Partnership Management

The Vrinda Handbook - The Challenge of Designing, Executing and Implementing the Development Programmes and Actions

Partnership is a structured cooperation amongst individuals and organizations.

Development cooperation actions formally are always done in partnership. However many times these partnership remains just "in name" and in fact there is a leading organization, acting as a sort of subcontractor of the donor, which tells to the other organizations what they should do in order to get the money allotted for such sub-tasks. In such cases the other organizations may still be formally called "partners", but in fact are subcontractors to which tasks are outsourced by the leading organization.

Real partnership instead is based on reciprocal empowerment and subsidiarity. The quality of the outputs of a cooperation action is strictly dependent upon the quality and authenticity of the partnership, since that is the main driver of thecommunication climate within the project.

There is a strong a correspondence between the cooperation done by the individuals who are colleagues within an anorganization and the cooperation done among partners organizations associated for the achievement of the objectives of a development program or project. In a sense to establish a cooperation programme among different organizations is like to make a temporary meta-organization, where each organization becomes a partner to the other organization, until theprogram objectives are achieved. The organizations where there is in internal healthy communication and cooperation climateare better capable to manage the program partnerships. An important determinant of the partnership is therefore how theorganizational cultures are framed: are they centered in nurturing the cohesiveness and solidarity of its teams?

In development cooperation actions your real co-workers are your team members, which may be employees of different organizations. When the partnership is not well structured development development workers find themselves in a conflictual situation between their allegiance to their team and the allegiance to the interest of the employer organization. When instead the modality of relationship amongst partners really expresses the tasks distribution defined in the action plan, then organizations empower each other and learn form each other in the same way that colleagues do in the learning organizations. And in the same manner for which in order to generate a learning and employee empowering climate organizations need to be projectized, partnerships are well structured when everybody's tasks and duties. And in order to have lasting benefit from project results and capitalize knowledge project plans need to be coherent within wider perspectives of organizational partnership strategies.

By the way organizations of different countries learn to work together in a spirit of real partnership they show the way how different countries and different civilizations can empower each other, learn from each other and relate in a positive sum gamemodality where all stand to win.

Working with Partners/Counterparts

Partnership Guidelines

Organization's approach to working with partners

Essential ingredients of partnership building

What to consider when choosing partners

Vendors as partners

How can we manage collaborations so as to generate a sense of partnership and solidarity with key development stakeholders?

How can we manage collaborations so as to improve one's own organizational capacity?

How can we manage collaborations so as to achieve high reputation?

Associations and Networks (including competitors) In most cases, organizations speak for themselves. However, in a time of crisis, uncertainty, or change, a need may arise to speak for the entire sector of activity. As a result, organizations have to learn how to maintain a effective spirit that does not get in the way of any necessary cooperation that will benefit everyone involved.

Partnership Management

See also