Learning Histories

Do you want to Dance? (Forming a Strategic Partnership.) Part 1 of 7 Choosing your Dance Partner (Selection Criteria for Strategic Partnerships.) Part 2 of 7 Learning the Dance Steps (The Step-by-Step Process for Developing and Maintaining the Partnership.) Part 3 of 7 How to avoid stepping on each other's toes while dancing (Critical lessons learned & recommendations.) Part 4 of 7 Evaluating the dance performance (Rating the effectiveness of the partnership.) Part 5 of 7 Learn to Tango (Experiment for better performance.) Part 6 of 7 Let's Dance (Find the right partner for your organization and then dance.) Part 7 of 7 Click here to download all parts in one file (Rich-Text format - 66K) E-Mail Questions and Comments

Home Management Resources Partnership
Part 4 of 7

How to avoid stepping on each other's toes while dancing: Critical lessons learned & recommendations.

As the partnership forms and evolves, it can be challenging for the smaller, grass roots organization to dance as an equal partner with a larger, resource-rich organization. When participants of both organizations were asked to summarize what they learned from the process thus far, they offered the following insights:

•  Create parity from the start.
•  Involve both organizations in the planning phase/be collaborative and inclusive.
• Invite a skilled facilitator to lead the meetings.
•  Leave the logos and egos at the door.
•  Communicate, communicate, and communicate.
•  Establish a solid relationship between the champions based on mutual respect and honesty.
•  Stay true to your vision and mission/Say "no" to good ideas that don't advance the vision.
•  Respect each other's resources and capacity to ensure that neither party will be underestimated or overwhelmed.
•  Be explicit in defining each partner's competencies. You don't do their work and they don't do yours.
•  Slow down. Remember building trust and co-operation between partners is a gradual process that evolves through interaction over time.
•  Recognize the capacity of the smaller organization and don't implement too many initiatives at one time. The larger organization may have a tendency to take for granted access to resources that may not be available to the smaller organization.
•  Partners should help each other establish linkages to the outside community by sharing connections, client bases and networks.
•  Commit to the long haul. Both partners are committed to a long-term relationship.
•  Establish a structured evaluation process based on both quantitative and qualitative measures to track progress on the desired outcomes.
•  Work together in a spirit of trial and error. If the plan works, celebrate together. If it doesn't, learn from your mistakes, celebrate the learning, and try again. This partnership is a work in progress.