1. The partnership lifecycle

2. The Partnership Life Cycle
FORMING
FRUSTRATION
FUNCTIONING
FLYING
FALLING
FAIL
Adapted from "Five Vital Lessons: Successful Partnership with Business" (authors: Educe Ltd and GFA Consulting).

3. The Partnership Life Cycle
If your partnership is…..
Characteristics include…
Possible actions
Forming
Exploring what's needed and what's possible
Sharing common cause, arising from shared interests, opportunities or threats
Early enthusiasm
Nature of commitments hazy
Create opportunities for people to get to know each other
Meet on neutral ground
Encourage focus on common vision
Appeal to "mutual enlightenment self-interest"
Focus on benefits to individuals and address costs and potential risks
Start exploring parameters of possible partnership agreement
Frustration
Hidden agendas
Individuals questioning the purpose of the partnership and reasons for being there
Doubting each other
Competing for credit and control
Bit of "a fog"
Revisit common ground & allow time to redefine issues, purposes etc.
Plan a few quick wins
Create the climate for open expression and constructive disagreement
Clarify and re-emphasise benefits to individual partners
Promote mutual appreciation of what each other can contribute
Don't get caught up in blaming any particular party - fix the problem not the blame
Functioning
Feeling renewed vision & focus
Established clear roles and responsibilities
Progress through joint project teams
Feeling accountability to each other for actions
Partners talking in terms of "we" not "you"
Start implementing partnership agreement
Agree clear objectives, milestones, responsibilities, success measures
Establish ground rules & principles for collaboration
Develop common methods & quality standards
Encourage joint learning through training & review activities
Flying
Achievement of partnership goals
Partners altering what they do & how they do it to achieve partnership objectives
Partnership priorities central to partners' activities
Shared leadership
Trust and mutual respect
Keep working at communications
Anticipate future challenges & build capacity to respond
Ensure all the partners are getting the benefits they expect
Celebrate success
Reflect on whether the partnership still serves its purpose
Failing
Recurrent tensions
Disengagement
Lack of commitment
Breakdown or frittering away of relationships
Revisit stage 1
Adapted from "Five Vital Lessons: Successful Partnership with Business" (authors: Educe Ltd and GFA Consulting).