Five Best Practices for Building an Information Governance Strategy That Lasts

Imagine running a busy household with no real system for managing mail, bills, or important documents. Tax forms get mixed in with grocery receipts, warranties disappear into random drawers, and appointment confirmations live somewhere in your inbox — you’re just not sure where. When it’s time to file taxes or submit insurance paperwork, you spend hours digging through piles and scrolling through emails, hoping you didn’t miss something important. What felt like normal clutter suddenly turns into stress and uncertainty.

That’s how information operates inside many organizations today. Information is created constantly and in countless forms, from employee records to financial data, client information to emails, websites to social media posts, and more. Information governance (IG) is the discipline that brings order to that complexity. It defines the policies, processes, and responsibilities that guide how information is created, managed, shared, protected, and ultimately disposed of across an organization. (Do not confuse data governance with information governance – though they sound similar, IG is the broader term that covers all information, while data governance focuses on structured data only.)

With an estimated 402.74 million terabytes of data created every day, information can no longer be treated as background noise. It’s a business asset, and like any asset, it requires intentional oversight. When done well, information governance not only reduces data breach risk and strengthens security but also improves productivity, supports compliance, and helps organizations scale with confidence.

Global Information Governance Day, observed on the third Thursday in February, shines a light on why this work matters in an increasingly digital world. Information governance is a constantly evolving discipline, and best practices continue to evolve as technologies and regulations change. In recognition of Global Information Governance Day, we’re sharing five key tactics to maintain a long-term, secure information governance strategy that positions your organization for success.

How to Make Information Governance Stick

Every organization’s information landscape is unique, so there is no universal blueprint for information governance. However, there are proven best practices that successful programs share, regardless of how they are tailored. Building an effective IG policy starts with identifying the information that matters most to your organization, but the work doesn’t stop once your policies are written or new tools are implemented. The following five best practices provide a practical framework for supporting and sustaining your information governance policy over time.

1. Ensure cross-functional collaboration. Information governance cannot be confined to a single department. Because information flows across legal, IT, compliance, HR, finance, and operations, creation and oversight of your strategy must be equally cross-functional. To ensure a clear path to success, executive leadership should define decision-making authority and require representation from key business units.
2. Secure buy-in for continuous improvement. Effective IG requires executive sponsorship at the senior leadership level and a shared understanding that process improvement is an ongoing journey. Just as critical is buy-in from end users, whose daily activities ultimately determine the long-term strength of governance policies. A team that understands the importance of your IG strategy will be more effective in maintaining its implementation.
3. Develop training programs. Training programs are critical to support a new IG initiative and should be mandatory for everyone within the organization. Tailor programs to your organization’s specific information risks, regulatory requirements, and work environments using relevant, role-based examples. Ensure the training goes beyond explaining policies to help employees understand how IG applies to their day-to-day responsibilities.
4. Schedule actionable meetings. Your IG council or cross-functional team should meet on a regular basis (at least quarterly) to evaluate performance reports, the use of new technology, budget concerns, and changes in management. Ensure your team or council has the authority to modify strategies based on the information presented at these meetings.
5. Lean on technological support. Although it is important to remain hands-on, there needs to be some level of automation during each stage of an IG program’s lifecycle to build true longevity and scale. Data analytics, automated classification, and monitoring tools can help your organization manage information consistently and efficiently. If possible, consider automating non-compliance detection and self-assessment monitoring.

Whether your organization is just beginning to define an information governance policy or taking a fresh look at existing procedures, these best practices provide a foundation for protecting critical information and supporting long-term business goals.

The important thing to remember is that effective IG is not static; it requires ongoing monitoring and adaptation to keep pace with changing regulations, technologies, and risks. That’s why Access Unify® | Lifecycle includes a dedicated managed service to keep you audit-ready and proactively responding to regulatory changes that affect your IG strategy.

Discover how we combine continuously updated legal research with managed expertise and secure software to keep your IG program defensible and up to date with Access Unify® | Lifecycle.