Promoting Partnerships
MHCC is working towards promoting partnerships in two ways:
- Building structures and processes that enhance effective partnership behaviour
- Building capacity in the sector to work in effective partnership arrangements.
Creating Partnerships
Partnerships are unique arrangements, and every partnership experience is different, with its own culture and internal dynamics. Partnerships are only as good as the ground work built to support them, so it is important to establish organisational partnerships with strong foundations. Whether you are initiating a partnership, representing an organisation in partnership or brokering a partnership MHCC has gathered together some resources to assist you to work through partnership development as a structured process, from initial concept development right through to formulating agreements and proposal writing.
The resources are organised into 7 stages of partnership development, from initial concept development right through to formulating agreements and proposal writing. The links provided will take you to a variety of websites or specific parts of a website, documents and publications. In some cases the material will address partnership issues very specifically while other links will lead you to more broadly used tools and information which can still assist you in the various tasks and processes associated to developing partnerships.
7 Stages of Partnership Development:
1. Creating and communicating a shared vision - Articulating a vision for the partnership can help to give it meaning and inspire others. Preparation of a Concept Paper will also provide a preliminary form of communication and a developmental tool to summarise your business idea. Developing a listing of potential partnership stakeholders.
2. Building an evidence base to support your vision – Evidence should be gathered to support the partnership concept / vision and so move the partnership venture forward. It can be helpful to look at a group based approach to gathering data and analysing information, identifying the needs and or gaps and opportunities for a partnership venture.
3. Determining stakeholder readiness – Take time to determine your organisational readiness and the suitability of other stakeholders. Finding the right partners, those with complementary resources, capabilities and or products whom you trust, is crucial to partnership success.
4. Establishing partnership dynamics – Once partner suitability has been ascertained, a partnership is ready to develop and boundaries must be set. There are working tools that shape collaborative partnership dynamics or conditions of the partnership. What is acceptable and unacceptable stakeholder behaviour? What are the perimeters for negotiation? What are the signs and signals of trust between stakeholders
5. Creating a blueprint for your venture – Develop a model that describes the partnership venture. Stakeholders should clearly identify roles and responsibilities within the partnership, allocate resources and outcomes of coordination.
6. Governance planning – Develop group decision making and governance structures for the partnership, entry and exit protocols and dispute resolution procedures. Once established, an implementation plan or framework can be developed with key objectives and performance indicators that describe how the new venture will unfold and how long this will take.
7. Agreement writing – Develop a formal agreement that encompasses the agreed intentions of all partners and their organisations, including the nature of the partnership relationship, expectations and outcomes that will maintain partnership alignment.
Meet Your Neighbour
MHCC's “Meet Your Neighbour” Program is designed to help strengthen opportunities for partnerships at the local level.