Training and consultancy that focuses on the results you need
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Training and consultancy that focuses on the results you need
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Scroll down to follow a 10 step process for starting up, running and reviewing a partnership. To see the Tallis Training 'Making Partnerships Work' programme click Here. To see how to apply the ten step process to partnership working click Here. Step 1 – What is the purpose of the potential partnership and what are the root causes of the issues and problems it would need to address? What is the purpose of the potential partnership? What needs to be achieved? What outcomes are required? What are the root causes of the issues and problems the potential partnership would need to address?
Step 2 - Can a partnership provide what is needed? Is working in partnership the best way to achieve the above purpose and outcomes? Is partnership working the best way to address the root causes of the relevant problems and issues? What skills, expertise, support and overall added effectiveness need to be gained from working in partnership? List the potential gains from partnership working and the potential drawbacks. If the gains clearly outweigh the drawbacks carry on with this process. If the drawbacks outweigh the gains reconsider the need for partnership working. Are there any aspects of the proposed partnership working that could adversely affect its ability to provide what is needed (for example proposed time scales, scope, amount of funding, exclusion of key stakeholders and partners)?
Step 3 – Who are the potential partners? Identify all potential partners - resist making judgements about their relative importance or suitability. Are there any potential partners that would give good access to hard to reach and/or influential groupings affected by the partnership’s work?
Step 4 – Who are the major potential partners? Which of the above partners will help maximise the gains and minimise the drawbacks? Which of the above partners will help minimise the distance between cause and effect/strategy and action? In short, which partners will be able to cut through the red tape and/or make things happen quickly and effectively? Will the individual partner representatives be senior enough or empowered enough to make decisions and act with an appropriate amount of independence? Where is the shared interest with each partner and where do interests converge and diverge? What is the positive pay off for each partner? Remember that small numbers of partners are better than many. When making the selection remember that credibility and powerful sponsorship are important for effective partnership working. What is the relative power of each partner and what form does it take? What are partners sources of power? How are these useful or otherwise to the partnership? How can these sources of power be best acknowledged and used for the good of the partnership?
Step 5 – Which structure best meets the partnership’s needs? Which of the following structures will help best realise potential gains and best suit all the partners? More temporary structures: Information exchange Project work Joint work More permanent structures: Co-operative Alliance Unification Remember that different partners may need to be dealt with in different ways and that the type of structure the partnership needs may change during its lifetime. Does the structure of the partnership separate out who needs to decide, who needs to be consulted and who needs to be informed in particular situations? Does the structure of the partnership and its accompanying processes facilitate timely and appropriate communicaton between partners and stakeholders? Do partners’ and stakeholders’ communication preferences influence the way the partnership structures itself, communicates and generally goes about its business?
Step 6 – Who are the partnership’s stakeholders? What do they think and what does the partnership need from them? Identify all the stakeholders. Stakeholders are not only partners, but also all those people and organisations affected by the partnership. Who is needed as a resource? Who is affected? Who has an interest? Who feels they have a right to be involved? Divide stakeholders into those from the public, private and voluntary sectors. Consider each stakeholder in turn and ask the following types of questions: Who wants the partnership to succeed? Who wants it to fail? Who is offering support? Whose support is necessary? Who is offering resources?
Step 7 – What is the best way to manage each stakeholder? Think about how to best manage each stakeholder. Which stakeholders have high interest in the partnership and high power in terms of their ability to positively or adversely affect it? Which stakeholders have high interest but low power? Which have low interest but high power? Which have low interest and low power? Where stakeholders are placed within the above categories will influence how their needs are prioritised and managed. Above all, which stakeholders could shut the work of the partnership down if they so wished? Why would they want to do this? How could this situation be avoided?
Step 8 – How can the partnership contract for success? Jointly identify and agree some quick wins from which all partners will benefit. Jointly identify and agree key areas not suitable for quick wins that need special attention. Set some special emphasis goals (goals that will need attention over a 6 to 12 month period or more) to address them. Create an agreed action plan that clearly shows which partner is responsible for what and gives agreed deadlines. Agree review dates for each action point, especially where the outcome to be achieved is long term or ongoing. Make sure that your contract for success addresses both the outputs expected from the partnership and how the partnership is going to work together to achieve them. Make sure that complete tasks are allocated to partners.
Step 9 – How can the partnership make the most of partners’ cultures/ways of working? What types of organisational/social cultures do the partners come from? How are they used to working/operating? For example, do they come from role centred, hierarchical cultures? Political cultures based on power and patronage? Individual cultures that value freedom and creativity? Task cultures that value professional expertise and a functional project management approach? Vocational cultures that voluntarily give of their time and resources and are passionate about the issues they represent? Are any of the above cultures relevant or do partners come from different or hybrid cultures? Consider each partner in turn. How can the most be made of the strengths of each partner's culture and how can weaknesses be minimised?
Step 10 – How can the partnership audit its ongoing effectiveness? Ask the following types of questions: Is the purpose still clear and current? Do all partners still buy into the purpose? Are the partnership's structures and processes still relevant and effective? Are all partners still needed? Are new partners needed? Do stakeholders know what is going on and are they being managed appropriately? Have all partners co- created/agreed the outcomes and their success indicators? Does the partnership know the costs incurred and do the benefits realised justify these costs? Has the partnership implemented ongoing evaluation processes and are the findings from these being acted upon to improve its effectiveness?
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