what does it mean to partner?

What does it mean to partner?

Outcomes for today

• A wider understanding of the concept of partnership and what makes them valuable to your organisation

• A glossary of terms, agreed definitions

• Awareness of some practical tools that can be used to build cohesion and trust within partnership

Partnerships involves bringing together points of difference

Points of pain Points of comfort

Common interest

Where are our pain points? Our barriers?

What does it mean to you to partner?

Partnership is a relationship to achieve strategic coordination

Spectrum of coordination

Autonomy IntegrationStrategic coordination

Transaction Hierarchy

networkingCooperation

Collaboration

Creating common language

Changing landscape

“…we all have a role to play within the community”

Minister Humphries

How are shifting roles, responsibilities, expectations changing the way we coordinate with each other?

What drives us to partner? Motivations?

Benefits of coordination (incentive)

1. Efficiency 2. Effectiveness

3. Legitimacy4. Influence

What’s in it for me?

What is my value proposition?

Strategies for coordination

1. Networking2. Cooperation3. collaboration

How do we define these strategies?

What keeps a partnership together?

Partnership Tools

• MOUs• Terms of Reference• Letter of Intent• Forward Plan• Partnership Assessment• Project Management Plan • Partnership attitudes• Contracts

What are the benefits of these tools?

What are the limitations?

Scenario 1

You are a member of a committee which is responsible for ensuring that project teams from each organisation share lessons learned with each other to improve services. However, members fail to turn up to meetings regularly, are guarded about what they share. It seems to you that there lacks clear understanding of the group’s purpose.

• Why might the partnership be behaving in this way? • What tool/s could you use to overcome these issues? • What outcome/s are you seeking?• Give reasons for your choice of tools

Scenario 2

You represent a community managed organisation that works with consumers who experience severe mental illness requiring support from public and private mental health services. You have been trying to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a number of organisations who provide other mental health services to the same consumers, to ensure that the care needs of the consumer are coordinated appropriately. You have been trying to establish agreement for 12 months but you have not been successful.

• Why do you think this has not been successful? • What are the risks of not having an MOU?• In the absence of an MOU,

– What outcome/s are you seeking?– What tools could be used to coordinate with these services– What processes put in place to meet the needs of consumers accessing your service

• Give reasons for your choice of tools

Scenario 3 • You are responsible for bringing together a number of

organisations to develop innovative products/service in response to recently discovered unmet needs within the community. Funding is available to set up this initiative, so long as organisations can demonstrate collaboration. However, as you work together, you realise that expectations are very different across the group. Some partners are more interested in what proportion of funding they will receive. Others have proposed that funding could be used to expand their existing programs. Every time you use the work ‘collaboration’ partners roll their eyes.

What do you do?