CEO Richard Pharro asks whether your business needs a BRM
Do I need to employ a business relationship manager?
The short answer is no. Most organisations operate without BRMs but then again, most organisations find that 75% of their projects fail to deliver the original benefit, and as this hasn’t changed for 50 years there is no reason why one should expect it to change today. However, if I want my business to succeed then perhaps, I should think about a different approach.
Business Relationship Manager
BRM, like many titles, covers a range of roles from an ad hoc order taker through to a strategic advisor. I definitely don’t need more order-takers but I certainly benefit from people being able to take a more strategic view of the business. A BRM serves to bring together functions such as IT, HR, Finance and one or more lines of business or value streams. I opened with comments on projects but a BRM has as role to play throughout the business including critical business as usual areas.
Their objective is to stimulate and bring forward demand for capabilities and assets to ensure business value is achieved and the output is optimised to deliver maximum value for the enterprise. See BRM Institute
How do they add value?
The BRM does not replace any of the functional team; subject matter experts, project managers and project leaders. They complement and support these individuals in focusing on the strategic objectives of the organisation, programme or project and ensure they align with the rest of the business. BRMs can, for instance, play a key role in determining whether a project is viable prior to major investment. They can also assist a team in delivering a project proposal which could be critical to the business, (think digital transformation) but is at risk of being overlooked because the stakeholders just do not have the voice, skills or language to be able to present it in a compelling way to the purse holders. It is a challenging role combining business knowledge with the ability to work with people. In all the studies associated with project failure, probably two thirds of the reasons are either communication or people focused (especially resource planning), and about one third process.
Collaboration and Communication
Focusing on the improvement of process will yield some benefits but fostering greater collaboration throughout the business and more effective communications could fundamentally boost our ability to deliver our strategic objectives whilst also improving our operations.
Will my investment pay off?
An investment in BRM is an investment in the bottom line. As I said earlier you don’t need a Business Relationship Manager, but don’t be surprised if you are unable to move your business to keep up with the fourth industrial revolution - or respond to the ever changing business environment.
It could be a case of No BRM, No future business.
It is your choice.
More Information
It's #BRMWeek 10th-16th February 2019 - so you will find a wealth of information, case studies webinars and content on the BRM Institute website
