How do you get more impact from your partnering?
Are you taking some time out to reflect on your partnering and thinking how could we do it better? How could we get more impact? What do we need to do differently?
Chances are you’re not alone. Many partnering initiatives are just not delivering the desired impacts. While partners start out with good intentions and high expectations they are seldom realised for a multitude of reasons.
Let’s face it - partnering is easy to say and hard to do in practice. Particularly if there are many partners from different organisations or sectors all with different drivers for being involved.
So, what can you do to get more impact? How can your partnering take a step up and really deliver on the outcomes you’re seeking?
Partnering can be a very complex so often the key to improved performance will be getting back to basics and trying to simplify a partnering process that can often become very complex.
When you have a number of organisations and a multitude of people involved you can easily get lost in ‘the fog of relationship issues’ and have difficulty focussing on what really needs to happen.
Simplifying the process and getting back to the basics can be the answer to higher performance.
It always amazes me when we have undertaken Partnering Reviews for partners as an independent partnership broker and how asking the right question at the right time can have an immediate impact on the partners, their process and their performance.
Below I have listed just a few of the techniques I use to help partners improve their performance and hopefully you may find these useful as you reflect on your partnering initiative at the start of this year:
Step back to step up
This may seem a bit strange if we want to move forward and deliver better results, but taking a step back as I call it to look at what is really going on with the partnering rather than just charging ahead can allow the partners to recalibrate and get focussed on the way forward.
This allows you to take some time to look at just how the partners are working together in practice. And to see whether all the partner organisations have bought into the partnership and are contributing what they said they would at the start.
If there are some underlying issues and it’s difficult to get them out on the table then perhaps a formal partnering review with an independent partnership broker/facilitator is required to assess how the partnering is working, what’s not working and what could be done differently.
Remember though it is always better to have a regular partnering review process discussed and agreed early in a partnering process so there are no surprises later on.
Question:
What is happening in your partnering? Do you need a formal partnering review?
Where are you in the process?
Over the years we have seen so many situations where potential partners come together around a particular challenge or tough issue and want to dive straight into task mode without getting the basic relationship fundamentals in place.
While every partnering context is different, there is a logical pathway that can be navigated for partnering to become successful and sustainable. Our own simple Partnering by Design™ methodology has three distinct stages – Creating, Developing and Sustaining which helps partners understand what activities they should be doing and most importantly what questions they should be asking at what time in the process.
When working with partners where performance issues have emerged, we often find that they have done some activities in Creating, some in Developing and perhaps some in the Sustaining Stage, but really need to go back and ask some of those fundamental questions again in each of the stages to get back on track.
Understanding where you are in the process is crucial as it is so easy to miss steps and jump ahead too quickly
And remember you only move as fast as the slowest partner!!
Question:
Where are you in the partnering process? Are there activities or questions that need to be asked?
Are all partners still owning the partnership?
As you move through a partnering process it is critical to build engagement, commitment and shared ownership from all the partners if the partnering is to be sustainable over the long term and deliver the impacts needed.
We often find that over time the enthusiasm and commitment for a particular partnering initiative by one or more partners may start to wane. This could be due to people coming and going, changes to key leadership changes or even a new strategic direction for a partner organisation.
If we want to take a step up to higher performance with the partnering initiative then we need to test the level of buy in and take steps to re-engage at all levels within all the partners.
Question:
Do all your partners share the same level of commitment and ownership to the partnership?
Is there a power imbalance?
Another key area affecting partnering performance is power and where is sits. Is it an equal sharing of power in the relationship or is there one partner taking control?
Power imbalances are common in partnering. Especially where the partnership is set up as transactional arrangement underpinned by a contract so the power imbalance is essentially built into the partnering arrangement. In this case the partnering is more by name then nature and is in effect a contractual relationship.
In a more integrated partnering relationship (the 1+1 =3 type) all parties are coming to the table with equity around decision making, however, it must be remembered that organisational systems and processes will tend to pull partners back to transactional type relationships. While an integrated partnering relationship may be the intention of all the partners it is difficult to stay in this place due to the organisational tensions that can arise.
Question:
Where does the power sit in your partnering?
These are just a few of the questions and approaches we use to help partners improve their partnering performance and achieve greater impacts.
As we celebrate our 25th year since I started my practice in 1999, I will be sharing more of my learnings and experiences over this time in the hope that it will help you improve your partnering and enable you to achieve greater impacts whether it be locally, nationally or globally.
If you have found this article useful and then join me on this journey of sharing and learning throughout this year and if you have questions or issues, you want me to cover in future articles then please reach out to me.
If you would like to know more about how to partner simply, quickly and effectively you can also jump to our Partnering Essentials™ Online Academy and check out our series of on demand online courses. Or for some further questions you might like to ask your self or your partners while reflecting on your partnering there is also our E Book – The 7 Questions Every Partner Should Ask which you can download here.
Thank you for reading this article and all the very best with your partnering in 2024.