The idea of partnership or collaborative working is not new. But it continues to be emphasised, and sometimes presented as ‘newer’ than it is, in a wide range of policies and strategies.
In over 20 years of developmental work and formal training sessions, I have seen the ‘good, the bad and the ugly’. This experience has been across a wide range of policy areas – learning, employability, criminal justice, community planning, economic development, health, and addictions to name a few. It has included both strategic and operational practice in a mix of situations, such as ‘corporate’ partnerships across different sections of large organisations, inter-agency partnerships at local or regional level, cross Council collaborations, and national partnerships.
A great deal has been written about the characteristics of ‘good’ partnership working – and much of this is evident in some practice. But I would argue we are still collectively not doing as well as we could across the public sector, or when the public sector works with voluntary, community based or private sector agencies.
Of course, good practice in partnership working is not a science – it will always require an element of judgement, and the most appropriate approaches will vary from one situation to another. In addition, where and how you come into a partnership situation will affect what you can bring to the party. But irrespective of starting points, good partnership working is about howyou do things, as well as whatyou do.
Reflecting on experience, I believe a core problem, and a key reason we don’t get this right, is that we can perhaps make a number of assumptionsabout partnership working. And we do not always appreciate these are just that – ‘assumptions’. Consequently, we do not always get the sustained relationships and crucially the outcomes we hope for.
11 of these assumptions jump out.
1. It will be easy – we too readily assume working in partnership will be easy – and then became over concerned and critical of ourselves and our partners when we hit challenges and problems.
2. We have agreed what we’re trying to achieve – we are not clear enough at the start on the common objectives and purpose of the partnership, and don’t always write these down.
3. We start as experts on everyone else – too often we assume from the outset we knowwhat each other do, and then later on it seems a bit embarrassing to ask this.
4. We can forget line management realities – partnership objectives are important, but these must clearly align with the aspirations and outcomes of individual participating organisations. We can sometimes forget this, and that most folks need to check big decisions ‘back at the ranch’.
5. Everyone is automatically up for this – sometimes partnerships are to a degree forcedon participating organisations by national strategies and related funding opportunities. This can result in an initial ‘conscript’ rather than a ‘volunteer’ mind-set, which is not helpful and needs to be recognised.
6. Leadership is clear – who is leading the partnerships can be unclear and fudged, and the roles of all other partnership members undefined. Shared leadership can work, but not if this is only because it seems the easiest thing to do: being ‘polite’ has its limits.
7. We are all multi-lingual – without realising it – we can speak different organisational ‘languages’. This can lead to confusion, and sometimes suggest bigger differences in individual organisational practice, objectives and outcomes than actually exist in reality.
8. Jam today- working effectively in partnership can take time – and this is not always appreciated. This can lead to a danger of interpreting progress as slow, when in fact strong and sustainable foundations are being built.
9. Shared success is automatic (or doesn’t matter) – people in partnerships want clear recognition their inputs are acknowledge and communicated. Success must be shared, and equally robust partnerships must also share responsibility if something doesn’t work or goes wrong.
10. People are interchangeable– partnerships depend on relationships often built up over time. Continually changing people needs to be minimised, or progress can be slow and meetings at worst ‘ground-hog day’. Imagine a sports coach changing an experienced star with an untested rookie and anticipating the same results?
11. We will always agree– constructive differences of opinion are often a sign a partnership is working. But before these arise, we can forget to agree how to amicably raise and resolve any disagreements – this can mean that straightforward issues that could have been quite simple to resolve fester and escalate.
The above may appear negative; but in training and development work the purpose of considering these is the exact opposite. By ensuring we are aware of the above, we can identify any that apply in a particular situation, and take what can often be simple steps to avoid mistakes down the line.
Some top tips
- Try and define common definitions of success asap – and keep a continual focus on this;
- Be open on partnership challenges facing all partners – sometimes it is not easy – recognise progress not ‘failings’;
- Realise many partners are often ‘in the same boat’ – be open about this, and build internal partnership ‘coalitions’;
- Be prepared to ask the obvious questions – ‘would it be useful if we all said something about what we all do?’;
- Be clear on your personal role and influence;
- Celebrate ‘shared’ success;
- Agree leadership and other roles;
- Offer to help partners negotiate challenges withintheir organisation;
- Agree how to disagree (constructively);
- Identify, agree, and communicate when issues need resolved beyond the immediate partnership setting;
- Share common frustrations to ‘bond’ the partnership;
- Be realistic about the time needed to work effectively together;
- Make a game of ‘jargon busting’ and challenge/clarify language if needed;
- Agree the processes for periodic review and reflection.
Smart Consultancy Scotland 