Reducing Friction in Information Governance: The Key to Driving Adoption

Most firms understand the importance of managing data responsibly, whether for regulatory compliance, client expectations, or risk mitigation. Despite that awareness, many governance initiatives fail to gain traction in practice.

The issue is rarely the policy itself. More often, the breakdown happens in execution. When governance processes introduce friction, adoption stalls, and compliance becomes inconsistent. This is where modern compliance software must evolve beyond documentation and enforcement into something more practical: a system aligned with how people actually work.

Why Information Governance Breaks Down in Practice

In many firms, retention policies either do not exist or are not actively followed. Some organizations have never formalized a policy due to the complexity of legal research across jurisdictions. Others have invested in creating detailed retention schedules, only to see them sit unused because they are too difficult to apply in day-to-day workflows.

Even when policies are available, they often rely on manual interpretation. Attorneys or reviewers are asked to evaluate whether a matter can be destroyed, which requires them to check client guidelines, review retention schedules, and assess risk. That process is time-consuming and disruptive to their primary responsibilities.

The result is predictable. When faced with uncertainty and additional effort, most users default to the safest perceived option: keep everything. Over-retention becomes the norm, even though it introduces its own risks related to data exposure, storage costs, and regulatory compliance.

The Real Barrier to Compliance: Human Behavior

To understand why adoption is so difficult, it helps to look beyond systems and focus on behavior. Attorneys are not resistant to governance because they disagree with it. They are resistant because the process asks them to do more work and assume more risk. “They’re just going to say keep it all because they’re not going to take the time to do any of those things,” shared Christian Villa, Director of Project Management at Future in Tech.

Making a disposition decision can feel like a liability. If a document is destroyed too early, the consequences are clear and personal. If data is retained too long, the risk is more abstract and often falls on the organization rather than the individual. Faced with that imbalance, users tend to avoid making decisions altogether.

There is also a practical barrier. Attorneys typically operate within a small set of tools, primarily their document management system and email. Introducing a separate system for governance creates an additional step that many will avoid unless absolutely necessary. Even simple requests can be ignored if they require logging into another platform or navigating unfamiliar workflows.

This combination of risk aversion, decision fatigue, and workflow disruption creates a significant obstacle for any governance initiative. Without addressing these human factors, even the most well-designed policies will struggle to gain adoption.

Why Traditional Compliance Software Falls Short

Many organizations turn to compliance monitoring software to solve these challenges, but traditional solutions often fall into the same trap. While they do provide visibility and control, they still rely on users to take action.

In practice, this means sending notifications that ask users to review and approve decisions. While this approach appears reasonable, it does not align with how people behave under pressure. When users are asked to make a decision that requires additional research or carries perceived risk, they are more likely to delay or ignore the request.

These systems also tend to operate alongside existing workflows and not within them. As a result, they introduce friction, and even well-intentioned tools can become another layer of complexity that slows down adoption.

How Reducing Friction Drives Adoption

If the goal is to improve adoption and ensure consistent compliance, the focus must shift from enforcing policy to reducing friction. The most effective governance strategies are those that simplify decision-making and minimize the effort required from end users.

Automating Decisions with Retention Rules

One of the most impactful ways to reduce friction is to move decision-making upstream. Instead of asking users to evaluate each matter individually, organizations can define retention rules that determine the appropriate action in advance.

When those rules are applied systematically, users are no longer responsible for interpreting policy. Instead, they are presented with a clear recommendation based on established guidelines. This approach removes uncertainty and significantly reduces the time required to take action.

Shifting from Opt-In to Opt-Out Workflows

Another powerful strategy is to change how actions are presented. Rather than asking users to opt in to a decision, systems can default to the appropriate action and allow users to opt out if needed.

For example, the system can notify users that the records will be destroyed in accordance with the retention policy, instead of asking whether a set of records should be destroyed. If there is a reason to intervene, the user can do so. Otherwise, no action is required.

This small shift has a significant impact on behavior. It aligns with how people naturally respond to defaults and reduces the likelihood of inaction.

Embedding Governance into Existing Workflows

Adoption improves when governance becomes part of the normal workflow rather than a separate task. By integrating governance actions into processes that users already follow, such as matter closing, organizations can capture decisions at the right moment without requiring additional effort.

This approach both reduces friction and improves data quality. When decisions are made closer to the source, they are more accurate and easier to manage over time.

Turning Policy into Action with FiT

This is where FiT’s approach stands out. Rather than relying on users to interpret and apply policy, FiT transforms governance into a guided and automated process.

By integrating with tools that help define retention schedules and applying those rules directly within the system, FiT ensures that decisions are consistent and aligned with regulatory requirements. Users are not asked to determine what should happen. They are simply informed of the action being taken and given the opportunity to intervene if necessary.

FiT also leverages configurable notifications that reinforce this approach. Instead of prompting users to make a decision, these notifications communicate what will happen based on the firm’s policy. This reduces hesitation and increases the likelihood that actions are completed.

Additionally, FiT simplifies complex retention scenarios by allowing multiple rules to be applied to a single matter while prioritizing client-specific requirements. This ensures that governance remains flexible without becoming overwhelming. The result is a system that reduces reliance on manual effort and aligns governance with real-world behavior. Adoption becomes a natural outcome rather than a constant challenge.

Compliance Starts with Usability

In today’s environment, information governance is both a technical problem and a human one. Policies can be well-researched and systems can be highly capable, but if the process introduces friction, adoption will always be limited.

By focusing on usability, automation, and behavioral alignment, organizations can move from passive policies to active compliance. Reducing friction makes governance easier and more effective.

If your current approach to governance is struggling to gain traction, it may be time to rethink how decisions are made and who is responsible for making them.

Schedule a demo to see how reducing friction can transform your information governance strategy.

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