What is the best way to establish roles and responsibilities in your business relationships?

1 What is BRM and why is it important?

BRM is a skill and a discipline that focuses on building and maintaining trust, alignment, and value between an organization and its business partners. Business partners can include internal or external customers, suppliers, vendors, regulators, or any other entity that has a stake in the organization's outcomes. BRM is important because it helps to ensure that the organization understands the needs and expectations of its business partners, and that it delivers solutions that meet or exceed them. BRM also helps to foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement within the organization and across its business ecosystem.

2 What are roles and responsibilities in business relationships?

Roles and responsibilities are the specific tasks, duties, and accountabilities that each party in a business relationship has to perform or deliver. Roles and responsibilities can be formal or informal, explicit or implicit, depending on the nature and scope of the business relationship. For example, a formal business relationship may have a contract or a service level agreement (SLA) that defines the roles and responsibilities of each party, while an informal business relationship may rely on verbal or written communication, trust, and mutual understanding. Roles and responsibilities can also vary depending on the stage and maturity of the business relationship, such as initiation, planning, execution, or evaluation.

3 How to establish roles and responsibilities in business relationships?

In order to establish roles and responsibilities in business relationships, it is essential to follow a clear and consistent process. This should include defining the purpose and objectives of the relationship, identifying key stakeholders and their interests, assigning roles and responsibilities to each stakeholder, documenting and communicating the roles and responsibilities, and reviewing and updating them. Each step is essential for ensuring clarity, transparency, alignment, effectiveness, efficiency, and improvement. Furthermore, it is important to consider how to monitor progress, solicit feedback, handle changes, and address issues that may arise.

4 What are some best practices and standards for BRM?

There are many best practices and standards that can help you improve your BRM skills and processes, such as the BRM Institute, a global membership organization that provides training, certification, research, and networking opportunities for BRM professionals and practitioners. Additionally, the BRM Body of Knowledge (BRMBOK) is a comprehensive guide that covers core concepts, principles, and practices of BRM. Further, the ISO 44001 standard is an international framework that specifies requirements and guidelines for establishing and managing collaborative business relationships. Additionally, the COBIT framework is a governance and management model that helps organizations align their IT and business goals, processes, and activities. Lastly, the ITIL framework is a set of best practices that helps organizations deliver high-quality IT services that meet customer needs and expectations.

5 How to learn more about BRM?

If you want to learn more about BRM and how to apply it to your own business relationships, there are several ways to do so. You can join the BRM Institute, enroll in a BRM training or certification course, read books, articles, blogs, podcasts, or webinars that cover BRM topics and case studies, seek advice or mentoring from experienced BRM practitioners or experts, and practice and improve your BRM skills and competencies in your daily work and interactions.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?