Since the COVID 19 pandemic struck we have seen a dramatic increase in collaboration and partnering taking place within Australia and globally. But how will we learn from this rapid partnering and reap the benefits post the pandemic?

As we look ahead to 2020 it is a great time to reflect on our partnering projects and initiatives and think about how we can improve our performance. Here we offer some helpful tips.

Keeping a partnership on track and delivering results is not easy. So how do you keep the partnership humming along and delivering over a long period of time. And how can the partners continue to work together effectively throughout the partnering process?

Looking to learn more about cross sector partnering and what it takes to partner and get results? Then check out our series of online short courses available through our collaboration with CQ University Australia.

In recognition of our 20-year anniversary in business we will be offering our Partnering Essentials™ suite of programs at a 20 % discount during the 2020 calendar year.

As part of our ongoing development of the Partnering Essentials™ online program we are pleased to announce the release of a further four short courses in this series. These courses are available on the CQUniversity Australia online platform and each course takes 2 hours to complete.

In recent weeks I have come to reflect on number of partnering projects where major tensions and delays have occurred. It was clear in these projects that the key impediment to progress was the lack of trust between some of the partners.

Recently while conducting one of our short course training programs, we were debriefing a role play scenario when I was reminded again just how critical it is to ‘set the tone’ for early meetings of potential partners.

As more and more organisations embrace cross sector partnering to enable their collective impact or shared value initiatives, the focus is turning to how we can get best results from this type of collaboration? And how do we build the capability and skills of those involved in cross sector partnering quickly?

One of the greatest challenges when partnering is getting enough commitment and support throughout each of the partner organisations to get results. We often find that while the individuals who engage at the partnering table make real progress, unless they have support back within each of their organisations little action will take place.

As a partnering initiative progresses it is inevitable that at some stage you may lose a key person from one of the partner organisations. So how do you manage this so that the partnership does not go backwards?

In the early stages of partnering we usually see the champions taking the lead, bringing potential partners together, exploring and scoping possibilities and facilitating discussions. And while partners may be engaged in these early discussions, are they just sitting on the fence?

In 2016 OZ Minerals (OZM) and the Kokotha Aboriginal Corporation (KAC) developed a Partnering Agreement and Native Title Mining Agreement for the new Carrapateena Mine in just 12 months. A case study of their agreement making process has recently been published in the June 2019 edition of the AusIMM magazine.

This short course on Partnering Agreements explores what partnering agreements are, what should be in them and how you can develop effective agreements with other partners. It includes plenty of tips and techniques for developing partnering agreements and reviews a number of actual agreements.

Partnering with others means lots of dialogue around a whole range of issues. Making sure you keep moving forward is not easy as partners often want to revisit issues. So how do you stop this content backtracking?

Partnerships and collaboration are becoming more common every day. But how many of these partnerships are actually working effectively and delivering on their key purpose? And how many partners are applying the necessary rigour to maximise their return on investment from partnering?

Partners for Possibility (PfP) is a nation building and leadership development process where business leaders and school principals are partnered in a year-long partnership. Recently Louise Van Rhyn, the CEO and Founder of Symphonia for South Africa  made contact with me share the story of PfP.

Have you ever been in a partnering process and become frustrated because others at the table seem to be sitting on the fence? Perhaps your partnering has been working really well and then someone leaves - does it all fall over? Or has one of your partners has just failed to deliver on their commitments?