August 14-18 – wow what a week!! BRM Connect arrived in South Africa – featuring the BRM Connect Forums in Africa for the very first time, with BRMP classes either side. And everyone passed their exams. Phew!
It was a real privilege having the BRM Institute team come all the way from the US to support our community. Aaron Barnes, the CEO and #BRMLegend led the Forum workshops. Marleen Lundy and Meriah Barnes, responsible for member experiences and membership respectively, did a fabulous job supporting the sessions and adding passion and some excitement! What sets these events apart is the care taken to prepare lots of interaction; with storytelling by participants and learning by sharing experiences, and debating practical approaches. On top of that we met up socially off-site for frank chats and personal discussions – a key part of a good relationship manager’s role! What a relief from the traditional one-way presentations we are often used to!
Since BRM is not just a role but also a management approach, the events attracted a variety of delegates that deal with business colleagues. We had former CIOs, a Client Service Director, an Architect, Procurement Heads, Programme Manager, Business Analysts, as well as Relationship Managers (the ones actually called a BRM) attending.
If you weren’t there, you really did miss out! But don’t worry too much – now this has happened we are all set for the future to do similar sessions, and host regular relaxed get-togethers. We can even run these kinds of workshops in-house, bringing business and service teams closer together to agree common visions and action plans. We are also focusing on the executive level and will be organising meetings at that level too via our IT Value Circle.
BRMs are waking up everywhere realising that at last there is an Institute and a tremendous Body of Knowledge that will revolutionise their roles. Better still, BRM provides an answer to the age old challenge of business and IT alignment. And BRM is strategic – converging service functions and providers with the business partners they serve to better deliver on enterprise goals.
Remember BRM is not just for those who call themselves a BRM, but for everyone who finds themselves in a role that is focused on helping business colleagues deliver value. You may be in IT, HR, Finance, or in the Corporate office. It doesn’t matter whether you are at the strategy level, design level or delivery level as BRM will bring everyone together under a common purpose.