IT Business Partner Playbook | Gavin Galloway

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝑻 𝑩𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌

Welcome to episode 23! A journey into grey space, stakeholder influence, and the evolving impact of business partnering at scale.

In this episode of the IT Business Partner Playbook Podcast, I had the privilege of speaking with Gavin Galloway, an IT Business Partner at Rolls-Royce (US). Gavin joined the role mid-pandemic in 2020 - without much prior exposure to business partnering. He has since carved a thoughtful, strategic path through mentorship, reflection, and persistence.

1️⃣ Navigating the Grey Space:

Gavin describes the BRM role as living in the “grey” - where formal authority doesn’t exist, but influence is everything. He shared how he had to quickly develop a working knowledge of frameworks, stakeholder dynamics, and organizational complexity - all while remote.

2️⃣ Stakeholder Management Tools & CRM Thinking:

To stay on top of exec needs and business priorities, Gavin uses tailored stakeholder templates - acting like a CRM for relationship tracking. He stressed the importance of documenting lessons and insights, so new team members don’t have to start from scratch.

3️⃣ Value Through Financial Fluency:

We explored how financial understanding can elevate a BRM’s value. Gavin’s self-taught approach to aligning tech and finance has helped him earn trust and influence key investment decisions.

4️⃣ Collaboration & the Power of Face-to-Face:

Gavin and I discussed the real-world impact of in-person interaction for building trust, especially in global teams. From cultural understanding to spontaneous innovation, these touchpoints often accelerate delivery and deepen relationships. Gavin is now working on a white paper to help quantify this value.

5️⃣ Enabling Future BRMs:

We explored training and mentoring approaches within Rolls-Royce, emphasizing the need for vertical knowledge, hands-on learning, and passing down experience purposefully. Gavin also acknowledged that not every BRM journey looks the same - and that’s okay.

6️⃣ Breaking Silos & Creating Space:

We challenged the idea of BRMs as gatekeepers and instead framed them as connectors. Gavin shared how he’s learned to let go of “owning” the relationship and instead enable others to flourish through collaboration.

Listen to the full episode to hear how Gavin is influencing change, redefining value, and helping to shape the future of BRM at one of the world’s most iconic engineering organizations.

This episode reflects the evolving, high-stakes nature of BRM work - especially in complex, regulated sectors like defence. It’s about agility, emotional maturity, and using every insight as fuel for influence.

#BRM

#BusinessPartnerNetwork

#Leadership

https://bpn.goagora.org/

Find our Highlights and podcast article on the BPN. Gavin will also be sharing his whitepaper here, once approved.

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