Data Governance — Role-based Learning Journeys
VeriTech Group · Data governance programme
Role-based learning journeys
Three interconnected journeys. Synchronous time reserved for what only a room can do. Pre-work is never more than 10 minutes. An optional pre-course activity gives every learner a voice before the first session starts.
Programme at a glance
~5.5h
Live time per role
≤10 min
Pre-work per session
4
Sessions per role
30 days
Transfer period
Optional pre-course activity — voice your blocks
Optional · 10 minutes · before programme starts Voice your blocks
Before the first session, learners are invited — not required — to answer three short questions. Their responses shape the scenarios and examples used in the live sessions. This isn't a needs analysis. It's a signal that this programme was built around real people, not expert assumptions.
What is the one thing about your new role that feels most unclear right now?
What are you most worried about getting wrong in the first 30 days?
What would make it hard for you to apply what you learn in this programme?
Responses are anonymous. The facilitator reviews them before session 1 and uses them to select the most relevant scenarios. Learners who don't complete it participate in exactly the same programme — nothing is gated behind this activity.
Persona
SH
Sandra Hoffmann, 44
Head of Operations · VeriTech Group Munich · Data Owner (just assigned)
I was told I own the data. I just don't know what that means in practice — or what happens if I get it wrong.
Business-experienced Track B Low data confidence
Learning journey — click any session to expand
Pre Diagnostic + manager briefing 8 min self-paced + 60 min live
Outcome
Learners placed in the right track. Managers understand the role and commit to the day-30 check-in before any learning begins.
Self-paced — 8 min
10-question diagnostic — determines Track A or Track B
Live — 60 min
Manager Intelligence Briefing — role-specific passport distributed
S1 What you are now accountable for 8 min self-paced + 90 min live
Learning objective
Participants can sort real situations into Data Owner vs Data Steward vs IT responsibility without prompting.
Self-paced — 8 min
Complete the 12-scenario sort individually before arriving
Live — 90 min
Debrief the sort as a group — disagreements are the learning
SME Q&A on the most contested scenarios
Role boundaries agreed and documented together
Why this works
Coming in with a position already formed means the live session starts with real disagreement — not a blank page. The facilitator doesn't teach role boundaries. The group discovers them by arguing about edge cases.
S2 Making real decisions with consequences 8 min self-paced + 90 min live
Learning objective
Participants make the three most common Data Owner decisions under ambiguity and understand the downstream consequences of getting them wrong.
Self-paced — 8 min
Read three scenario summaries and submit an initial decision for each — one sentence, no context given yet
Live — 90 min
Each scenario played out live — full context revealed, decisions debated
Failure states shown — what happens 3 months later if the wrong call is made
Participants revise their pre-submitted decision and explain what changed
Why this works
Committing to a decision before seeing the full picture — then having to defend or reverse it in the room — creates the kind of memory that sticks. The pre-work takes 10 minutes. The moment of changing your mind publicly is remembered for weeks.
S3 Governance conversations that actually work 8 min self-paced + 75 min live
Learning objective
Participants can handle a quality escalation from a Data Steward and communicate a data decision clearly to a non-technical stakeholder.
Self-paced — 8 min
Draft a one-paragraph response to an escalation scenario — submitted before the session
Live — 75 min
Role-play — a Data Steward brings a real quality issue, participants respond as Owner
Guest Data Owner shares what surprised them in their first 90 days
Peer feedback on pre-submitted draft responses
Why this works
Drafting a response before the session means everyone arrives with a position, not a blank mind. The role-play tests it under mild pressure. The guest gives perspective that no facilitator can replicate — they've actually done this job.
S4 Cross-role simulation — all three cohorts 8 min self-paced + half day live
Learning objective
Data Owners, Stewards, and Use Case Owners work through one realistic scenario together with no facilitator giving the answer.
Self-paced — 8 min
Read your role-specific scenario brief
Prepare your opening position — one paragraph
Live — half day
Full cross-role simulation — no facilitator resolution
Structured debrief across all three roles
30-day action plan set in the room
Why this stays as a half day
Three roles collaborating under pressure in real time cannot be shortened without losing the thing that makes it work. Every other session was kept tight so this one could stay whole.
Transfer plan
30-day action plan — set in the room at session 4
Set one data quality target for their domain
Make one access decision without escalating to IT
Establish a working relationship with their Data Steward
Manager structured check-in at day 30 — three questions from the passport
Scalability: all pre-work modules are reusable across cohorts. Session 1 debrief can be run by an internal SME after a one-hour train-the-trainer from cohort 2 onwards.
What we measure
Role clarity score
Pre vs post session 1
Decision confidence
Before S2 and at day 30
Action plan completion
Reviewed at day 30
Cross-role relationship
Real governance conversation made
Persona
MB
Marco Bianchi, 38
Senior Business Analyst · Finance · Data Steward (just assigned)
I know what the data means in Finance. I just don't know how to convince Sales that their definition is wrong without starting a fight.
Data-experienced Track A Low political confidence
Learning journey — click any session to expand
S1 What is a definition and why does it matter 8 min self-paced + 90 min live
Learning objective
Participants can identify at least three data elements in their own domain with conflicting definitions and explain why each conflict matters.
Self-paced — 8 min
Definition audit — pick one data term and find every different definition currently in use across departments
Live — 90 min
Gallery walk of submitted audits — patterns across domains surfaced
Discussion: which conflicts cost the most and why
Standard definition template introduced and practised on a live example
Why this works
The audit takes 15 minutes and uses material the learner already has. The live session is immediately relevant because everyone arrives with a real example from their own domain — not a textbook case.
S2 Resolving definition conflicts without starting a fight 8 min self-paced + 90 min live
Learning objective
Participants can facilitate a definition conflict resolution conversation and document the agreed definition in standard format.
Self-paced — 8 min
Plan your facilitation approach for the simulation — submitted before the session
Live — 90 min
Live simulation — Finance vs Sales definition conflict
Failure state revealed if a definition is imposed rather than agreed
Agreed definition documented in standard template in the room
Why this works
Arriving with a facilitation plan means participants can't be passive in the simulation. They have a strategy to test — and the live session tells them whether it works.
S3 Spotting and escalating data quality issues 8 min self-paced + 60 min live
Learning objective
Participants can classify a data quality issue and escalate appropriately to the Data Owner or IT.
Self-paced — 8 min
Classify five anonymised quality issues — definition problem, process problem, or system problem
Live — 60 min
Debrief classifications — where did people land differently and why
Guest IT engineer — what Stewards can fix vs what needs a ticket
Practise writing a clear escalation to a Data Owner
Why this works
Classification is the skill. The pre-work makes participants commit to a category before they hear the reasoning. Disagreement in the debrief is where the nuance lives.
S4 Cross-role simulation — all three cohorts 8 min self-paced + half day live
The Steward's role
The Data Steward is the linchpin. They discover a customer definition inconsistency, flag it without derailing the Use Case Owner's brief, facilitate a resolution with the Data Owner, and provide a quality assessment before the dashboard can proceed.
Self-paced — 8 min
Draft your quality assessment — submitted before the simulation
Live — half day
Full cross-role simulation
30-day action plan set in the room
Transfer plan
30-day action plan — set in the room at session 4
Document and publish one agreed data definition
Facilitate and resolve one real cross-department definition conflict
Log and correctly escalate one data quality issue
Manager check-in at day 30 — three questions from the Steward passport
Scalability: definition audit and triage pre-work are fully reusable. Session 2 simulation can be peer-facilitated from cohort 3 onwards.
What we measure
Definition audit completeness
Pre vs post session 1
Facilitation confidence
Before S2 and at day 30
Definitions published
In governance tool by day 30
Escalation made
Real conversation with Data Owner
Persona
YD
Yusuf Demir, 41
Customer Operations Manager · Frankfurt · Data Use Case Owner (just assigned)
I know exactly what the business needs. I just don't know how to explain it to the technical team in a way they can actually use.
Business-experienced Track B Weak on structured articulation
Learning journey — click any session to expand
S1 From frustration to problem statement 8 min self-paced + 90 min live
Learning objective
Participants can write a one-sentence problem statement that passes the "so what" test — without mentioning technology, dashboards, or data.
Self-paced — 8 min
Write one paragraph describing a real business problem — no technology, no data, no proposed solution
Live — 90 min
Peer sharpening — group challenges each problem with the "so what" test
Most common error surfaced: confusing the solution with the problem
Each participant leaves with a sharpened one-sentence problem statement
Why this works
The room starts with real material from minute one. The "so what" challenge lands harder when it's applied to your own problem, not a case study.
S2 Writing a brief that technical teams can act on 8 min self-paced + 90 min live
Learning objective
Participants complete a structured use case brief that a technical team can act on without a follow-up meeting.
Self-paced — 8 min
Draft a first version of your use case brief using the template — submitted before the session
Live — 90 min
Brief clinic — peers give structured feedback
Failure state: brief without success criteria — shows what gets built instead
Each participant leaves with a revised brief ready to submit
Why this works
Arriving with a drafted brief turns the session into a refinement workshop. The live time is spent on the hardest part — success criteria and peer challenge — not on introducing the concept.
S3 Presenting and defending your use case 8 min self-paced + 75 min live
Learning objective
Participants can pitch their use case to a technical stakeholder, respond to hard questions, and revise their brief based on feedback.
Self-paced — 8 min
Prepare a 3-minute verbal pitch — no slides, no notes in the room
Live — 75 min
Each participant pitches to a panel — data engineer and analyst as reviewers
Hard questions: what does success look like in 6 months? What if data quality is too low?
Brief revised in real time based on panel feedback
Why this works
Defending a brief verbally without slides is exactly what the role requires. Preparing the pitch takes 10 minutes. Being challenged in the room creates confidence that a written exercise never produces.
S4 Cross-role simulation — all three cohorts 8 min self-paced + half day live
The Use Case Owner's role
The Use Case Owner drives the scenario. They present the customer audit dashboard brief, receive a quality concern from the Data Steward mid-session, negotiate scope with the Data Owner, and revise their brief in real time under pressure.
Self-paced — 8 min
Submit final version of use case brief — this is what the simulation starts with
Live — half day
Full cross-role simulation
30-day action plan set in the room
Transfer plan
30-day action plan — set in the room at session 4
Submit one use case brief to the Data Governance team
Validate data availability with the relevant Data Steward before submitting
Agree one success criterion with the technical team
Manager check-in at day 30 — three questions from the Use Case Owner passport
Scalability: session 1 problem submission and session 2 brief drafting are fully reusable. Session 2 brief clinic runs as peer review from cohort 3 onwards.
What we measure
Problem statement quality
Pre vs post session 1
Brief submission rate
Submitted to governance by day 30
Brief acceptance rate
Accepted without major revision
Steward consulted
Before brief submission
Session 4 — all cohorts Cross-role simulation
Data Owner Data Steward Use Case Owner
All three cohorts run session 4 simultaneously onsite. One scenario, three roles, no facilitator resolution. A Use Case Owner presents a customer audit dashboard brief. The Data Steward flags a definition inconsistency. The Data Owner must make an access and prioritisation decision. All three must reach a workable outcome together.