Relationship Management

Definition

Relationship managementManagement

the endeavor management task of properly managing the relationships of an endeavor or center with its stakeholder organizations

Classification

As illustrated in the preceding figure, Relationship Management is part of the following inheritance hierarchy:

• Type: Abstract
• Superclass: Endeavor Management Task
• Subclasses:
  • Endeavor Relationship Management
  • Center Relationship Management

Responsibilities

The typical responsibilities of Relationship Management are to:

• Manage the developmentorganization’s relationship with the:
  • Customer organization(s).
  • Maintenance organization(s).
  • Marketing organization(s).
  • Operations organization(s).
  • Partner organization(s).
  • Reuse organization(s).
  • Subcontractor& organization(s).
  • Support organization(s).
  • User organization(s).
  • Vendor organization(s).
• Select, manage, and oversee the subcontractor and partner organizations.
• Approve vendor organizations.
• Legally represent the development organization when dealing with other organizations including providing oversight on all legal matters (e.g., contracts, statements of work, and the licensing of commercial products).
• Resolve issues with other organizations, especially with customer representatives.
• Ensure the development of mutually-beneficial (i.e., win-win) relationships.
• Ensure the development of long-term relationships based on mutual respect and trust.
• Avoid the development of any adversarial relationships between organizations.
• Eliminate risks due to poor relationships.

Preconditions

Relationship management typically may begin when the following preconditions hold:

• Either the:
  • Endeavor has started or
  • Center exists.
• The management team is adequately:
  • Staffed.
  • Trained in relationship management.

Completion Criteria

Relationship management is typically complete when the following postconditions hold:

• Either the:
  • Endeavor has been completed or the
  • Center has been retired.
• All relationships with organizations have been terminated.

Steps

Relationship management typically involves the management teams performing the following steps in an iterative, incremental, parallel, and timeboxed manner:

• Enter into (and manage) the legal agreements (contracts, statements of work) with the other organizations.
• Ensure that representatives of the organizations are satisfied with the:
  • Relationship.
  • Status of the endeavor or center.
  • Services provided.
  • Work products delivered.
• Select, manage, and oversee the subcontractor and partner organizations.

Techniques

Relationship management typically involves the following techniques:

• Correspondance.
• Phone conversations.
• Face to face conversations.
• Legal and other documentation (e.g., reports).
• Email.
• Publish and subscribe notifications.
• Electronic bulletin boards.
• Meetings.

Work Products

Relationship management typically results in the production of the following work products:

• Management Set:
  • Contract
  • Statement Of Work

Guidelines

• An endeavor is not a success unless the customer and user organizations are pleased with the results.
• Relationship management requires significant psychology, sociology, and marketing expertise.
• Relationship management relies heavily on communication management.
• Relationship management with the customer organization should not be confused with the traditional customer relationship management (CRM), which deals with the relationship between the marketing and user support organizations on the one hand and members of the user organization on the other hand.