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Client Story: Start Simple to Start Sooner

A client is in the early stages of exploring a potential joint venture.  They learned about the organization when researching training opportunities, loved the content, and saw a vision for expanding the training program globally.  While the interest was mutual, there was a lot of talk without much traction.  Meetings had no agenda and ran […]

6 Business Practices that Fail without a Partnership Strategy

  Partnerships touch every aspect of your business. There isn’t a business practice or activity that isn’t influenced directly or indirectly by stakeholders that you may like and dislike.  Your business is part of a complex and interconnected economic ecosystem. There are six common organizational practices that your business likely engages in, that will be […]

How to Dream with a Prospective Partner

All partnerships start with the possibilities of something different and better.  Everyone has the capacity to dream; but most adults are out of practice.  This makes dreaming even harder to do with a prospective partner!   So where do you start?   Questions are a great way to frame a conversation about the possibilities of […]

Three Strategies for Prospecting New Partners

Prospecting for new partners can feel like shooting fish in a barrel, or like squeezing water from a rock.  It all depends on the effectiveness of your prospecting strategies. We tend to partner with people and organizations we know, like and trust.  So what are the characteristics of a prospective partner that help you know, […]

Partnership Myth 19: Having a formal written agreement will make the partnership more complex

A written agreement doesn’t make the partnership complex. A complicated, convoluted, intricate written agreement that partners don’t understand is what makes the partnership more complex. One of the challenges leaders experience when formalizing a partnership is determining the type of agreement needed to facilitate the partnership objectives (e.g., memorandum of understanding, service agreement, etc). Another […]

Partnership Myth 18: Having a formal written agreement will ensure better performance and communication

Do you think that even the most articulate marriage contract would guarantee harmonious relationships, where partners communicate clearly and perform better as spouses? Not a chance! Contracts and other written agreements are tools to facilitate the partnership process. They are designed to clarify roles and expectations, and facilitate communication and performance. They don’t guarantee it. […]

Partnership Myth 17: All partnerships should be formalized and have written contracts

Do you require all of your family, friends and colleagues to sign an agreement outlining the terms of your relationship? Of course not. Written contracts are tools that can be used by partners to help facilitate the partnership process and meeting the partnership objectives. Written documents help to outline the results, roles, responsibilities and terms […]

Partnership Myth 16: Funding reports are a waste of time

Receiving funding isn’t a right, it’s a privilege! Doing the paperwork is part of the fair exchange for receiving funding from external organizations. It’s how you earn the right to play the funding game. Reports help the partnership because: • your partners are held accountable for results, actions, deliverables and timelines • they clarify roles […]

Partnership Myth 15: Partners should be able to communicate clearly with all stakeholders

Partners should be able to recite the vision and mission of the partnership with energy and enthusiasm to anyone who asks. Beyond this, your partners become finely tuned instruments designed to deliver specific messages to specific stakeholders, based on their expertise and backgrounds. Do we expect every partner to speak more than one language? No! […]