG needs to be business as usual. Projects are useful as incubators or accelerators, but they must represent part of your capability, not all of it. If it’s not embedded into everyday operations, it won’t stick. A capability is something that grows and evolves with your institution.

We’ll say it again: DG is a team sport.

Sometimes the best way to get traction is to work with like minded others.  If your Data Protection Officer or other compliance lead is running a project, see if you can align your governance work with theirs. You’ll often need the same things, eg. roles, frameworks, data quality checks, so working together can help paint a bigger picture that appeals to more people.

This approach also helps governance feel less like an isolated effort and more like part of that bigger picture.

Do the basics right: Best pitfall avoidance strategy!

Sometimes it’s not about trying to avoid mistakes. It’s about focusing on the things that underpin success in any DG capability. That includes:

• Create, agree and publish roles and responsibilities for owners, stewards, producers, consumers, etc.

• Define your data domains, create data landscapes and get the owners to sign them off. Then use them!

• Training and support for all owners and stewards……but also for producers and consumers.

• Easy-to-find documentation, datasets and tools. Make the right thing the easy thing. Try and “put a face on data” so people know they can ask for help and advice.

• Build a visible “shop front” for DG. Make it look like a real, professional thing and keep it fresh,

• Communicate. Way more than you think.  DG seems to cause amnesia! Tell everyone what you’re doing and why it matters to them.

  
  

These elements help people understand how DG makes their life easier. The result - they are more likely to engage and contribute.

Prioritise agility: Evolve and adapt to changes in your institution.

The higher education sector has changed a lot in the last decade, and data governance needs to keep up. What worked ten years ago won’t cut it today. We need to make our capability easy to understand and compelling. Not easy right now, but paradoxically it’s a capability more important than ever.

So don’t be afraid to change what you’re doing. There isn’t a single right way. You must find a path which navigates your institutional challenges without analysis paralysis. Start somewhere, do something

Final Thoughts

Data governance isn’t just about data. It’s about people, relationships, and building something that lasts. By avoiding common pitfalls, communicating clearly and often and treating governance as a long-term capability, institutions can move from purpose to practice.

Next time we’ll be looking at one of those early challenges we talked about: engaging (and continuing to engage) senior leadership.  Until then if you’re ready to scale your DG capability, but are worried about the issues raised in this blog, drop us a line at hello@ed-connect.co.uk and I’m sure we can help out. For some more practical information on data governance, don’t forget there are lots of useful resources on our website too, including recording of this ADG series.