Business Relationship Management: Best Practices for Success

Successfully managing corporate and employee relationships is critical for most organizations. Gaining insights into who knows who (and how they’re connected) can be valuable for all sorts of reasons.

The challenge is that most org charts are only designed to capture formal relationships and reporting lines… but all of your business relationships can mean something and that is why Business Relationship Management is critical. It’s often worth tracking more than just the formal relationships between managers and their teams, or even colleagues that work closely together.

Why Track Informal Business Relationships

Although these relationships won’t be visible in your org chart, it might also be valuable to see that Tim in one department has a mentor-mentee relationship with John in another department. Or that Mary and Ali used to work or study together before they moved into their current roles. Or that some of your employees are good friends outside of work — and might share information or ask one another for advice.

You might want to track these informal relationships as a metric of success or strength in your company (perhaps as an indicator for increasing social capital). Or you might want to strategically plan your employee engagement by understanding who influences whom, or who might influence your project (even if they’re not directly involved).

Visualizing Relationships in Large Organizations

In smaller organizations, tracking both formal and informal relationships can be managed with a simple org chart and detailed notes. However, in larger organizations, the web of relationships becomes more complex, making it challenging to manage without the right tools. Research shows that management-employee relationships are often less satisfying in larger firms, potentially leading to lower job satisfaction. Therefore, managing these relationships effectively becomes even more important in large corporations.

5 Tips for Business Relationship Management

1. Define Your Relationship Goals

Start by identifying the types of business relationships you want to track. These could include:

• Relationships between executives
• Relationships between managers
• Relationships with contractors or suppliers
• Connections between people in the same department or building
• Relationships based on shared educational backgrounds or professional experiences

Knowing what relationships you want to focus on will help you build a network of connections that you can use to plan your engagement strategies.

2. Map Your Stakeholder Relationships

In large organizations, mapping informal relationships is crucial. Traditional org charts only show formal reporting lines and do not capture the more nuanced connections between employees. Using business relationship management software like Simply Stakeholders can help visualize these internal connections. The software allows you to track who is connected to whom, their interactions, and communication patterns.

3. Analyze Your Stakeholders

Understanding your key contacts and their connections is essential for effective communication and engagement. Conduct a stakeholder analysis to gather more information about each person, such as their level of interest, impact, or influence on a project. Adding demographic information and personal characteristics can provide a richer context for their relationships, helping you create a more complete picture of your stakeholders.

4. Track Your Communication

Keeping track of your communication with stakeholders is a vital part of managing business relationships. Use stakeholder management software to log conversations, feedback, and responses. This data can generate valuable insights, helping you make informed decisions and engage more strategically.

5. Build As You Go

Relationships within an organization are dynamic and evolve over time. As new connections form and roles change, continuously update your records to maintain an accurate visualization of these relationships. This practice will help you plan better engagements, improve communication, and manage relationships more effectively.

Learn More

For more information on managing business relationships and stakeholder engagement, explore our previous content:

• Stakeholder Management Guide: Definitions, Processes & More
• Business Relationship Management for Nonprofits
• Corporate Relationship Management: When Asana & Spreadsheets Don’t Cut It Anymore
• How to Strategically Manage Your Stakeholder Relationships
• What is Relationship Mapping?

If you’re interested in our business relationship management software, reach out to our team at Simply Stakeholders. We’re here to help you gain insights into your key relationships and improve your management strategies.