Chantal Grevatte-Ball takes us on a personal journey into the value of liaison roles in IT service management
Introduction
When I was first asked to step into the role of an Operational Service Management (OSM) liaison, I didn’t fully appreciate what that would mean for me, for my client, or for the services we supported. On paper, it sounded straightforward enough: create a bridge between the operational ITIL service management team and the newly formed Service Executive Model (SEM) areas within the client’s organisation. In reality, it turned into one of the most challenging, rewarding, and eye-opening journeys of my career.
The concept of a liaison is not new. What was new in this case was applying that model into a client’s IT service structure that was itself still being built and tested. I wasn’t stepping into an existing, well-defined role. I was being asked to create it, to prove its value, and to find its place in a structure that was still maturing.
This paper is both a personal reflection on that experience and an exploration of why liaison roles, in industry more broadly, can be so vital. It tells the story of starting from scratch, of finding my way through uncertainty, of loneliness and breakthrough moments, and ultimately of watching a simple idea become something that added genuine, lasting value.
Becoming a liaison: the origin story
The opportunity came almost by surprise. I was approached by the client I was working with and told they had a new role in mind for me. This shift was part of a wider organisational change: they had decided to adopt a Service Executive Model (SEM), with the aim of giving every service true ownership – from its concept and creation, through its life, and ultimately into retirement.
In this model, a Service Owner was accountable and responsible for each service, with Product Owners working beneath them as needed. Above the Service Owner sat a Service Executive, who managed a broader, related portfolio of services. For the client, this was a brand-new way of working.
Naturally, my area – the operational ITIL service management team – felt tension. Much of what we had traditionally done was about to shift towards the SEMs, but we still needed visibility and a voice in those decisions. The answer was to create a liaison role: someone who could sit between SEM and operations, ensuring both sides were informed and connected.
The concept of a liaison wasn’t groundbreaking, but in this client’s context it was untested. When I was first approached, I was given a basic outline of the problem and a handful of goals, but very little in the way of boundaries. In fact, I was told explicitly that I had the power to say no, and that the role was mine to shape. That freedom was appealing, though I quickly learned it came with a heavy dose of responsibility.
Very early on, I made a decision that would define my approach: the relationship had to be two-way. It wasn’t enough to sit in SEM meetings and pass messages back into operations. I needed to educate SEM on what operations really was, and equally, I had to keep my own operational colleagues informed about the SEM’s changes and challenges. Only by doing both could I help either side.
At the time, I was aligned to just one SEM area – the largest within the organisation – and that alignment remained constant throughout my time in the role. What did evolve, however, was the recognition that the way I shaped and established the liaison role could serve as a blueprint for others. When the function expanded into additional SEM areas, new liaisons were able to draw on the foundations I had put in place. In those early days, though, it still felt like an experiment, and I was acutely aware that its success or failure rested heavily on my shoulders.
Year 1: early days and challenges
When I first stepped into the role, my instinct was simple: listen before doing anything else. The SEM I aligned to had a fairly negative perception of the operational team, and I knew that to shift those views I first had to understand where they came from. Some of the concerns I heard were valid, but many were built on misconceptions. Only by listening carefully could I begin to separate the two.
From there, I began to focus on education and visibility. I created and delivered open sessions with the SEM to explain who the operational team really were and what we could do to support them. I built tailored packs that addressed specific feedback and concerns, making sure each engagement felt relevant rather than generic. I also joined business-as-usual team calls to act as a direct point of contact into operations, so SEM colleagues had a clear person to go to.
Another early priority was to hold Learning From Experience (LFE) sessions on key projects. These were invaluable: they revealed what had worked well and, more importantly, where the engagement between SEM and operations had gone wrong. I took those lessons back to my operational colleagues to adjust ways of working, improve perception, and tackle specific pain points. At the same time, I began embedding myself earlier in SEM projects than operations would normally be involved – sometimes years ahead. This gave me the opportunity to help shape requirements before suppliers were chosen, which meant smoother onboarding later and fewer misunderstandings when those suppliers eventually engaged with operations.
But alongside these early activities came real challenges. The biggest one was loneliness. At that time, I was the only liaison, which meant I was constantly moving between two worlds but not fully belonging to either. Operations were technically my team, but I needed to embed myself in the SEM to be effective. The SEM, meanwhile, was not hostile but certainly not welcoming at first. There was suspicion that I had been “sent in to spy,” to control rather than to help. Earning trust took time and persistence.
There was also the pressure of uncertainty. This was a brand-new role, with no clear markers of success. I often wondered whether I was truly adding value, and the reality was that the only measure I could rely on was feedback. What I came to understand, though, was that my success often showed itself not in visible wins, but in the absence of problems. When things ran smoothly, when misunderstandings didn’t escalate into conflicts, when projects quietly aligned – those were the signs I was doing my job well, even if they weren’t always noticed.
Towards the end of that first year, the client made the decision to expand the liaison function into other SEMs. On the surface, this felt like validation: proof that the role I had created was worth replicating. In reality, the next few months were difficult. I found myself constantly explaining, defending, and retelling what I did, as though being interrogated about whether my work had been enough. At the time it felt exhausting and disheartening. Looking back, though, I see it differently: those questions were asked precisely because people had seen the value, and they wanted to understand how to apply it elsewhere.
That period of reflection – answering the same questions over and over – became its own form of LFE. It forced me to articulate what the role had achieved and, in doing so, helped us recognise the different levels of SEM maturity. New liaisons, starting out in new SEM areas, faced the same hurdles I had in my first year: mistrust, misconceptions, and the need to educate. By reflecting on my own journey, we were able to better prepare them for what lay ahead.
Years 2 to 3: expansion and maturity
The decision to expand the liaison function was a turning point. By the second year, it was clear to the client that this experiment had worked: the model I had shaped in my SEM could serve as a blueprint for others. New liaisons were brought in to support additional SEM areas, and I naturally stepped into a leadership role – helping them understand what to expect, guiding them through the same early challenges I had faced, and creating structures to make the function sustainable.
One of the most significant contributions during this period was the creation of the Liaison Feedback Forum. I designed it as a small, trusted space between the liaisons and the OSM Senior Leadership team. It quickly became a safe channel for honest, two-way dialogue: a place where liaisons could raise concerns, share observations, and provide unfiltered feedback, and where leadership could in turn set direction and offer support. I chaired the forum and helped it grow into something valued and respected, ensuring it had a tangible influence on how the liaison role developed across SEMs.
At the same time, the scope of the work began to evolve. In the early days, I had focused heavily on education – explaining what operations did, correcting misconceptions, and bringing SEM up to speed. By Year 2–3, that need had lessened. Instead, liaisons were increasingly drawn into live service issues, architecture discussions, and project design. We were trusted to “hold the line” on behalf of the operations teams, bringing realistic service implications into design conversations before they reached a crisis point. This not only protected live service teams from constant questioning and distraction, but also meant projects arrived at operations already better informed and aligned. The result was smoother engagement, fewer missteps, and less wasted effort.
One of the hardest but most rewarding pieces of work I took on was setting up a joint governance board for a major project rollout. I defined the entire governance structure, set out the roles, responsibilities, and terms of reference, and then transitioned it to others once it was running. It became an enduring mechanism for collaboration between SEM and operations – a practical demonstration of how a liaison could create structures that outlived their direct involvement.
Of course, with the freedom of the role came ongoing challenges. The very fact that liaisons weren’t bound by a fixed process meant we could be deployed flexibly, wherever we were most needed. That freedom was powerful, but it also created a risk: we didn’t formally “own” anything, and so we could be overlooked or forgotten. There were many times when we had to go looking for work, inserting ourselves into conversations to prove the support we could provide. Success still often looked like the absence of noise, and that meant constantly having to remind others of the invisible value we brought.
Another area where the role grew was in helping SEMs mature their own understanding of what it truly meant to run and own a service. I played a key part in defining the Service Leadership Team (SLT) structure, supporting the teams underneath it, and helping to establish live service boards that continue to run to this day. These boards created a regular joint forum between SEM and operations, where data could be shared openly and issues discussed collaboratively. It was another example of how the liaison function became not just about bridging gaps, but about building lasting frameworks that made the relationship more effective.
By the end of Year 3, the role had become much more than a stopgap or experiment. It had grown into a respected, influential function that provided real value – sometimes visible, often invisible, but always meaningful.
Personal reflections: lessons from a liaison
Looking back on my time as a liaison, the impact on me personally has been profound. I don’t often share this, but I am neurodiverse, and stepping into this role taught me a great deal about myself. I learned to recognise my triggers in high-pressure environments, and, more importantly, how to work through them. This role pushed me to communicate more effectively than I ever had before, to face challenges head-on, and to grow in ways I hadn’t expected.
Becoming the lead liaison when the function expanded gave me the opportunity to show leadership in new ways. It wasn’t just about my own work anymore – it was about supporting others as they navigated the same challenges I had faced in that first year. I had to keep my knowledge fresh and my understanding current, so that I could provide real guidance and credibility. I also had to make sure I never lost sight of the two-way nature of the role: regularly going back to my operations colleagues, staying connected with their reality, and bringing that back into SEM conversations. Without that balance, the role would have been hollow.
It wasn’t always easy. There were highs and lows, moments of pride and moments of doubt. But I can honestly say I am proud of what I achieved: taking something that was only ever an idea and building it into a function that became trusted, respected, and genuinely valuable. I came to understand that doing my job well often meant there was no fanfare. Success was quiet. It was the absence of noise – the lack of escalations, the prevention of misunderstandings, the issues that never became issues because they were handled before they could. For a client of this size, that silence was not insignificant.
Along the way, I also built lasting connections and friendships – relationships formed not in easy times, but in the middle of challenges, pressures, and problem-solving. Those are the bonds that endure, and they are a reminder that this work is ultimately about people as much as it is about processes.
If I were to give advice to someone stepping into a liaison role, I would tell them this: your greatest power is knowledge. You know more than you think you do, and listening carefully to everyone around you will only expand that. Take it all in, but don’t be afraid to make your own decisions. At the same time, don’t go rogue – always keep that balance between the two worlds you represent. Spend as much time with your operations colleagues as you do embedded in SEM. The role only works if it is truly two-way.
For me, being a liaison has been about more than bridging two parts of an organisation. It has been about learning to bring people together, to be objective, to educate and be educated, and to create trust where suspicion once stood. It has shaped me as much as I shaped it.
Conclusion
Looking back, what began as an experiment with no blueprint and no obvious way to measure success became a respected function that changed how the client worked with its services. The role taught me that success is not always loud or visible – often it is measured in the issues that never surface and the conflicts that never arise. Quiet impact is still impact, and it matters.
I also came to understand that being a liaison is less about process and more about people: building trust, listening, and holding the space between different worlds so others can work together more effectively. It isn’t always easy, and it often goes unnoticed, but its value endures.
For the client, the benefit was tangible: smoother engagement, stronger alignment, and structures that continue today. For me, the impact was equally lasting. I grew as a communicator, a leader, and as someone who can take an idea and shape it into something meaningful.
Liaisons may never be the loudest voices in an organisation, but they can be the ones who make collaboration possible. If my journey shows anything, it is that even a role that starts as an experiment can become the quiet foundation of lasting success.
Chantal Grevatte-Ball
Chantal is an experienced service manager and senior ITSM consultant at CGI.
