Finance leaders and FP&A professionals, it’s time for a reality check.
There’s a good chance your reports and analyses are being ignored, or merely lost in the noise of your organization.
Yes, the influx of tools and technologies has streamlined organizational processes for remote teams collaborating via the cloud, and that’s undoubtedly paid dividends in many ways. But it’s also made it more difficult to grab stakeholders’ attention.
“The experience of providing data proofs, metrics, KPIs—all of the things that we're told by business leaders they want—and having it rejected, it's frustrating,” said Cormac Doyle, the Director of Software Applications at property management company Greystar.
He spoke during a session at Excelerate Finance 2025, Vena’s annual conference for forward-thinking finance and operations leaders.
“Oftentimes what's missing in these situations, I'd say, is a sense of trust,” he added. “And the hardest part about that is it's unspoken and unrecognized, and that just makes it even more challenging to root it out as the cause of the issue, because you could be technically brilliant, but if you can't communicate in a way that matches well you can be overlooked.”
The good news is that there's a solution: finance business partnering, or ingraining and embedding your finance team and expertise into different areas of an organization or business.
In this blog, we'll unpack Cormac's strategies from his own business experience that will help finance teams build trust and become more effective business partners.
"You could be technically brilliant, but if you can't communicate well, you can be overlooked."
Cormac Doyle, Director of Software Applications, Greystar
A good rule of thumb when getting in front of other departments: Build trust before you bring in the data. Or, thinking of it another way, build a bridge before you try to cross a river.
As Cormac explained, “Engaging with your data first is like coming up to a river without building a bridge first, and trying to get across. You might be able to get across, but it’s going to be risky.”
In other words, you need to establish a firm connection with another area of the business or organization, or a strong business partnership, before they’re going to fully buy in and give you their attention. That way, they’ll recognize the importance of the finance team’s reports and analyses, rather than discounting them.
“We can greatly reduce the required engagements if we build a connection, or if we’re building off past engagements,” he said. “If we’re getting to the river, and we’ve already built the bridge, then we can go full-speed ahead because we know how to navigate across it.”
Master your body language to build instant credibility.
Whether deliberately or not, we form judgements and opinions about other people based on their body language, including how they speak. It happens quickly, too—within seconds, or even a fraction of a second. That can be a huge factor in building trust and formulating effective business partnerships.
Keep that in mind when approaching or working with other areas of the business—how you present and carry yourself matters. So, you should practice and try to be mindful of your body language when working within other areas of the organization.
“These tools can be used to assist us in showcasing our technical prowess [and] our knowledge set. When they’re ignored, they can undermine us,” Cormac said.
There are some ways you can exercise or practice mastering your body and voice. Cormac suggested “be willing to take up space.” The easiest way to do that is to relax—don’t cross your arms or appear closed off.
Research also shows that physical contact (a handshake, for example) helps, as can a simple smile, controlling your voice (pauses, speaking at a low volume) and using hand gestures. These can all help you feel more comfortable and express open body language.
“When you pair great technical skills with great communication ability, that is when you thrive, that is when you are heard."
Cormac Doyle, Director of Software Applications, Greystar
Listening is also a sneaky-good strategy.
Not just hearing, mind you—but actual, active listening. After all, communication is a two-way street, and when you can become a great listener in addition to a stand-out communicator, Cormac said that you will truly start to see a difference.
“When you pair great technical skills with great communication ability, that is when you thrive, that is when you are heard,” he explained.
Combined with open body language, it’s critical to be receptive to what’s being said, even if you find it uninteresting, unhelpful or incorrect—this can take practice and patience. Try engaging in more small talk, which can help you get to know other people in the business on a more personal level. Active listening also helps you learn what matters to business partners, and how they like to work or operate. That’s useful to remember in the future, paving the way for a smooth working relationship.
Further, you can try “mirroring,” or mimicking someone’s body language, expressions and tone. If a coworker is excited, you can get excited, too, for example. And you can even try furthering conversations by asking “what am I missing?” or “can you explain this in more detail?” during one-on-ones or meetings. This will show you’re actively listening and are interested in what someone is saying.
Have you ever been in a meeting and everybody is sitting around, waiting for someone to take charge? That’s another opportunity to step up, take ownership and prove your worth as a finance professional.
That’s an example of a small power vacuum and presents an opportunity to “set the agenda,” Cormac said. “Take the lead,” he suggested, as “what you’ll be doing now is actively building trust. Offer assertive statements, include others' input and participation, but you want to be the one who’s leading,” he added.
In a way, this is similar to building a tower out of Legos.
“My kids love Legos. It’s a ton of little bricks, so we need to take those little bricks, piece by piece, and start constructing what we want the overall thing to be,” he said. “Some of those bricks might be speaking with an assertive voice—a balance between respecting others and respecting ourselves.” Connecting those bricks can help you build rapport and trust.
Some simple tactics for taking charge?
Volunteer to take care of simple, unclaimed tasks. Take the team’s lunch order, for example, or email the team a list of important points raised during a meeting. Again, these are fairly low-lift tasks, but in aggregate, they can help validate your skills and value as a business partner and strategic cornerstone of the organization.
Finally, Cormac suggested that you “look for small wins.” The best way to do that is to be open, inviting and, as noted, actively listening to your colleagues and business partners. “It’s a matter of simply relaxing,” Cormac said, which can help others relax and open up to you.
As you rack up small wins and find strategic successes, think about ways to turn those into repeatable processes. This may be more important than ever as hybrid work has, in many cases, winnowed away traditional organizational alignments. So, intentional, strategic collaboration—done within systems—is more important than ever.
This is where software systems like Vena can help, by providing opportunities for finance teams to collaborate seamlessly with stakeholders across the business.
Collaboration converts into goodwill, and using tools such as Vena’s commenting and task assignment features—along with Vena Copilot integrated with Microsoft Teams—can be an asset to business partnering.
Better strategic communication and business partnering start with each team member.
By building trust, exuding confidence through your body language, actively listening, owning the agenda and finding ways to systemize your successful workflows, finance teams should be able to solidify themselves as trusted business partners across their organization, no matter what industry they’re in.
All of the effort that goes into becoming a trusted and reliable business partner pays off on a personal, professional and organizational level. It can also ensure your reports and analyses aren’t being ignored or forgotten, and that your team is taking a central role in driving business success.
Learn how to bridge functional silos and elevate your role as a strategic finance leader, with Cormac Doyle, Director of Software Applications at Greystar.
Watch NowSam Becker is a writer and journalist focusing on business and finance, based near New York City. He is a native of the Pacific Northwest, and a graduate of Washington State University, and has written for CNBC, Fast Company, BBC, Fortune, and others. He also works with numerous brands in the financial space to sharpen their editorial reach, including Stash, Acorns, Goldman Sachs, SoFi, Vena, and more.
