The CIO’s Guide to Fostering a BRM Culture

by Gerry Robinson

A few years ago, I had the chance to sit down with a CIO of a top global consumer goods company. The discussion opened up politely enough, and after a certain time the discussion moved to the relationship between IT and the business. To my surprise, when I asked about business relationship managers, the CIO quickly corrected my terminology and asked me not to use that word in the organization. When I pressed her for more information, she explained that the business had a poor view of business relationship management, due to a failed launch by the previous CIO. She admitted that although the practice of BRM was needed—and that she was absolutely implementing it—I was just not allowed to use the term.

It turns out that the prior CIO’s critical mistake was rushing too quickly into a particular BRM model, based on past experience rather than the current environment. This hastiness later caused issues that the subsequent CIO inherited.

One of my chief takeaways from this interaction was that leaders who succeed in BRM take the time to survey the situation before acting. Instead of rushing into models only to realize they are not achievable, they realize that that mistake is a ‘toothpaste out of the tube’ moment, meaning that once the tube is squeezed, there is no way to put the toothpaste back.

There are several areas that you as a CIO (and other leaders in charge of formalizing the BRM capability) should consider before choosing their business relationship roadmap. These include:

• Current organizational structure
• The leader to which the department reports
• The talent of the service team, particularly its VP and Director-level team members
• The track record and history of the past several leaders
• Industry and regulatory environment
• The business’ current interaction levels with your department (IT, Finance, or HR)
• The perception the business has of your department

Once all of these factors have been assessed and a model has been launched, the work has just begun. In addition to executing the chosen model, a strong leader will work to build culture. In my book The Levers of Embedded IT, I highlight several levers that can be used to build culture. Despite being written for IT leaders, the levers apply universally, whether you are in IT, human resources, or finance.

The new BRM capability should culturally emphasize the following from the start:

• Accountability – The BRM must be transparent to the business and take advantage of opportunities to improve. An accountable organization is leveraged by the business. This goes hand in hand with marketing value.
• Business first – IT departments that focus on business first have two mottos. Firstly, there are no technology projects, only business projects that heavily leverage technology. Secondly, there are no technology professionals, only business professionals with a technology skill set. The more IT team members adopt this way of thinking, the more the business is apt to pull them closer as trusted advisors. This applies to any function that uses a BRM model. The key is for the BRM to become an ambassador and see their role as one that influences the entire department or departments. A BRM can help take people from being “employees in the company” to being “investors in the company.”
• Urgency – Speed of service can be just as important as quality. Recently, I was at a restaurant where I had one of the best meals I’d had in a long time. However, the meal arrived an hour after I ordered it, so I still left the restaurant unhappy. Urgency matters, and a proper sense of urgency helps to build the relationship. One leader I know even recommends the book A Sense of Urgency by John P. Kotter to all of his employees, because urgency is that important.
• Innovation – Order takers are not as respected as idea makers are. Innovation is an important part of the BRM capability. CIO and leader Zahid Afzal spoke of it this way: “Innovation has to be part of every BRM role. Opportunities present themselves every day. You could be walking down the hall and having a conversation that becomes a spontaneous improvement opportunity. It could be anything.”[1]
• Business interaction – BRMs must work with the business on a systematic and constant basis, therefore it’s critical to build a workplace culture that encourages this, as it will help mature and embed IT into the organization. This is putting the rigor into practice in an integral way— in many places, easier said than done!
• Marketing value – This cultural lever is about doing and telling, not about wooing and selling. The BRM should not be hesitant about advertising its successes. One caveat though—at the risk of coming off the wrong way, this should always be done in a way that emphasizes the team win and trumpets the business! Additionally, as many leaders in The Levers of Embedded IT noted, when communicating success, it is important to communicate accountability first. This gives the business a sense that the BRM’s team is not simply trying to show off, but rather, they are practicing through repetition and displaying their accountability to the business outcome.

Realistically, culture is a difficult thing to change, but it can be done. With the proper focus and right priorities, the BRM can benefit an organization’s culture in profound ways. When a new BRM capability is implemented, this indicates that the strategy of the organization has been set (by virtue of the new capability) and the people are in place (you). Being that the only variable in this equation is the culture, how do you intend to affect culture positively moving forward? Take the time to answer that question thoroughly, and you can expect the BRM capability to blossom in any field.

 

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[1] Gerry Robinson, The Levers of Embedded IT (Amazon Digital Services, 2015).