BRM Challenges in Shaping Demand

When I’m asked about shaping demand as a BRM, the first thing that occurs to me is the thought, “‘Shaping demand is not as easy as it sounds”—and that’s because it isn’t!

Shaping demand involves a little bit sales skills, a little bit of influencing, and a big splash of corporate/ICT strategy and data. As if that doesn’t sound complex enough, the BRM’s ability to shape demand will also be either enhanced or hampered by BRM maturity.

By BRM maturity, I’m not really talking about how skilled and fantastic our BRMs are (that part is a given!) or how long they’ve been in their roles. I’m talking about business partner perception and experience with the ‘supply’ of services (in my case, ICT is the supplier). Despite the best of intentions, if the experience has been less than optimal, the trust component will erode and the relationship will not mature—even amongst the most experienced BRMs.

In a mature BRM environment, there is a higher level of trust and engagement with the BRM and other members of the business function. Not only does this foster a deeper understanding of your business partners, it also establishes an environment for shaping demand wherein the BRM is invited to the table and assists with business planning and strategic roadmaps. Not only are you switching on all your skills and trust that you will participate in shaping the existing consumption of services as well as new ones, you are also planning and proactive rather than reactive and responding.

However, the most likely reality is that many of us are not within higher BRM maturity levels and are instead working in a less mature BRM environment, meaning that you are responsive and reactive rather than planning based on the roadmap and key activities each year. This can result in the challenging feeling that you are working in “reactive mode” all the time, rather than in the planning space—where you really want to be working!

Here are my top tips on things to focus on when improving trust and moving up the scale of BRM maturity:

• Develop business partner relationships and foster trust in what you deliver. Try working from their office space for a day or few hours a week, especially since being there might also mean being included in meetings and discussions. Those water cooler conversations can really give you some insight! 
• Look for quick wins to deliver quickly and build trust—look at their pain points and see what you can do quickly to remove some of that pain.
• Develop relationships inside your supply area—it can help when you are trying to get that quick win across the line!

Developing BRM maturity and shaping demand has many challenges, but it all boils down to ‘it depends.’ Here in Australia, BRM is a growing area, but it is still relatively immature. It takes time to build trust, so it is not uncommon to find that the level of trust between business partners and IT has room for improvement in many organisations. By focusing on the things you can do and working with wider teams in your area, you’ll be able to move from a reactive (more operational) to a proactive (more strategic) approach over time.