After completing the first module of the BRMP training
from ITSM Zone I wrote a blog post entitled BRMPTraining - Business Provider Maturity Model. After some good comments and
feedback I thought I would share some experiences from the second module.
One of the many things I took away from this module was
Building a Relationship Strategy on a Page (RSOAP). Broken down into 5
sections, the true value in the RSOAP is the working through the process of
completing it with the business to agree on a relationship strategy.
Here is a breakdown of the five sections where each
section informs the one below:
Shared
Vision – Where we want to be?
In the coursework what I found particularly interesting
was the idea of switching roles for perspectives. This ‘walk a mile in the
others shoes’ approach is great for not only brainstorming ideas that a person
entrenched in the day to day operations of their job wouldn’t see but it also
gives either the provider or the business the opportunity to gain some insight
on one another. At the end of it a shared vision statement is generated which
is realistic, value based, balanced and ambitious
Relationship
Characteristics – How we will get there?
Having a target is great but the next step is to
determine how to get there. We need to find out what we need in terms of
capabilities and characteristics and see where gaps may exist. In other words
we may need to tweak certain components which might be impeding us from making
further improvements
Performance
Measure – How to measure that?
This was the one thing that I had to wrap my head around
a bit. In the RSOAP we are looking for the desired measure before we outline
the initiatives. Traditionally we look at this from the other way around, with
initiatives which are underway and then we have metrics against them.
Here we take from the shared vision to think about what
we want to improve overall, and then determine how we could measure that to
reach those goals. One challenge that exists in this outcome based approach is
the measurement of performance for things that are less quantitative and more
qualitative such as satisfaction.
Key
initiatives – What initiatives will we need to do?
Like the other components of the RSOAP these should
support the shared vision, relationship characteristic and performance
measures. The challenge is that there are other initiatives which currently exist
and they may not align with the new relationship. Some key components here
include:
Operating
principals – How we work together?
These overarching principals focus on how we work
together. These are fairly general in nature and there are less of them to
cover the more important aspects.
In the end you need to remember to share and validate the
results of the RSOAP with the business partner to be effective. That like any
document, the RSOAP needs to regularly reviewed and updated to stay valid. At the very least this is a great tool to help facilitate your business relationships.
For more information check the BRMI and consider membership to reap the
full benefits available.
Feel free to send me questions, comments or any other
feedback
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Labels: BRM, BRMP, Business Relationship Management, business value, ITSM