Building a Strong Community for the Business Relationship Manager

What an amazing show of support for the Business Relationship Management Institute we have received since opening the doors! The most common comment, “It is so exciting that finally there is a professional association supporting the BRM (Business Relationship Manager) role.”  BRMs, I can tell you, you are no longer on an island. BRM Institute members now have a place to call home—an organization dedicated to serving the interests of their profession and growing community—a collaboration point where BRMs can connect and interact with each other, get their questions answered, learn new insights, and exchange new ideas.

The First 3 Months…

In the short three months since combining forces with my co-founders, Vaughan Merlyn and Aleksandr Zhuk, and incorporating as a not-for-profit organization, we have completed major milestones in moving the BRM profession forward:

• Established a fully functional interactive website where members have access to their own personal area, MyBRM Institute.
  
• Launched a member’s wiki, featuring the first Business Relationship Management Interactive Book of Knowledge™, (BRM I BOK™). I cannot stress enough how great it is to have methodologies for the BRM role documented in an interactive format where BRM Institute members can easily contribute to the BOK by adding to and updating information on the wiki. Our professional knowledge is never stale—it evolves from moment to moment—from one interaction among BRMs and their business and service partners to another. At BRM Institute, we are proud to offer the very first repository of professional knowledge, which is as dynamic as the knowledge it contains.
• The member’s wiki, which runs on the Confluence collaboration platform, provides space for members to share their experiences and discuss challenges with other BRMs.
• This week we will be hosting our first Webinar on the BRM role.
• Opened BRM Institute to the members to help move the organization forward through crowdsourcing activities.

What is Next for Business Relationship Management Institute

Yet, we are just getting started. In the months ahead, we plan to complete BRM development programs that include long-term individual support, training, and BRM certification assisting anyone looking to enter into a BRM role or expand an existing BRM’s knowledge. The training classes will be facilitated online, allowing interaction with fellow students and the instructor without costly and time-consuming travel. The BRM certifications will give you the credentials to prove you have earned your BRM battle stripes and are competent in the BRM role to really make an impact in any organization. I am really excited about our plans for BRM research for publication and higher education studies. As an Institute we plan to advance the BRM profession and have real-world studies detailing the value of the BRM role.

Business Relationship Manager and Other Roles

For those that may not have heard of the BRM role, this is the pinnacle role of a career before joining the C-Suite. You have been a PM (Project Manager) or domain specialist for years and are looking for the next step in your career. Or you have worked your way through the BA (Business Analyst) roles and are looking to keep moving up your career ladder. Or you have learned everything there is to know about the business side of a specific area and are ready to incorporate strategy and solutions. I could go on and on…

So why join BRM Institute as a Professional Member? One member said, “I want to be part of the next big thing!” While I firmly believe that BRMs and BRM Institute are the next big thing, both our profession and the organization created to serve its needs are much more than that. BRM Institute is here to provide you with the tools and knowledge necessary to prepare for or master the BRM role, to impact the BRM profession by getting involved, and offer you many opportunities to build new collaborative networks.

Thank you again to all the new BRM Institute members, the 3000+ members in our LinkedIn group, Professional Business Relationship Managers, and everyone who has helped make the Business Relationship Management Institute a striking success. I look forward to serving you as we go forward, solidifying the BRM role and working together in BRM Institute.

Aaron Banes

Co-Founder
Business Relationship Management Institute