Building and Maintaining Successful Partnerships
We believe that through strong partnerships with shared vision we can more effectively promote the kind of changes we wish to see in West Hawai‘i. There are many approaches to partnerships, and the process of finding, attaining, maintaining, and growing partnerships should look different for each relationship and each project. However, there are a few considerations that should be applicable to many partnerships.
From research we conducted last fall, we found that clear expectations, two-way benefits, alignment of values/goals, and accountability were mentioned most frequently as aspects of ideal partnerships from the schools’ perspectives. These elements are also frequently mentioned in guides for partnership in business, nonprofit, and community organizing.
Since not all partnerships can be approached the same way, doing your research and establishing clear expectations are key. Clear expectations could mean a verbal agreement, or you may need a formal agreement. Work together to consider questions such as: how to measure impact, how to collect community input, what resources are to be shared, what the timeline will be, who to contact when issues arise, and who will pay for what. For a partnership to continue thriving, clarity needs to continue throughout the partnership. Try to maintain ongoing communication in modes that work for all parties, along with flexibility to responsively update expectations. A partnership cannot grow if it is not allowed to change, and it is unlikely to flourish if expectations are too rigid to allow innovation or scaling back. Accountability will also suffer if expectations turn out to be too much for a partner to manage.
For these reasons, the initial stages of developing a partnership are important. The “getting to know you” phase is a chance to learn about one another’s goals, philosophy, working style, special skills/resources, ideas, past experiences, and more. Find points that all partners are passionate about, and pursue those as part of determining expectations. Partners from very different sectors can affect powerful change when they find a common motivator, and it is easier to find a “win-win” situation when everyone is already passionate about a cause, and find the work intrinsically worthwhile.
Whether you are searching for new partners, have new opportunities turning up, or are looking to revitalize an existing partnership, strive always to avoid miscommunication and burnout. While there is nothing wrong with growing pains, and some things can’t be predetermined without starting to work together first, it’s still important to find time to determine expectations that will set everyone up for success without getting too bogged down. Making mistakes is okay, so long as both partners learn together and take the time to rework plans and reaffirm commitment to the cause.
