Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Not only the Clash’s top hit, this may be a question BRMs ask when deciding where they should locate themselves: with their business partners or with their teammates.
December 2010
The Business Relationship Management team is created within the Information Services department at Tucson Electric Power Company.
November 2011
UNS Energy completes construction of a new corporate headquarters building in downtown Tucson, Arizona.
How are these two events related? Well, aside from Tucson Electric Power Company (TEP) being a subsidiary of UNS Energy, as work groups moved into the new nine-story headquarters, the BRM team was presented with the opportunity to co-locate with business areas.
The team of five IT Business Analysts and the IT BRM Manager jumped at the chance. Aligned by functional business groups, it didn’t take long for the BRMs to establish an effective presence. With an average tenure (at the time) of 18 years, team members already had many established relationships. Some had years of experience as business area representatives, a precursor of the BRM role that had a much more tactical, order-taking nature.
An ultimate indicator of successful assimilation was when BRMs increasingly heard comments like, “I didn’t even realize that you’re in IT. I thought you were in our department.”
Embedded in the same physical location as their business partners, BRMs were invited to more staff meetings. Drop-ins and ad hoc conversations became the norm, as well as a useful way of staying “plugged in” to what was happening. Sometimes, BRMs were added to their areas’ email distribution lists, which augmented avenues of communication and awareness. An ultimate indicator of successful assimilation was when BRMs increasingly heard comments like, “I didn’t even realize that you’re in IT. I thought you were in our department.”
Annual project portfolio development meetings, which started in early 2012, began to emphasize the team’s role in planning and laid a foundation for maturing the role in the future. Then, in 2013, two long-tenured members of the team retired, followed by two new members joining the team from outside the company. Reshuffling occurred again a year later when one of the new staff members moved to another department, and a new BRM was welcomed in early 2015.
By this time, the BRM team had made some inroads towards filling a more strategic role. Many utility companies had operated as regulated monopolies for decades, but dramatic changes raised the bar for strategic planning on many fronts. Business plans were developing across the corporation, and growing BRM Institute membership had provided the team with an excellent resource to advance the BRM practice.
However, there were some niggling issues that needed to be dealt with.
Team members felt disconnected and wanted more opportunities to partner with each other, in order to share experiences, knowledge, and become more consistent in their practices. There was also some work to be done on internal BRM processes and level-setting in regards to developing a solid understanding of their role, direction, and in consistency in execution.
After four years of co-location, the BRM team’s relationship with their business partners remained in fine form, but the team was unanimous in desiring to be located together.
This shift later occurred in November 2015—and the results? Phenomenal.
It didn’t take long for the team to initiate a daily 15-minute touch base to start the day, which kept each BRM up-to-date on what others were working on and prioritizing. This conversation was also an opportunity to share news and get help as needed, along with the more organic conversations that happened throughout the work day and within the “huddle room” for brainstorming and collaborating. Communication within the team – so important to the BRM role – improved dramatically. An added perk for the BRM team was that these changes reduced the need to follow up on internal group initiatives, and with members handling some of the “to-dos,” there was freed-up time to work on advancing the BRM strategic practice.
Moving BRMs out of business functions was not done without concern, careful consideration, and maybe even a little trepidation. Continuing what the team had in place with their business partners was vital, and a very high level of interaction continues between the two.
It may seem that moving out of your business partner’s areas is counterintuitive to the BRM role. It was the success realized over four years, though – and the desire for even greater success – that gave this BRM team the confidence to recognize that the necessity and potential success of the move.
The key to making this shift a success? Communication.
The BRM team even had a couple of business functions fighting over them before the CAO provided office space!
It may seem that moving out of your business partner’s areas is counterintuitive to the BRM role. It was the success realized over four years, though – and the desire for even greater success – that gave this BRM team the confidence to recognize that the necessity and potential success of the move.
The time may come that the BRM team will again be located within business functions, but for now, being located together as a team is paying dividends in building internal relationships, enhancing collaboration and communication, and advancing the BRM practice at UNS Energy.
Terry Krafthefer has over thirty years of IT experience. After working in IT for healthcare for ten years, he joined Tucson Electric Power in 1992 and has held a variety of roles. A member of IT leadership since 1996, Terry was in the initial group of business area representatives created that year. After establishing the IT project office, managing the IT budget process, and serving as director of operations applications support, he was made manager of the newly-formed BRM team in December 2010 and charged with developing the team and BRM practice. He is BRM Institute founding member #120 and was a member of the inaugural BRMP® and CBRM® classes.
Terry also holds degrees in Psychology and Computer Programming & Systems Analysis. You can contact him at [email protected].
Great article, Terry! I think this proves two important points — Relationship maturity matters, and context is everything. You really got the BRM role off the ground by co-locating them with the business. With the relationships in place, and the trust and credibility established, you were able to go beyond the co-location model and benefit from the alternative approach of co-locating the BRMs.
Great points on both perspectives.
Interesting topic! In my last BRM role, we had this co-location discussion. Our BRMs were focused on separate functional areas, Finance, HR, Legal, Sales, etc. Some were co-located and others were not. In my experience, co-location with the business works the best, but only after the business partners’ have embraced the BRM capability.
Well told…and some good learnings…