Question #1 – Are we ready to partner?

Q1

Are we ready to partner?

What do we mean by partnering?

Partnering is common language within many organisations across all sectors. However, in our experience very few have had conversations about ‘what partnering’ really means for their organisation and ‘how’ they should go about it.

It’s like jumping into a major construction project without doing any planning about what you want to build or how you are going to do it!

Partnering is a very general term which can mean many things to many people. In fact, it has become so generalised that it has almost become meaningless.

Add to this that everyone comes to a partnering situation from different experiences and often have widely varying expectations and understanding of just what partnering is in their context.

Getting an agreed understanding of what partnering is for your organisation and what you expect to gain from it should be a crucial first step in preparing to partner.

Do we have the right mindset?

The way you ‘think’ about working with other individuals, organisations and sectors is crucial to developing the right foundation of relationships that will enable the creative and innovative solutions you are seeking.

You need a different mindset that involves:

> Looking outside your own organisation for opportunities to collaborate and partner

> Developing an understanding and level of confidence in working with complex systems

> Keeping an open mind and not jumping to solutions too early

> Co-creating and co-designing solutions together with others

> Being open, honest and transparent in all your communications

> Letting go of your own priorities and creating freedom to explore shared priorities and objectives

> Valuing diversity as a catalyst for change, and

> Being prepared to have the tough conversations and take risks.

Having the right mindset around partnering is so fundamental that without it we will keep doing what we have always done; unintentionally (or intentionally) undermining efforts to do things in new ways and achieve elusive outcomes, transformational change or innovation.

Do we have the skills to partner?

As partnering continues to evolve and develop there is also growing acceptance that it is not easy. It requires a new skillset; one which enables partners to navigate the complexities of working with issues and with others in new ways. Working beyond the boundaries of your own organisation provides some wonderful opportunities but many challenges. Balancing the demands of your organisation with those of your partners requires another level of understanding and sophistication.

It takes considerable knowledge, skill and experience to be able to engage effectively with others; build commitment and develop shared ownership through the partnering process; and focus on the complex issue at hand and the change goal at the forefront.

There is no doubt that partnering skills will become a ‘must have’ skillset in the future as more and more individuals and organisations realise that these skills will be critical to achieving maximum impact from partnering initiatives. Partnering is subtle and takes good judgement that is usually developed over the course of experience in many partnering relationships.

Fortunately, it is becoming easier to compress this learning and gain these skills through our Partnering Essentials skills development courses.

Do we have the capacity to partner?

Any partnering process will take an investment of time and resources.

We often find that a partner’s ‘capacity’ or their ability to commit time and resources to a partnering initiative can vary considerably. When first exploring a partnering opportunity, it is likely that everyone involved is committed to other projects and activities. So how do you find the time to partner?

As the partnering process develops there needs to be enough commitment achieved that ensures the partnering becomes part of ‘core business’. And to do this, other activities may need to be deferred or stopped.

Undertaking some thorough internal assessment of how ready you are to partner will help you get off to a good start and ensure you maximise the outcomes from any partnering initiative you enter.

Do you have permission to partner?

Inherent in any partnering process is your ability to think collaboratively and be willing to explore opportunities for working together.

In some cases, you may find this extremely challenging, sometimes due to other’s mindsets or to the lack of support from your parent organisation.

In organisations you can experience what we call ‘vertical drivers’, those that encourage you to conform to a hierarchy and undertake activities solely for your organisation, and ‘horizontal drivers’, those that encourage you to work across agencies and organisations in a collaborative manner.

Unless you have strong horizontal drivers at all levels of the partner organisations, that give everyone involved ‘permission to partner’, then results will not be achieved. You need to be empowered to partner - to have the full support and freedom to operate within the partnership and not be restricted or overly controlled by your host organisation.

To do this you need enough buy-in from key parts of your organisation at the start of any partnering process. This can then be built on progressively as the partnership is created and developed.

This allows representatives involved in partnering discussions to have the freedom to fully participate in the partnering process and to truly create and innovate.