A Path to Collaborative Success
Organizations often establish Business Relationship Management (BRM) teams to drive collaboration, align strategic goals, and deliver tangible value. Yet, despite the potential of BRM to transform how departmental teams work together, many organizations struggle to generate excitement around the BRM initiative. This lack of enthusiasm can lead to resistance, missed opportunities, and a sense that BRM is just another overhead function rather than a value-driving force.
Emotional Disconnect from BRM Causes Organizational Issues
When excitement for BRM is missing, it’s not just a procedural challenge—it’s an emotional one. Teams may feel frustrated, confused, or even indifferent about the purpose of BRM. Without clarity, BRM risks perception as an unnecessary layer of complexity and a drain on budgetary resources rather than a strategic enabler.
This emotional disconnect can manifest in the following:
- Frustration: Stakeholders may feel BRM is imposing rules and additional work rather than facilitating growth.
- Confusion: Departmental teams may not understand how BRM supports their goals.
- Apathy: Without showing clear benefits, BRM can be dismissed as irrelevant.
These emotions create a vicious cycle where the lack of excitement undermines BRM’s ability to deliver value, diminishing its perceived relevance.
The Solution Calls for Clarity and Collaboration
To break this cycle, organizations must pivot their focus. Enthusiasm and support for BRM doesn’t come from BRM itself; it comes from the results BRM can help achieve. The key is to create clarity around the role of BRM as a catalyst for collaboration, which ultimately drives growth and positive change.
Here’s how you can create that clarity and excitement:
- Communicate the Bigger Picture: Show how BRM contributes to achieving strategic objectives by enhancing cross-functional collaboration. Highlight success stories where collaboration led to measurable outcomes.
- Focus on People and Results, Not Processes: Emphasize that BRM is a means to an end—a tool for building collaborative interdepartmental teams, unlocking potential, resolving conflicts, and driving initiatives that matter.
- Engage Stakeholders Early: Include teams and senior leadership in the conversation about how BRM can support their priorities. This inclusion builds trust and ownership.
- Celebrate Collaborative Wins: Communicate examples where BRM has made a difference in delivering results or solving problems. Recognize the BRM team as well as the contributors from other departments.
- Educate, Coach, and Empower: Provide coaching sessions or workshops to help teams understand how to leverage BRM effectively. Make BRM approachable, not enigmatic.
The Benefits of a Collaborative Focus
When organizations shift the narrative from BRM as a process to BRM as a partner in collaboration, excitement grows naturally. Teams begin to see BRM as a:
- Problem-Solving Ally: Helping to break down silos and address challenges.
- Strategic Partner: Driving convergence of operational efforts and strategic goals.
- Facilitator of Success: Empowering teams to achieve more together than they could individually.
This renewed focus on collaboration creates a ripple effect of positivity, engagement, and results throughout the organization.
How We Can Help
At Lead the Pack Consulting, we understand the emotional and operational challenges organizations face when introducing or revitalizing BRM. Our approach focuses not on BRM as a framework but as a driver of collaboration that leads to results.
Here’s how we can help you create excitement and support for BRM:
- Workshops: We facilitate engaging sessions that connect the dots between BRM and strategic outcomes, ensuring stakeholders see the bigger picture.
- Coaching: Our experts work with your BRM team and leadership to enhance collaboration skills and deliver measurable value.
- Storytelling: We help craft compelling narratives around BRM successes, turning case studies into tools designed to build enthusiasm.
- Custom Solutions: Every organization is unique, and we tailor our services to align with your culture, goals, and challenges.
Let’s work together to create excitement around BRM in your organization. Not as a standalone function but as a collaborative engine driving positive outcomes. Contact us today to start transforming how your teams work together for success.
Leadership Education, BRM Training, Courses, Coaching and Consulting
Lead the Pack Consulting specializes in business relationship management (BRM) leadership development. Our years of experience in Leadership Management Education, Training, Courses, Coaching and Consulting help us support business relationship management teams and provide them with the leadership skills needed to overcome their challenges. We have provided leadership coaching to business relationship managers, leaders, and teams in a variety of organizations and industries. Since 2013, we have been a registered provider of business relationship management certification workshops and coaching.
Our coaches, Elka Schrijver and Peter Lijnse, have both won the prestigious Arnie Award from the Business Relationship Management (BRM) Institute for their work to embody, enhance, and promote business relationship management knowledge throughout the global BRM community. They have been actively involved in the BRM Institute since it was founded in 2013 and have been contributing authors for several components of the BRM Body of Knowledge and certification courses. They are currently writing a series of practical, user-friendly books about mastering business relationship management leadership skills.
Lead and Succeed!
Peter Lijnse & Elka Schrijver
Lead The Pack Consulting
2025 Leadership BRM Courses