Data Governance for the Enterprise: How to Create Enforceable Policies

Data is one of the most powerful tools any business has to affect change, drive productivity, and compete in a crowded market. The ability to analyze and interpret the data is equally as important, though. As such, data visualization is instrumental in breaking down the numbers into insights and using them to create actionable plans enterprise-wide.

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In this guide, we’re going to see how your approach to data management and visualization can aid your shift towards becoming an agile enterprise. We’ll also take a look at how you can implement new policies from the agile dynamic, so you can drive forward in this rapidly-evolving world of business.

The Agile Enterprise

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The agile enterprise is one which can adapt to changing times, thrive in a remote work environment, and quickly bounce back when things go wrong. As such, it’s a worthwhile goal to pursue, since the COVID-19 pandemic-struck world demands a flexible work dynamic from the small business right up to the large enterprise.

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Gone are the days where the enterprise could fill a cookie-cutter mold with rigid policy, strict protocols, and inflexible work schedules. Today, the enterprise needs to be fluid like water, catering to individual employees, teams, and changing circumstances.

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The McKinsey report on the ‘agile impact engine’ shows that a willingness to be flexible can yield great productivity and financial results. The report suggests that businesses that are agile can boost financial performance by 20-30%, so you can’t afford to ignore this movement.

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However, these results come with several caveats. The McKinsey report suggests that for the change to be effective, an enterprise needs to make wholesale changes and alter policy at every level of the organization.

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How to Create an Agile Work Environment

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Now that you’re curious about how the agile work environment could benefit your enterprise, let’s take a look at some of the steps you can take to create one.

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Establish a Solid Foundation 

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The first thing you need to know is that the agile enterprise is built on a solid foundation. A highly flexible business can be volatile and unstable, so you need to first ensure that you have the infrastructure in place to support rapid, wholesale change. 

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Offering all of your employees a hybrid work schedule in one go isn’t likely to be a sustainable initiative, unless you’re starting from a place of stability - structurally and financially.

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Adjust your Operating Models

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Your operating models underpin everything your enterprise does, so you need to make sure that what you currently have in place best serves the agile environment.

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Operating models can be classified according to the following categories:

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•  Structure 
•  Strategy 
•  People 
•  Process
•  Technology

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For each of these operating models, consider how you can accommodate a modern workforce that thrives on flexibility, and needs intuitive systems to accelerate everything from training to onboarding.

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One of the best ways to hold everything together enterprise-wide is to invest in employee tracking software. Work computer monitoring software can provide you with the kind of data that you can use to inform marketing strategy, maintain efficient workflows, and connect the individuals in your enterprise.

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Track Key Metrics

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The final factor to consider when creating an agile work environment is how you’re going to assess and evaluate performance.

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Key performance indicators (KPIs) are essential for monitoring employee performance, which will let you know if you’re on track with your business goals. Again, employee tracking tools are incredibly useful for this purpose. 

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When you’re monitoring employees at work with accurate time data at your disposal, you can ensure you run a tight ship; course-correcting and addressing issues using arguably the most important metric there is.

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When you introduce your workforce to your new agile work environment, you need to ensure that they’re on board with the changes. By presenting the time data, you can show employees the impact they’re making, and also hold data-backed performance appraisals. 

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You’ll also be better equipped to deal with employee burnout when you use an online employee tracking system, which is an issue that afflicts many individuals and can spell disaster for your business. With monitoring employee software, you can call meetings to discuss issues if you notice lapses in productivity and an increase in idle time.

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The Role of Software in the Agile Enterprise

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The evidence is clear: software plays a pivotal role in business.

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This is especially true for the agile enterprise, since inefficient workflows and sub-optimal processes will slow productivity down to a crawl. The enterprise needs software tools like a small business needs investment – success depends on it.

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There are several types of software that can help you introduce new policies, boost productivity, and ultimately increase your revenue. Here are three of the most important:

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Project Management

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Project management tools allow you to schedule tasks and projects, create accurate estimates, and draw up budgets for clients. They also allow for cross-team and department collaboration, which is key for agile enterprises.

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With the right project management software you can make your recruitment process more efficient, speed up the movement of projects through the pipeline, and ensure everyone is on the same page.

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Employee Tracking

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Employee tracking software helps you to monitor employee performance with the most important metric: time.

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With computer employee monitoring software you can accelerate the transition to an agile work environment, as you can identify bottlenecks or individual productivity slumps and address them as you notice them.

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Screen monitoring software for employees can also help you hold your employees accountable and instill self-accountability, which can be helpful when introducing new training initiatives or policies.

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Communication

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Without communication tools, many businesses likely wouldn’t have made it through the pandemic and the various lockdowns it brought about.

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We all know about Zoom, and how it continues to be central to how many businesses communicate today, but it’s just one of many tools that facilitate employee interaction and engagement.

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You can’t expect to thrive in a changing work environment if you don’t have the means to instantly reach your coworkers, superiors, or HR department.

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Final Thoughts: Data Governance for the Enterprise

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Data drives the modern business, so you’d be wise to use it to become more adaptable and flexible.

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The agile enterprise is a worthy status to pursue, since it allows you to ride with the punches rather than suffering long recoveries after setbacks. The modern employee needs flexibility, so the onus is on the enterprise to provide it.  Internet monitoring software products facilitate that adaptability, and allow you to ensure everyone is on the same page working towards a shared goal.

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