Index

of tools

GAIN
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is a global and regional alliance of
public, private and civil society partners committed to eliminating vitamin and
mineral deficiencies. By 2007, GAIN aims to have contributed to the improved
nutritional status of at least 600 million people in up to 40 developing countries,
primarily through facilitating fortification of commonly available and consumed local
foods. GAIN also aims to energise and harmonise the work of governments, bilateral
donors, UN agencies, the private sector as well as public health and development
organisations working to reduce micronutrient malnutrition.
More information: www.gainhealth.org

1
PARTNER
ASSESSMENT FORM

2
COHERENCE ASSESSMENT
QUESTIONNAIRE

UNDP
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN's global development
network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience
and resources to help people build better lives. UNDP is active in 166 countries,
working with them on developing and implementing their own solutions to global and
national development challenges. World leaders have pledged to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals, including the overarching goal of cutting poverty in
half by 2015. UNDP's network links and coordinates global and national efforts to
reach these goals.
More information: www.undp.org

3
SAMPLE PARTNERING
AGREEMENT

4
PARTNERING ROLES AND
SKILLS QUESTIONNAIRE

5
GUIDELINES
FOR PARTNERING
CONVERSATIONS

IAEA
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is the global focal point for nuclear
cooperation within the United Nations family. Its programme, dedicated to helping its
Member States achieve their social and economic goals, is focused on many activities
that serve basic human needs by applying nuclear science to improve health care
(nutrition, cancer treatment, communicable diseases etc.), increase food production,
improve management of water resources and assess sources of environmental
pollution.
More information: www.iaea.org

6
PARTNERSHIP
REVIEW TEMPLATE

7
CASE STUDY TEMPLATE

8
COMMUNICATIONS
CHECK LIST

IBLF
The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) is a not for profit
organisation established in 1990 to promote responsible business practices that
benefit business and society and contribute to sustainable development. The IBLF
believes that business has a significant role to play in addressing the downsides of
globalisation: poverty, social inequity and environmental degradation. With a
membership of over 80 companies from around the world, the IBLF works at strategic
levels as well as in developing / transitional countries. IBLF has established an
international reputation in its cutting edge cross-sector partnership building work.
More information: www.iblf.org

the

Partnering
toolbook

table of contents

THE PARTNERING TOOLBOOK has been produced in co-operation with the following
partner organisations:

1
THE PARTNERING CHALLENGE
THE RATIONALE FOR PARTNERING
OBSTACLES TO PARTNERING
KEY PARTNERING PRINCIPLES
THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE

2
BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS
IDENTIFYING PARTNERS
ASSESSING RISKS & REWARDS
RESOURCE MAPPING

3
PARTNERING AGREEMENTS
SECURING PARTNER COMMITMENT
INTEREST-BASED NEGOTIATION
GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

4
MANAGING THE PARTNERING PROCESS
PARTNERING ROLES
PARTNERS AS LEADERS
PARTNERING SKILLS
GOOD PARTNERING PRACTICE

5
DELIVERING SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS
MANAGING THE TRANSITION
KEEPING TO THE TASK
REPORTING, REVIEWING & REVISING

6
SUSTAINING PARTNERSHIPS
PLANNING FOR THE LONGER-TERM
SECURING GREATER ENGAGEMENT
BUILDING INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY

7
SUCCESSFUL PARTNERING
DEFINING SUCCESS
SHARING GOOD EXPERIENCES
COLLABORATION IN A COMPETITIVE WORLD

the

Partnering
toolbook

References
The Partnering Toolbook has drawn on material from three earlier publications:

Managing Partnerships: Tools for Mobilising the Public Sector,

Business and Civil Society as Partners in Development, Ros Tennyson
Published: The Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum, 1998
The Guiding Hand: Brokering Partnerships for Sustainable Development,
Ros Tennyson and Luke Wilde
Published: United Nations Office of Public Information, 2000

Institutionalising Partnerships: Lessons from the Front Line, Ros Tennyson

Published: International Business Leaders Forum, 2003
Further inspiration has come from:
Written by: Ros Tennyson,
Partnership Specialist and Director of Learning Programmes,
International Business Leaders Forum

Content editor: Barbara Torggler

The Way of Being Free, Ben Okri

Published: Phoenix

A Brief History of Everything, Ken Wilber

Published: Shambhala Publications, Inc.

Technical editor: Anna Hill

Cover design: Alison Beanland
Cartoons: Guy Venables
Design and Print: www.blahdblah.com
ISBN number: 1899159 08 8
Copyright: 2003. The International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF)
and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)

Acknowledgements
This material builds on the experience of many practitioners from all over the world,
but particular thanks are due to Michael Jacobs for writing Box 7: Telling the Story, to
Alain Gaultier for compiling Tool 2 and to Barbara Torggler for her invaluable editing work
on the whole text as well as her and UNDPs specific in-puts into Chapter 4 and Tool 5.

This publication is in three parts:

Part l is a short book that describes the generic partnering process from inception to conclusion.
Part 2 is in the form of stand alone tools to enable practitioners to develop effective partnerships.
Part 3 includes more information about GAIN, the issues around food fortification and
case studies selected to be locally appropriate for each of the different language versions.
The views and ideas expressed in this publication are those of the author
and the additional named contributors (see inside back cover).

The author gratefully acknowledges the invaluable feedback from Dr. Soekirman and
his colleagues of Koalisi Fortifikasi (Indonesia) and from Dr. Juan Rivera Dommarco,
Director Ejecutivo del CINyS and Guadalupe Rodriguez (Mexico) as well as other
GAIN Board Members and Partners in response to an early draft of this publication.
Enthusiastic support for this project came from those present (60 people from 15 countries)
at a GAIN workshop in Geneva in August 2003. With their encouragement, a commitment
was made to producing versions of The Partnering Toolbook in a number of other
languages available in electronic format.
The intention is that this publication will reach a large number of
(actual or aspiring) partnership practitioners by using the networks and
dissemination channels of all the partner organisations.

Index
of tools

GAIN
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is a global and regional alliance of
public, private and civil society partners committed to eliminating vitamin and
mineral deficiencies. By 2007, GAIN aims to have contributed to the improved
nutritional status of at least 600 million people in up to 40 developing countries,
primarily through facilitating fortification of commonly available and consumed local
foods. GAIN also aims to energise and harmonise the work of governments, bilateral
donors, UN agencies, the private sector as well as public health and development
organisations working to reduce micronutrient malnutrition.
More information: www.gainhealth.org

1
PARTNER
ASSESSMENT FORM

2
COHERENCE ASSESSMENT
QUESTIONNAIRE

UNDP
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN's global development
network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience
and resources to help people build better lives. UNDP is active in 166 countries,
working with them on developing and implementing their own solutions to global and
national development challenges. World leaders have pledged to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals, including the overarching goal of cutting poverty in
half by 2015. UNDP's network links and coordinates global and national efforts to
reach these goals.
More information: www.undp.org

3
SAMPLE PARTNERING
AGREEMENT

4
PARTNERING ROLES AND
SKILLS QUESTIONNAIRE

5
GUIDELINES
FOR PARTNERING
CONVERSATIONS

IAEA
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is the global focal point for nuclear
cooperation within the United Nations family. Its programme, dedicated to helping its
Member States achieve their social and economic goals, is focused on many activities
that serve basic human needs by applying nuclear science to improve health care
(nutrition, cancer treatment, communicable diseases etc.), increase food production,
improve management of water resources and assess sources of environmental
pollution.
More information: www.iaea.org

6
PARTNERSHIP
REVIEW TEMPLATE

7
CASE STUDY TEMPLATE

8
COMMUNICATIONS
CHECK LIST

IBLF
The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) is a not for profit
organisation established in 1990 to promote responsible business practices that
benefit business and society and contribute to sustainable development. The IBLF
believes that business has a significant role to play in addressing the downsides of
globalisation: poverty, social inequity and environmental degradation. With a
membership of over 80 companies from around the world, the IBLF works at strategic
levels as well as in developing / transitional countries. IBLF has established an
international reputation in its cutting edge cross-sector partnership building work.
More information: www.iblf.org

the

Partnering
toolbook

table of contents

THE PARTNERING TOOLBOOK has been produced in co-operation with the following
partner organisations:

1
THE PARTNERING CHALLENGE
THE RATIONALE FOR PARTNERING
OBSTACLES TO PARTNERING
KEY PARTNERING PRINCIPLES
THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE

2
BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS
IDENTIFYING PARTNERS
ASSESSING RISKS & REWARDS
RESOURCE MAPPING

3
PARTNERING AGREEMENTS
SECURING PARTNER COMMITMENT
INTEREST-BASED NEGOTIATION
GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

4
MANAGING THE PARTNERING PROCESS
PARTNERING ROLES
PARTNERS AS LEADERS
PARTNERING SKILLS
GOOD PARTNERING PRACTICE

5
DELIVERING SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS
MANAGING THE TRANSITION
KEEPING TO THE TASK
REPORTING, REVIEWING & REVISING

6
SUSTAINING PARTNERSHIPS
PLANNING FOR THE LONGER-TERM
SECURING GREATER ENGAGEMENT
BUILDING INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY

7
SUCCESSFUL PARTNERING
DEFINING SUCCESS
SHARING GOOD EXPERIENCES
COLLABORATION IN A COMPETITIVE WORLD

PREFACE
Partnering is easy to talk about but invariably somewhat harder to undertake.
It requires courage, patience and determination over time. It is rarely a quick
fix solution to a problem and can sometimes be a frustrating and disappointing
experience - falling short of initial hopes and expectations.
But it does not have to be this way.
There is mounting evidence from many partnership initiatives under
development in different parts of the world that such cross-sector collaboration
can be highly effective and sustainable when it is designed, developed and
managed in a systematic way.
The Partnering Toolbook builds on the experience of those who have been at
the forefront of innovative partnerships and offers a concise overview of the
essential elements that make for effective partnering.
We hope that it will give confidence and encouragement to all those who use
it; that it will help them to build original, robust and highly successful
partnerships and that the achieved development goals are not only genuinely
sustainable but contribute to ending global poverty.

THE PARTNERING CHALLENGE

THE RATIONALE FOR PARTNERING
In 1992 the UN Conference on Environment and Development - the Rio Earth
Summit - placed partnerships between governments, the private sector and civil
society as central to achieving global sustainable development. This has been
echoed by successive summits on population, urban development, gender, social
development and - most recently and most vigorously - at the Rio follow-up
summit held in Johannesburg in 2002.
But why partnership?
The hypothesis underpinning a partnership approach is that only with
comprehensive and widespread cross-sector collaboration can we ensure that
sustainable development initiatives are imaginative, coherent and integrated
enough to tackle the most intractable problems. Single sector approaches have
been tried and have proved disappointing. Working separately, different sectors
have developed activities in isolation - sometimes competing with each other
and/or duplicating effort and wasting valuable resources. Working separately
has all too often led to the development of a blame culture in which chaos or
neglect is always regarded as someone elses fault.
So partnership provides a new opportunity for doing development better
- by recognising the qualities and competencies of each sector and finding new
ways of harnessing these for the common good.
What does each sector - whether the public sector, business sector or civil
society - bring? The core business of each sector leads to quite different
priorities, values and attributes. These can be summarised as follows:

SECTOR

CORE BUSINESS

MAIN
ATTRIBUTES

PUBLIC
SECTOR

The rule of law by:

Creating frameworks for economic, political
and social rights and generating political
commitment to development
Developing regulations and standard
- setting mechanisms as well as adherence
to international obligations
Providing public services to ensure basic
needs and rights are met

Rights driven,
the public sector
provides access,
information,
stability and
legitimacy

Investment and trade by:

Creating goods and services
Providing employment opportunities,
innovation and economic growth
Maximising profits for investors to ensure
further investment that will allow the
business to continue to innovate

Profits driven,
the business
sector
is inventive,
productive,
highly focussed
and fast

BUSINESS
SECTOR

CIVIL
SOCIETY

Social development by:

Creating opportunities for individual growth
and creativity
Providing support and services for those in
need or excluded from mainstream society
Acting as guardians of the public good

Values driven,
civil society is
responsive, vocal,
inclusive
and imaginative

BOX 1

12 PHASES IN THE PARTNERING PROCESS

1

SCOPING
Understanding the challenge; gathering information;
consulting with stakeholders and with potential external
resource providers; building a vision
of / for the partnership

SUSTAINING
OR TERMINATING

12

IDENTIFYING
Identifying potential partners and - if suitable
- securing their involvement; motivating them
and encouraging them to work together

Building sustainability or agreeing

an appropriate conclusion

11

BUILDING

INSTITUTIONALISING

Partners build their working relationship through

agreeing the goals, objectives and core
principles that will underpin their partnership

Building appropriate structures and mechanisms for the

partnership to ensure longer-term commitment and
continuity

10

REVISING

PLANNING

Revising the partnership, programme(s)

or project(s) in the light of experience

Partners plan programme of activities and

begin to outline a coherent project

REVIEWING

MANAGING

Reviewing the partnership: what is the impact

of the partnership on partner organisations?
Is it time for some partners to leave and
/ or new partners to join?

Partners explore structure and management of their

partnership medium to long-term

MEASURING

RESOURCING

Measuring and reporting on impact and

effectiveness - outputs and outcomes.
Is the partnership achieving its goals?

Partners (and other supporters) identify and

mobilise cash and non-cash resources

IMPLEMENTING
Once resources are in place and project details agreed,
the implementation process starts - working to
a pre-agreed timetable and (ideally) to
specific deliverables

REMEMBER
These are guidelines only. Each partnership will follow its own unique development pathway. The important thing is
to be aware that each of the phases outlined above is important and should not be neglected if the partnership is
to remain balanced and on course to achieve its goals.

In addition to these general attributes, each sector has different competencies,

aspirations and styles of operation that can - through successful partnering
- be brought together to achieve a common vision.
By working together, partnerships for sustainable development can provide:
Innovative approaches to the challenges of sustainable
development and the hopes of ending global poverty
A range of mechanisms enabling each sector to share their
own specific competencies and capacities in order to achieve both
common and complementary goals more effectively, legitimately
and sustainably than when each sector operates separately
Access to more resources by drawing on the full range of
technical, human, knowledge, physical and financial resources
found within all sectors
Dynamic new networks offering each sector better channels
of engagement with the wider community and greater
capacity to influence the policy agenda
Greater understanding of the value, values and attributes of
each sector thereby building a more integrated and a more
stable society
While partnerships can exist at many levels - from national or international
strategic alliances at a policy level at one end of the partnering continuum, to
locally based practical initiatives at the other - it is a common experience that
the building and maintenance processes involved, apply to virtually all types of
partnership (see Box 1, page 4).

OBSTACLES TO PARTNERING
But even if there are many good reasons for creating partnerships to tackle
major development issues, it is not always obvious to all that this is the best
way forward. It is also not always easy to promote collaboration in particularly
unsympathetic cultural, political or economic contexts.
Obstacles to partnering can, therefore, take many forms:

SOURCE OF OBSTACLE

GENERAL PUBLIC

NEGATIVE SECTORAL
CHARACTERISTICS
(ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED)

PERSONAL LIMITATIONS
(OF INDIVIDUALS LEADING
THE PARTNERSHIP)

EXAMPLE

Prevailing attitude of scepticism

Rigid / preconceived attitudes about specific
sectors / partners
Inflated expectations of what is possible

Public sector: bureaucratic and intransigent

Business sector: single-minded and competitive
Civil society: combative and territorial

Inadequate partnering skills

Restricted internal / external authority
Too narrowly focussed role / job
Lack of belief in the effectiveness of partnering

ORGANISATIONAL
LIMITATIONS
(OF PARTNER ORGANISATIONS)

WIDER EXTERNAL
CONSTRAINTS

Conflicting priorities
Competitiveness (within sector)
Intolerance (of other sectors)

Local social / political / economic climate

Scale of challenge(s) / speed of change
Inability to access external resources

When too many obstacles are stacked against a partnership it may be best to
abandon the idea and wait for better times. But most obstacles are
surmountable with enough patience, commitment and effort. And even those
that challenge the partnership to the point of break-down can be used to
transform it into something better and stronger. Some argue (and many
partnerships have experienced this as a reality) that a break-down or crisis can
generate an unexpected and original response because it forces those involved
to pay renewed attention and to see things more imaginatively.
From this perspective an obstacle can, in fact, provide the partnership with an
invaluable turning point.

KEY PARTNERING PRINCIPLES

As well as a commonly agreed goal, all partnerships will need some guiding
principles to hold them together. These principles should be worked out as part
of the partnership-building process and agreed by all partners. If they provide
the foundation upon which the partnership is built, then as things progress they
continue to provide the cement that holds the partnership together over time.
Each sector will have its own priorities and may struggle to accept the different
priorities of others, but a robust discussion explaining why a particular principle
matters to one or other partner may go a long way to reconciling apparent
differences and to achieving compromise.
Three core principles that have recurred time and again in cross-sector
partnerships in many different parts of the world are the principles of Equity,
Transparency and Mutual Benefit. These are characterised below:

EQUITY?
What does equity mean in a relationship
where there are wide divergences in
power, resources and influence? Equity is
not the same as equality. Equity implies
an equal right to be at the table and a
validation of those contributions that are
not measurable simply in terms of cash
value or public profile.

TRANSPARENCY?
Openness and honesty in working
relationships are pre-conditions of trust
- seen by many as an important
ingredient of successful partnership.
Only with transparent working will a
partnership be truly accountable to its
partner donors and other stakeholders.

MUTUAL BENEFIT?
If all partners are expected to contribute
to the partnership they should also be
entitled to benefit from the partnership.
A healthy partnership will work towards
achieving specific benefits for each
partner over and above the common
benefits to all partners. Only in this way
will the partnership ensure the
continuing commitment of partners and
therefore be sustainable.

These three key principles can be a useful starting point for discussion between
potential partners prior to formalising the partnership, even if they are
subsequently replaced by different principles developed by the group. What is
important is that all partners accept and agree to abide by whatever the group
itself decides is appropriate.

THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE

Dealing with obstacles to partnering and ensuring that agreed principles are
continuously respected, constitute some of the major leadership challenges in
a partnership. Other challenges are related to the day-to-day management
tasks of the partnerships project and activities. Above all, what individuals
operating in a partnership think about each other (do they feel connected to a
common purpose?) and how they feel about the partnership (do they share a
commitment to working together?) is of paramount importance. Partnering
requires the right attitude and strong commitment just as much as the right
structures, skills and actions. And the challenge of leadership within a
partnership relates to all of these things - this is addressed in more detail in
chapter 4.

REMEMBER
Partnerships take a lot of effort from all those involved - in particular they often take
a considerable investment of time to build the quality working relationships that
underpin effective collaboration. The risk here is that sometimes this can lead to a
focus on the partnership for its own sake rather than for its capacity to deliver a
useful programme of work. Partnering is a mechanism for sustainable social,
environmental and/or economic development - it is not an end in itself.

NOTES

BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS
IDENTIFYING PARTNERS
The strongest partnerships are those that have drawn together the best set of
partner organisations. At an early stage after scoping a partnership, it is
therefore critical to:
Identify what types of partner organisations would add value
Explore the range of options available either by building on existing
and proven contacts or by seeking new ones
Select the most appropriate partners and secure their active
involvement
It is worth taking time over this and locating as much information as possible
in order to arrive at an appropriate decision, including undertaking research to
confirm the organisations track record. This can be done by reading their
annual reports, looking at their web-site, undertaking a fact-finding visit and
/ or asking others who know of the organisations history for their views. A
preliminary dialogue can then be arranged with a senior member of staff from
the prospective partner organisation. This does not commit either side to a
partnership - but it can provide a useful opportunity for both parties to assess
at an early stage whether or not to proceed. At its best, it can address either
partys concerns and clarify any potential conflicts of interest.
It may be necessary to explain the idea of partnership and to make a sound case
for why this particular organisation would have something to contribute and
how it would be able itself to benefit. It may take time to persuade enough
people in the prospective partner organisation that this partnership will be
worth the time and effort involved.

Tool l:
PARTNER ASSESSMENT FORM
- provides a check-list of
questions to ask about any
prospective partner.

There may also be some value in organising special activities (workshops, site
visits, exchanges) between several potential partner organisations to explore
the idea of partnering more fully and collaboratively before any firm
commitments are agreed. And it is a good idea to allocate some follow-up work
to individuals to assess their capacity to actually turn a verbal commitment into
action.
In some instances there may be little or no choice about partners. If it is
important to work with a local government department, for example, then
effort will need to be dedicated to persuading them to become actively involved
by showing how they too can benefit (have their own goals met) by working in
constructive collaboration with other sectors.
In all situations, however, it is important to be realistic about what the
partnership is likely to be able to achieve and to be open about the challenges
involved.

REMEMBER
No partner (including you and your organisation!) is perfect - what you are seeking
is a partner organisation that will provide as good a match as you can find to enable
the partnership to achieve its objectives. Essentially, you are looking for partners that
have many of the appropriate attributes and the clear potential to grow more fully
into the role of partner over time.

ASSESSING RISKS AND REWARDS

Each partner needs to assess the risks and rewards that may arise from being
involved in a cross-sector initiative. In fact, each partner will need to
understand the potential risks and rewards of their fellow partner organisations
almost as deeply as their own if they are to really commit themselves to
genuine collaboration and the principle of mutual benefit. While it is common
for each partner to believe the risks to their organisation are greater than to any
other, it is interesting to note that most categories of risk apply equally to all
partners.
Organisational risk for each of the sectors may arise in any of the following
areas:
Reputation impact - all organisations and institutions value their
reputation and will rightly be concerned about whether that
reputation can be damaged either by the fact of the partnership
itself or by any fall-out in future should the partnership fail
Loss of autonomy - working in collaboration inevitably means
less independence for each organisation in the areas of joint work
Conflicts of interest - whether at strategic or operational levels,
partnership commitments can give rise to split loyalties and / or to
feeling pushed to settle for uncomfortable compromise
Drain on resources - partnerships typically require a heavy front
end investment (especially of time), in advance of any appropriate
level of return
Implementation challenges - once a partnership is established
and resources procured there will be a fresh set of commitment
and other challenges for each partner organisation as the
partnership moves into project implementation
Risk assessment is important and sometimes easily ignored in the enthusiasm
for potential benefits from collaboration. Partners should encourage each other
to undertake such assessments at an early stage of their collaboration and
- wherever possible - find opportunities for addressing any concerns together
as a partner group in an open and non-judgemental atmosphere.
But of course all partners anticipate that the rewards will outweigh the
potential risks and here too there are many areas of benefit that may be
common to all partners. These include:

Professional development of key personnel

Better access to information and different networks
Greater reach
Improved operational efficiency
More appropriate and effective products and services
Greater innovation
Enhanced credibility
Increased access to resources

In addition to these common benefits, there are likely to be a range of further

rewards that are specific to individual partners. Ideally these too would be
acknowledged and shared at an early stage of the partnership to enable mutual
appreciation of each others specific priorities and to ensure that all partners
understand completely the expectations each partner has from the partnership.

10

RESOURCE MAPPING
Prior to formalising a partnership, it is important for the partners to consider
what resources will be needed for the agreed project or programme of work.
Typically this is worked out in terms of funding requirement, but one of the real
benefits of working cross-sectorally is the potential access to a wide range of
non-cash resources that the partners can bring to the partnership.
A partnership meeting (or several) dedicated to identifying the resources each
partner might contribute can be invaluable. Run in a workshop format, possibly
managed by an external facilitator with experience of this process, it can offer
opportunities for partners to fully explore their own potential for resource
contribution and - in the spirit of gentle competition - it can lead them to
make tangible commitments that will enable the partnership to get underway
more quickly and efficiently (see Box 2, page12).
There are various ways of doing this dynamically. The simplest way is to ask all
those in the room to write each resource contribution they can offer on a
separate card or post-it note and then these can be stuck on to a large piece
of paper on a wall where everyone can see the growing collection. The cards can
be colour coded to record which partner has made which particular offer. These
cards can then be clustered appropriately under headings and reviewed by the
group - with more being added as new ideas occur.
Apart from the very tangible contributions this will yield, the process is also
invaluable in building respect, understanding and teamwork between partners
- all important pre-conditions of successful collaboration.

11

BOX 2

BUILDING A RESOURCE MAP

KEY: PS = Public sector

BS = Business sector

CS = Civil society

All = All sectors

Information
(capture)
Statistics / Legal framework (PS)
Market analysis / Forecasting (BS)
Local knowledge / Social
conditions (CS)

People
Specialist staff (All)
Secondees (BS, PS)
Volunteers (CS, BS)
Students / Interns (PS)
Administrative support (All)

Relationships with
Donors (CS, PS)
Policy makers (BS, PS)
Suppliers / Labour organisations (BS)
Religious institutions (CS)
Community groups (CS)
Umbrella organisations (BS, CS)
Media (All)
General public (PS, CS)

Accommodation
for
Partnership / Project Office (All)
Meetings / Workshops (All)
High profile events (PS, BS)
Storage (BS, PS)
Project activities (All)
Public information point (All)

WHAT CAN
EACH PARTNER
BRING TO THE
PARTNERSHIP?

Products
(depending on focus of project
and on the businesses involved)
Medicines (BS)
Food (BS)
IT (BS)
Energy supplies (BS, PS)
etc.

Expertise
Technical experts (All)
Project development (All)
Training/capacity-building (All)
Management (BS)
Marketing (BS)
Facilitation (CS)
Convening (PS)

Other
Transport (PS, BS)
Equipment (PS, BS)
Furniture (PS, BS)

Information
(dissemination)
Electronic communications
systems (All)
Word of mouth (All)
Published materials (All)
Networks (All)

REMEMBER
All sectors have human, technical and knowledge resources of one kind or another. They are often very different and
highly complementary and when pooled they can provide much of the resource needed for the planned activities.
Donors like to see evidence of resource contributions from partners - and many non-cash contributions can be given
a financial value as matched funding. Money should therefore always be seen as a last rather than a first
requirement!

PARTNERING AGREEMENTS
SECURING PARTNER COMMITMENT
Partnerships are little more than dialogues until those involved have made a
tangible commitment to collaboration. Such a commitment is typically recorded
in some form of Partnering Agreement or Memorandum of Understanding. The
difference between an agreement and a contract is that an agreement is
usually:

Not legally binding

Developed and agreed between the parties as equals
Readily re-negotiable
Open-ended (though sometimes a series of short-term
agreements is more appropriate than an open-ended one)
Entered into voluntarily
Effectively partners are creating an agreement to co-operate and this may be
all that they need to start working well together. At a later stage it may be
necessary to create legally binding contracts in order to undertake a large-scale
or complex project; to handle larger amounts of funding or to register as a new
form of institution. But a Partnering Agreement is usually the first step and in
many instances it may be sufficient to confirm and consolidate the partnership
medium to long-term.

INTEREST-BASED NEGOTIATION
Securing agreement requires negotiation - but in a partnering arrangement this
is not negotiation in the sense of a hard-nosed business deal. What is required
is the opportunity for the underlying interests of all parties to be drawn out and
discussed in a purposeful way that aims at building consensus and complementarity out of diverse aspirations.
Partners going through this form of negotiation need to exercise considerable
patience, tact and flexibility - but if just one individual demonstrates their
willingness to do this others will follow their lead.

REMEMBER
Interest-based negotiation is best served when those involved:
Listen carefully
Ask open (rather than closed) questions
Summarise what has been said to see if they have understood correctly
and
Agree to disagree when necessary in order to move the discussion forward

13

BOX 3

INFORMAL VS FORMAL STRUCTURES

TYPE OF STRUCTURE

ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

INFORMAL
WORKING GROUP
A small number of people who agree
to explore a partnership initiative on
behalf of a wider group

Greater freedom to explore

ideas / intentions and to build
new relationships

Not being taken seriously enough

by external agencies or other
key players

Cheaper - the major resource

demand is time rather than cash

Too easily neglected

when those involved are
diverted by their other priorities

Non-bureaucratic

Not structured enough for the

co-ordination and management
of resources

FOCUS GROUP
A small number of people who agree
to take forward one specific aspect
of a partnerships development

TASK GROUP
Mandated by a larger group to complete
a specific task (e.g., procure resources;
manage a registration process)

MORE FORMAL
NETWORK
A communications arrangement linking
people who are engaged in similar activities

FORUM
A meeting place for open debate
and new ideas

SOCIETY
A membership organisation
with a dedicated focus of activity

Developing a greater profile

Needs greater co-ordination

Providing an umbrella for a wide

range of loosely linked activities

Requires more agreement on policies

and operational principles

Building commitment from

a wider constituency

More complex decision-making

processes

FORMAL
ASSOCIATION
A more formal,
registered version of a society

FOUNDATION
An association that mobilises and
disseminates resources

AGENCY
An independent organisation
established to act on behalf of others

Increased authority and capacity

to exert influence

Subject to legislative restrictions

on action

More focused activities and greater

likelihood of sustainability

Tendency to become over-bureaucratic

and impersonal

Enhanced ability to mobilise and

manage large-scale resources

Increasingly high administrative

(as opposed to project) costs

GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Even at an early stage, partnerships will need to have governance structures in
place to ensure that decision-making, management and development
arrangements are appropriate and operate effectively.
Partners often find themselves accountable to a number of different
stakeholders including:
Tool 2:
COHERENCE ASSESSMENT
QUESTIONNIARE
- flags up the key questions
partners should ask to check out
their own and each others
intentions, attitudes and
commitment to the partnership.

Partnership project beneficiaries

External (non-partner) donors
(who will each have their own reporting requirements)
Individual partner organisations (which will each have
their own accountability and governance systems)
Each other as partnering colleagues
It is likely that accountability is much more a driver of a partnership than is
commonly recognised and for this reason, governance and accountability
procedures need to be agreed and put at the heart of the Partnering Agreement.

Tool 3:
SAMPLE PARTNERING AGREEMENT
- offers a simple template for
initial partnering agreements.

To some extent, partners will have choices about what they do and how they do
it. They may want to consider a range of options from completely informal
arrangements (e.g., an ad hoc collection of individuals), to those that are highly
formal (e.g., a new legally registered organisation with independent governance
and accountability procedures) before choosing the most appropriate for their
needs. But however informal a partnership, a Partnering Agreement is always
necessary to avoid later misunderstandings and conflict. Most partnerships
start informally and grow increasingly formalised over time as their programme
of work becomes more complex and more resource intensive
(see Box 3, page 14 and Box 4, page 20).

15

NOTES

16

MANAGING THE PARTNERING

PROCESS
Once a partnership is in place and a Partnering Agreement is signed, there are
new challenges to face.

PARTNERING ROLES
Many people will be involved in the partnership in its different phases, taking
on a range of roles as required. It is important to recognise the differences and
to understand which roles are needed, at what stage and for what purpose. It
is equally important to ensure that the best person is allocated to a particular
role. Roles may change often during the life of a partnership and partners may
grow into new roles as they become more experienced in partnering.

ROLE

CHAMPION

NOTES

An individual (or several individuals) who promote the partnership

using their personal / professional reputation and / or role to give
the partnership greater authority or profile.

BROKER /
INTERMEDIARY

An individual selected (either from one of the partner organisations

or from outside the partnership) to act on behalf of the partners to
build and strengthen the partnership - especially in its early stages.

DONOR

If all partners are making a contribution to the partnership

(see section 2), all partners are de facto donors. (Note: there may
be many situations where donors are entirely external to the
partnership - the partners will need to clarify how they relate and
report to them without undermining the integrity of the
partnership).

MANAGER

An individual appointed by the partnership on a paid basis to

manage the partnership and / or the partnership project - especially
once the partnership is established and is at the stage of project
implementation.

FACILITATOR

An individual (usually external to the partnership) appointed to

manage a specific aspect of the partnering process (e.g., a meeting
set up to deal with a particular issue facing the partner group).

PROMOTOR

An individual, most likely a member of the partnership, who acts

as an advocate for the partnership to others - a champion who
argues the merits of the partnership on the basis of its track record
rather than their own personal reputation.

17

In this framework, leadership may move from one person to another according
to what is required for the partnerships healthy development and management.

PARTNERS AS LEADERS
Partnerships raise interesting issues about leadership. What is the role of a
leader in a paradigm that is essentially collaborative and based on a notion of
equity between the key players? Is collaboration between equals and the notion
of strong leadership incompatible? How does leadership emerge and find
expression in a partnership paradigm without undermining the principle of
shared responsibility? How do partners carry the necessary leadership roles on
behalf of the partnership within their organisation as well as the other way
round?
Naturally, at different stages over the course of the partnering process one or
other partner will take a more pro-active, more exposed and more public
leadership role - and will be responsible and accountable to their partner
colleagues for their actions. What kind of leadership style is chosen at a given
moment largely depends on the type of partnership, the complexity of the
current issue, the urgency of the required action, and the personalities of the
people involved. Ideally, partnerships will include people with diverse leadership
competencies, so that all the challenges the partnership faces over the course
of its existence can be tackled by strong leadership, shared - as appropriate
- between the different partners.
There are other leadership roles likely to be required during the partnering
process including:
Acting as guardian of the partnerships mission (internally and
externally) and being prepared to stand up for its values
Coaching each other (directly and indirectly) in good partnering
behaviour and partnership / project management
Challenging each others ways of looking at the world, of doing
things, and of approaching difficult or contentious issues
Empowering other members of the partnership to be pro-active,
to innovate and to be allowed to make mistakes
Creating hope and optimism when the process seems to be stuck.
In the early stages of the partnering process, it may be very useful to select an
individual - either from one of the partner organisations or from outside the
partnership - to act as broker or intermediary on behalf of the partners to build
and strengthen the partnership. In his/her ability to combine a compelling vision
with day-to-day practical implementation, the partnership broker epitomises a
new style of leadership, operating as a catalyst for change by guiding rather
than directing.
For any partnership to be effective and to deal successfully with challenges, it
needs to be built on a strong foundation of individual commitment to
partnering and on the conviction that a partnership approach is necessary to
achieve the desired goal.

18

PARTNERING SKILLS
Successful partnering takes a range of skills - some may come naturally and
others may need to be acquired but those required for negotiation and
mediation, facilitation and coaching of others, and the ability to work in teams,
are crucial for all individuals who want to work together effectively and to
achieve outstanding results. They may find themselves negotiating agreements
or mediating between different partners or facilitating an awkward meeting.
They will almost certainly need to assimilate, record and disseminate a lot of
information. They may need to coach or capacity-build other partners, key
players or project staff. Their remit on behalf of the partnership to deepen the
involvement of their own organisation may well require skills in building
institutional engagement or institutional-strengthening. Last, but not least,
each partner will carry some responsibility for evaluating and reviewing the
partnership and its impacts.
Of course, no one has all these skills in equal measure and in a partnership tasks
can be distributed to take account of professional strengths and
weaknesses.Individuals from each sector will bring different skills and
professional competencies to the partnership and at an early stage tasks can be
allocated to those who demonstrate that they are good at a
particular kind of activity.
But working in a partnership also offers the opportunity for individuals to
develop their skills and to build their own capacities - indeed it is one of the
aspects of partnering that makes it attractive as a new area of work for those
ready for a change in their professional life.

Tool 4:
PARTNERING ROLES
AND SKILLS QUESTIONNAIRE
- enables individuals involved
in partnering to assess their own
competencies and how they might
develop their professional
capacities to be even better
partners in future.

During the process of professional skills and capacity development, individuals

often discover that the partnering process has not only taken them on a
professional journey, but also on a personal adventure of self-discovery and
development.
Partnering skills, however, are most easily acquired by those who already have
a level of self-awareness and self-management. In other words, effective
partnering requires people who can read and control their own emotions, who
are quite confident, and who embody qualities such as empathy, optimism,
imagination, open-ness and modesty. Partnerships also crucially require
partners who are good at taking initiative.

19

BOX 4

MANAGEMENT AND MANDATE OPTIONS

MANAGEMENT
OPTION

CENTRALISED
MANAGEMENT
(i.e., management of partnership
or project taken on by one partner
organisation on behalf of the
partnership)

DE-CENTRALISED
MANAGEMENT
(i.e., different aspects of
management shared between
the partner organisations)

MANAGEMENT
BY MANDATE
(i.e., specific tasks contracted on
a case-by-case basis to individuals or
single partner organisations who / which
are answerable to the partners
as a group)

ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

Maximum efficiency
Unambiguous decision-making
procedures and day-to-day
management systems
Familiar / conventional
management approach
One-stop shop for external
agencies / individuals
Quicker response time

Too distant from experience /

potential contribution of other partners
Too much influence / control perceived
to be in the hands of one partner
Too conventional for flexible
needs of the partnership
May take decisions
inappropriately quickly

Maximum diversity
at operational levels
More opportunities for
individual leadership
Shared sense of ownership
Moving away from conventional
power bases
Greater freedom of operation

Greater potential
for conflicts of interest
Partners / individuals feeling isolated
Cumbersome decision-making processes
Lack of coherence

Allows for those who have most

time (or care most about the task)
to be given the role
Highly flexible approach that can be
reviewed and changed as often as necessary
Shares tasks between partners and
promotes a sense of collective
responsibility

Tasks need to be clearly

defined and allocated appropriately
Highly dependent on individuals
action and reliability
Risks individuals / single partner
organisations doing their own thing
without adequate reference to
the partner group

GOOD PARTNERING PRACTICE

USING LANGUAGE AS A PARTNERSHIP-BUILDING TOOL
The way in which partners use language can make or break a partnership. Each
sector is riddled with its own jargon that can be completely alienating to those
who simply dont understand it. At least, partners need to be sensitive to how
they are using language - consciously and conscientiously speaking in language
that is appropriate, clear and concise. A few words well selected and
communicated is worth far more than a lot of words that are obscure and
confusing.
At best, well-chosen words can be used as tools to build consensus rather than
allowing careless use of language to reinforce divisions. Some examples of
useful distinctions in language can be drawn from partnership experience to
date:
DIFFICULT CONCEPTS
FOR PARTNERS
Trust
Profit
Common objectives
Contract
Business plan
Funding
Sectoral priorities
Committee
Evaluation
Market analysis
Consultation
Exit strategy

PARTNERSHIP-BUILDING
ALTERNATIVE
Transparency
Benefit
Complementary objectives
Agreement
Action plan
Resourcing
Sectoral values
Focus / Working / Task group
Review
Scoping exercise
Participation
Moving on strategy

Distinctions are about how we understand and relate to the world. The ability
to make distinctions is extremely important for effective partnering. It gives
people greater freedom of thinking and acting, and leads to greater personal
and professional success and satisfaction. A few more useful distinctions for
individuals working in partnership are mentioned below:
WORKING FROM FACTS
The ability to distinguish between facts and the interpretation of those facts is
extremely important for any life situation. It can be detrimental to any
partnership if people's action is based on their interpretation of events rather
than on the evidence of the events themselves.
BREAK-THROUGH NOT BREAK-DOWN
Break-downs can occur during any stage of the partnering process. Indeed,
break-downs are natural by-products of any challenging process. In spite of
this, break-downs can be de-motivating and are often seen as insurmountable
hindrances. A break-down is not necessarily a bad thing but rather the
interruption of a process which is trying to achieve something different. The
challenge for partners is to see a break-down as an opportunity for a
break-through.

21

REQUESTING VS. COMPLAINING

Making requests is a feature of all partnering. Usually people don't make
enough requests, instead, they simply complain. But there is a big difference
between the two. Complaints put people on the offensive. They are therefore
disempowering and often lead to animosity rather than problem-solving.
Requests, on the other hand, create a completely different situation. A request
invites a response and action.
CREATING QUALITY PARTNERING CONVERSATIONS
Partnerships are, at one level, networks of conversations. And the quality of the
conversations between partners will largely determine the effectiveness of the
partnership. In conversations partners create the future. They are jointly
creating a vision of where they want to go. They discuss what they stand for,
what each of them is accountable for, and create an understanding of how they
can rely on each other. Conversations are one of the most powerful tools for
building transparency and subsequently trust among partners. It is in
conversation with each other that problems can be turned into opportunities
and practical activity is generated.
MANAGING MEETINGS WELL
Partnerships rely - especially in the early phases - on people meeting each other
either on a one-to-one basis or as a partner group. Meetings easily become
repetitive, tedious and un-productive if they are not highly focussed and
well-managed. It is a particular skill to create a good meeting environment
and to ensure that any meeting:

Achieves its goals

Keeps all parties actively engaged throughout
Concludes all the items on the agenda
Allocates follow-up tasks and timetables for completion
Agrees decision-making procedures that will operate between
meetings
Alerts those present to issues to be addressed at a future meeting
Summarises all decisions taken
and, above all,
Ends at the pre-agreed time
This comprehensive approach to meetings (whether formal or informal) will
engender a sense that everyones input is valued and their time constraints are
respected.
At their best, meetings will also be able to operate as a partnership-building
tool - through the way in which responsibilities for managing the meeting, such
as chairing / facilitating / record-keeping, are shared. Other ways of making
meetings meaningful and lively include:

Allowing opportunities for social interaction

Brainstorming a new and topical issue
Inviting a very interesting guest speaker
Sharing a relevant experience - perhaps a visit to a project
or holding the meeting at the premises of a new
partner organisation and seeing their work at firsthand
Using the meeting for enhancing learning, by ending with
a review of what worked well and what could be improved
in the way the participants interacted.
If attendance at partner meetings begins to drop off, it should be taken as a
sign that the meetings are no longer engaging or important enough for partners
to make the effort to come - some drastic measures should be taken!

22

TOOL 5:
GUIDELINES FOR
PARTNERING CONVERSATIONS
- explores in more detail
the importance of creative
conversation as a basis
for good partnerships.

KEEPING RECORDS
Keeping good records of meetings and of the partnerships progress is an art
- it is a bad idea to give the role of record-keeper to the least experienced or
most junior person available. The great challenge is whether to record
everything or simply the bare minimum. Each partnership will have to decide
what it requires but some basic considerations include:
Deciding in advance who needs what kind of information
and in what form and then adapting the information
appropriately for different purposes
Reducing notes from meetings to a) decisions b) areas
needing further discussion c) agreed action points
Keeping a lively record of the partnerships history
(including illustrations / photographs) so that newcomers to
the partnership will be able to understand what has been
achieved and how
Making as many of the written records as openly
available as possible so that the partnership is recognised
as efficient and transparent
CREATING A LEARNING CULTURE
Most of those involved in partnerships agree that the partnerships that endure
are ones that are most open to learning from their own and others mistakes.
Every partnership can be seen as a form of action learning where the partners
are learning by doing. To see all partnership activity as a form of research (in
addition to being a delivery mechanism for achieving a task) is to give partners
the opportunity for deepening and enhancing their knowledge, skills and
professional practice. True collaboration transforms the individuals that engage
in it consciously: partners help each other grow personally and professionally
while accomplishing the objectives of the partnership.
In addition, every partnership will have much to teach others who aspire to
creating collaborative approaches to sustainable development in their own
areas of work. Many partnerships - even those that seem to be well established
- have benefited from being part of a learning network where experiences,
good and bad, are shared.
SETTING GROUND RULES
Some simple base-line rules agreed between partners can be very helpful when
the partnership is new and different partners feel the need to assert themselves
and their agendas at the expense of giving space to others. Some partners,
from the business and public sector especially, may find it strange to set rules
for behaviour whereas their civil society colleagues are likely to think this quite
natural and acceptable (an early encounter with sectoral diversity!).
Ground rules might include:

Active listening
Not interrupting
Speaking briefly and to the point
Dealing with facts not rumour
Respecting those not present

23

Typically, in the early phases partners may need to remind each other about the
agreed ground rules - it can take a while to break behaviour patterns! But over
time the partnership will naturally adopt these new methods and the ground
rules are simply there in the background as a gentle reminder. Newcomers to
the partnership then quickly adapt to a modus operandi that they see working
well.
Ground rules can even be written into the Partnering Agreement.

REMEMBER
Partnerships work well when:
There are clear decision-making protocols / procedures agreed and in place
Most day-to-day decisions are carried by individuals or small groups on behalf
of the partnership
Only major decisions (for example, of policy or expenditure) are brought
to the partners as a whole group
There is regular, easily accessible and succinct information-sharing between
the partners

24

DELIVERING SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS

MANAGING THE TRANSITION
Once the partnership is established and a Partnering Agreement in place,
the partners will turn their attention to the development of their proposed
project / programme of work or joint activities. This is the partnership getting
down to business and marks a significant transition from a focus on partnership
building to project development and implementation. Some partners will be far
more comfortable with this phase because they like to get on with practical
tasks and may have found the earlier phases irksome. Others will be anxious
that the partnership is not yet robust enough to move from talk to action.
As with all projects, considerable attention will need to be paid to working out
the details and a clear Action Plan is important to give a framework and
milestones that all can agree on (see Box 5, page 26).
It may be useful at this stage to revisit the partnerships management
arrangements and to adjust them if necessary (see Box 4, page 20).

KEEPING TO THE TASK

The most successful partnerships are those that are highly task-focussed
- where all partners are actively engaged in delivering tangible and practical
results. At this point it may be that a Co-ordinator or a Manager needs to be
appointed to manage the project on behalf of the partners who are unlikely to
have the time to do this on a day-to-day basis. One person certainly needs to
have an overview of the delivery process and to ensure that project staff and
partners are fulfilling their commitments well and on time. It is a measure of
how far the partners have grown to trust each other if they can let go of the
day-to-day details confident that the partnership-initiated programme of work
is operating smoothly.

REPORTING, REVIEWING AND REVISING

Tool 6:
PARTNERSHIP REVIEW TEMPLATE
- suggests a range of ways to
approach partnership reviews
depending on what the aims
of the review are.

Once the project or programme of work is up and running, the partners may
decide to meet less frequently and, when they do meet, operate more as a
review panel. A regular cycle of reporting will need to be in place to ensure the
partners are informed of progress (and challenges). These reports, written or
verbal, can form the basis of reviews both of the project and the partnership
itself (see Section 7). The partners may want to review their own Partnering
Agreement (say once a year) and alter it if necessary to reflect new priorities
and aspirations.

25

BOX 5

ACTION PLANNING

Action planning (sometimes known as Development Planning or Business Planning) is a familiar process to
most professionals and there are many ways of approaching the task. In a partnership it is particularly important to
remember that:
All partners must be involved in the action planning process to feel a sense of commitment
and ownership
Each individual will bring different skills and expectations to the task - managing this diversity
may be time consuming but - at its best - it will add considerable value
Each individual will need to consider the implications of the action plan for their
own organisation and for their organisations own planning process and priorities.

SAMPLE ACTION PLANNING FRAMEWORK

KEY PLAYERS

PARTNERS - current / future

OTHER STAKEHOLDERS - current / future
BENEFICIARIES (if different from above)

AIMS OF PROJECT
/ PROGRAMME

ASSESSMENT OF NEED / PROBLEM

- shared understanding of root causes
SHARED VISION - the over-arching goal on which partners agree
OBJECTIVES - of the partnership
/ of individual partner organisation

OUTLINE OF PROJECT
/ PROGRAMME

OUTLINE PROPOSAL
ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES & STAFFING REQUIREMENTS
KEY ACTIVITIES
SCHEDULE - for different stages of delivery
RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS
RESOURCE MOBILISATION STRATEGY
ACCOUNTABILITY PROCEDURES - to partnership
and to partner organisations

REVIEW
ARRANGEMENTS

MONITORING PROGRESS
AUDIT OF RESULTS / IMPACTS - of project / programme
REVIEW - of partnership
REVISION PROCEDURES
MOVING ON / EXIT STRATEGIES

REMEMBER
Action planning represents a significant point in a partnership - where the partnership relationship has been
established and the focus of attention is moving from building the partnership to designing and delivering a
collaborative programme of work. It is therefore vital it is done well or the partnership itself will be undermined.

SUSTAINING PARTNERSHIPS
PLANNING FOR THE LONGER-TERM
One of the biggest challenges to partnership sustainability is the issue of
long-term resourcing. Each situation will have different resource requirements
and some initiatives may always be dependent on external funding. Wherever
possible, however, local and renewable resourcing arrangements should be put
in place. In many instances the partners take on a programme of work in a
pioneering spirit and once their initiative has proved effective more permanent
arrangements are made with, for example, local government or public sector
agencies.
Partners, both individually and collectively, need to have a moving on strategy
in mind - possibly from the very beginning and even articulated in the initial
partnering agreement. There can be four different moving on scenarios:

MOVING ON
SCENARIOS

INDIVIDUAL
PARTNER
ORGANISATIONS
LEAVE THE
PARTNERSHIP

COMMENTS

In all partnerships there will be an issue of succession

- the process of handing over from founders to followers.
Individuals may leave the partnership (for whatever reason)
at any time. Succession planning is therefore vital in order to:
Ensure the partnership survives the departure of individuals
Enable newcomers to catch up and fit in quickly
Enlist the active engagement of those who join later even
though their operational style is likely to be different from their
predecessors

PARTNERSHIP
DISBANDS (1)

Partners may decide that one of the partner organisations is

now best placed to manage and develop the programme of work
independently. In this case, the partners will agree to hand over
the partnerships activities and assets to this partner. Perhaps key
individuals from the other partner organisations may stay involved
as trustees or in an advisory capacity but responsibility will no
longer rest with the partnership itself.

PARTNERSHIP
DISBANDS (2)

Partners decide to create a completely new cross-sector institution

to take over the management and development of the partnershipbased initiative. There are a number of choices here (see Box 6)
and partners may need some external help in selecting the most
appropriate one. As above, individuals from the partnership may
take on trustee or advisory roles - at least during the handover
phase.

PARTNERSHIP
IS TERMINATED

Some of the most successful and innovative partnership initiatives

are designed to be temporary so termination of the partnership is
a sign of achievement rather than failure (though it can be hard to
convince those external to the partnership that this is the case).
In some cases, inevitably, a partnership is terminated because it
is unable to achieve its goals for whatever reason. If the steps
outlined in this publication are followed, this should not happen!
When a partnership ends - for whatever reason - it is important for
all those involved to acknowledge and celebrate achievements.

27

SECURING GREATER ENGAGEMENT

Partners will always need to work hard to secure greater engagement from
partner organisations and often also from other non-partner organisations.
With regard to partner organisations - it is not uncommon for a partnership to
be quite peripheral to the very organisations in whose name it is operating.
Why might this matter? Failure to engage partner organisations can mean (at
best) a less vigorous and comprehensive involvement from the organisation and
(at worst) the collapse of the partner relationship if one or two key players move
on. It may well be that the active involvement of partner organisations is far
more important than is generally realised.
And what of other non-partner institutions?
There are several other institutions or agencies for whom the partnership may
be important and who therefore need to understand and become more engaged
with the partners in a number of ways. These include:
INSTITUTIONS OPERATING AT STRATEGIC / POLICY LEVELS
(e.g., government departments, political parties,
international agencies)
ORGANISATIONS AT OPERATIONAL LEVELS
(e.g., other companies, public sector agencies
and civil society organisations)
DONORS (resource providers external to the partnership)
Partners will need to assess how important each of these different relationships
is, either in terms of enabling the partnership to have more impact, or in terms
of being influenced by the partnership in the way they operate.

28

BUILDING INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY

How do partners help to build the capacity of those institutions involved? It is
a question of helping institutions to internalise the partnerships lessons.
Sometimes it is simply a matter of time, but more often it is a case of
combating active or passive resistance. There are several different approaches
partners can employ to build greater institutional capacity in the institutions
and organisations involved directly or indirectly in the partnership. These can
include bringing their experiences of cross-sector collaboration into the
institutions in order to build:

ORGANISATIONAL
CULTURE CHANGE

Demonstrating that other organisations do things

differently (and sometimes more effectively)
Providing evidence of the value of an organisational
learning culture
Promoting more values-based organisational approaches
Persuading managers that more participatory approaches
can work efficiently

HUMAN RESOURCE
DEVELOPMENT

Demonstrating that cross-sector collaboration can

improve professional performance
Engaging employees in practical ways in the partnership
initiative(s)
Persuading managers that the organisation can benefit
from their employees involvement in cross-sector
collaboration

DYNAMIC
NETWORKS

Demonstrating the value to the organisation of these new

relationships and the diversity of their reach and influence
Illustrating the potential for new relationships / ideas /
areas of work
Bringing key others into the organisation in creative and
useful ways

BETTER
COMMUNICATIONS

Endorsing the organisation through good publicity for

the partnerships achievements
Using internal communications systems to keep people
engaged and informed
Creating special events for other people to illustrate the
benefits of the partnership (especially to organisational
sceptics)

OPPORTUNITIES
FOR GETTING
OUT OF THE BOX

Providing opportunities for key players to have a direct,

first-hand experience of the partnerships work
Setting up and managing encounters between key people
who do not usually meet (and may have a record of
mutual dislike or suspicion)
Creating new experiential learning opportunities (e.g., job
swaps, secondments, internships, partnering workshops)

In some situations it may be appropriate to create a completely new kind of

institution to take over the role of the partners medium to long-term (Box 6,
page 30 describes seven different types of partnership institution that have
evolved over the past decade - formalising to a greater or lesser extent the
different models of cross-sector engagement outlined in Box 3, page 14).

29

BOX 6

BUILDING NEW PARTNERSHIP INSTITUTIONS

TYPE

CHARACTERISTICS

STRENGTHS

LOCAL
ALLIANCE

Partners from all main sectors given equity

of involvement and decision-making responsibility within
an independent formal structure operating locally

Strong sense of local ownership

and self-determination
Builds and institutionalises
local collaboration

GLOBAL
ALLIANCE

As above but operating internationally

Economies of scale
Builds strategic links between
players who together bring power,
resources and influence

DISPERSED

Partners
have agreed a common aim but they rarely
meet face-to-face. Instead they operate by different
partners (or sub-groups of partners) being mandated to
complete tasks on behalf of the partnership to which
they are ultimately accountable

Maximum flexibility
Freedom of operation and
self-determination for partners

TEMPORARY

The partnership structure is designed

for obsolescence. It is time-specific and
therefore dispensed with once the agreed
programme of work is completed

Intensity of involvement
Focus on immediate and visible results

CONSULTATIVE

The task of the partnership institution is to provide

advice and / or a sounding board for new ideas rather
than to develop and implement a project

Built into the political process

Authority drawn from consensus
rather than power base

INTERMEDIARY

An organisation operating between

and on behalf of partners and many other players.
Essentially it supports the development of a number
of independent partnership initiatives rather than
being a partnership itself

A highly empowering model

Helps to build a culture of collaboration
Creates appropriate and flexible
support structures

LEARNING

The partnership is established

with the primary goal of learning and sharing
information arising from partnership experiences

Flexible
Building knowledge and capacity
as a primary aim

So partners need to address whether their efforts are best spent engaging
institutions more effectively; building the capacity of existing institutions or
creating a new institutional structure. In fact, a partnership may - over time
- need to do all three things.
And - ultimately - it may become more a question of institutional reform.
We turn to a cross-sector partnership to create an approach to sustainable
development that will be more innovative and far-reaching in social, economic
and / or environmental terms than single sector approaches. But if the
partnership fails to challenge and ultimately change entrenched institutional /
sectoral behaviour then it is likely that its impacts will be merely transitory or
superficial.
At some stage it will become clear that partnerships have a potentially major
role to play in, directly or indirectly, reviewing and revising the central values,
roles and primary activities of the different sectors - whether public, private or
civil society.
Institutional reform may be a more important outcome of the partnership than
any other. In other words, if the partnership leads to a government department
functioning more creatively or efficiently; or to a corporation contributing more
rigorously and systematically to sustainable development in all aspects of its
operations; or to an NGO having much larger-scale and more credible impact
as an organisation then the outcomes of the partnership will have become
significantly more substantial that its outputs.

31

NOTES

32

SUCCESSFUL PARTNERING
DEFINING SUCCESS
What does a successful partnership look like? Who defines success? How is it
measured? Partnering and partnership-based projects are invariably complex
and can therefore be very challenging to evaluate. Outputs, outcomes and
impacts are usually diverse, sometimes quite subtle and often unexpected. In
this publication we address the specific issue of assessing the partnership, we
assume that the projects will be evaluated in the way that all development
projects are - according to criteria laid down by donors / partners at the
beginning. Our primary concern here is the effectiveness of the partnership
from the perspective of the partnering organisations.
Partners are likely to need to measure or assess three things. These are:
Impacts of their partnership project on society
Value of the partnership to the individual partner organisations
Actual costs and benefits of the partnership approach
Only by looking at all three will it be possible to evaluate whether the:
Partnership has been effective in achieving its aims
Partners have truly benefited from their involvement
Partnership approach was the best / most appropriate choice
Collecting the information on which to make a judgement about the
partnerships effectiveness is in itself a challenging process. Most partnerships
that have reached the stage of being evaluated tend to distinguish between
measuring the impacts of the partnership projects and assessing the value of
the partnership to the partner organisations.
It is reasonable to expect that the projects and activities can be evaluated using
fairly conventional methods based on outputs and statistics, but assessing the
value of the partnership itself demands a somewhat different approach. To
assess a collaborative and participatory venture requires a collaborative and
participatory research process, if the integrity of the partnership itself is to be
respected and maintained.
So what would a successful partnership look like? A successful partnership
might have any, several or all of the following characteristics:
The partnership is doing what it set out to do - the project
or programme of activities has achieved pre-agreed objectives
The partnership is having impact beyond its immediate
stakeholder group - there is some recognition of achievement
from project beneficiaries, key others and / or the wider community
The partnership is sustainable and self-managing - either
through the continuing engagement of partner organisations or
through a self-sustaining mechanism that has replaced the
partnership, enabling partners to move on to other things
The partnership has had added value in which individual
partners have gained significant benefits - partner organisations
have established new ways of working with other sectors and / or
have had their own systems and operational styles improved

33

BOX 7

TELLING THE STORY

Once upon at time

Partnerships start out as stories inside our heads, and end up as stories out in the
world. In the voyage from the ideal to the real, we begin with the imagination.
While we imaginatively conceive an initiative, we must also be able to share the
story in a way that engenders lively interest and enthusiasm in others.
Sharing our experience without recourse to imagination can make partnering
sound like a painting-by-numbers exercise. The process is reduced to a series of
strategic manoeuvrings, to statistical descriptions, to factual analysis. While
such stories have their place, they offer little by way of inspiration. To be truly
moved, we need to know that something meaningful is at stake and that in
trying to bring a vision to life we run real risks.
To tell the story of a partnership is to recount an adventure, a quest to achieve
something both unique and universal. Unique because no one has made this
particular journey before. Universal because every partnership sets sail upon an
unknown sea, seeking a destination that is far from safe or certain. There is
indeed a prize to be won, but there is also the very real danger that the
partnership will founder long before the end is reached.
In communicating this journey it is important not to skip over the obstacles
faced - be they half-submerged problems that surfaced early on, stonethrowing cynics who argued for a less co-operative approach, or monstrous
errors of judgement which had to be faced and worked through. The most
engaging stories maintain a tension between good and evil, between the
possibility of success and the possibility of failure. Ensure that mistakes as much
as successes are allowed to appear as fully-fledged characters. We - the
audience - desperately want to hear about the near misses, the last minute
cliff-hanging efforts to secure agreement.
If there is one key piece of advice, it is this: allow for the heroic. It is easy to be
modest; to discount what has been achieved. Cross-Sector Partnerships,
however, are far from commonplace. True partnerships are the stuff of legends.
Think of the Fellowship of the Ring. In making a conscious choice to operate as
a partnership, to overcome barriers, to do what it takes to achieve the goal - all
this is still a rarity, unusual, exceptional.
This doesnt mean using flowery language or overly dramatic phrases. It does
mean not reducing achievements to just the facts. Allow us to marvel at whats
been accomplished. Equally, help us to see that partnership is truly an ideal
worth aspiring to.
In the end, having stayed the course, fought the dragons, sailed triumphantly
home, no-one is ever the same again. The experience has left its mark.
Confronting doubts and working through the difficulties has brought new
learning, new strength and new understanding. In practising the art and craft of
partnering we have transformed our organisations and ourselves - in other
words - our world.
This is always a story worth telling.

 The partnership has made a useful contribution to the global

partnership movement - information about the partnership is
widely available in the public domain for others to build on in
their own ways
The important thing here is that, at an early stage of their partnership, partners
agree on a number of indicators (both tangible deliverables and broader
process indicators) and use these as a basis for tracking the effectiveness of
their partnership over time. Ideally, indicators should cover partner-specific as
well as shared goals.

SHARING GOOD EXPERIENCES

Tool 7:
CASE STUDY TEMPLATE
- provides a simple format for
collecting case study material
with a view to disseminating
the experience.

If your partnership has been successful and productive then spread the word
- but make sure you wait until you have a convincing and real story to tell.
When you do decide to go public tell the story well (see Box 7, page 34) and
make sure you select the best story-tellers from your partnerships network.
Who is it that might be interested in whether or not the partnership has been
successful?
There are a number of potential internal and external audiences for this
information:

INTERNAL
AUDIENCES

EXTERNAL
AUDIENCES

Tool 8:
COMMUNICATIONS CHECK-LIST
- Some suggestions about
potential audiences,
communications options
and messages for your
partnering stories.

Partnership project beneficiaries

Partners and staff involved in the partnership
Their respective line managers
Senior management within the partner organisations
Selected departments within the partner organisations
Operational staff facing similar challenges elsewhere

External donors
Policy makers
Bi-lateral, regional or multi-lateral agencies
Relevant umbrella organisations
Media / general public
Key others - including those who might join the
partnership or who might develop their own partnership
inspired by this one

It is important to impart information in the right way for the different

audiences. An external donor will expect a formal report. The public will want
a story with a personal dimension. Policy makers will like statistics. Potential
partners will want to know how current partners have benefited from their
involvement. A successful partnership will understand who needs what kind of
information and will find methods for communicating to different audiences in
many different ways.

35

COLLABORATION IN A COMPETITIVE WORLD

Partnerships offer a real alternative approach to sustainable development by
substituting collaboration for competition.
No partnership is ever easy, comfortable, secure, safe, quick or cheap. But with
a lot of good management, some good will and a little determination,
cross-sector partnerships for sustainable development can work well and may
achieve a great deal more than single sector approaches to the same issue.
Finally, there are just three golden rules that should help to keep partnering on
track when the going gets tough

REMEMBER
Golden rule l - BUILD ON SHARED VALUES
(because successful partnerships are values-driven)
Golden rule 2 - BE CREATIVE
(because every partnership is unique)
Golden rule 3 - BE COURAGEOUS
(because all partnerships involve risk)

Above all, never forget that however tough things get - in the words of Nigerian
author, Ben Okri: Human beings are blessed with the necessity of
transformation. A cross-sector partnership has the potential to be an excellent
mechanism for economic, environmental and social transformation.
Good Luck in making your partnership work towards this goal!

36

NOTES

37

NOTES

38

NOTES

39

NOTES

40

the

Partnering
toolbook

References
The Partnering Toolbook has drawn on material from three earlier publications:

Managing Partnerships: Tools for Mobilising the Public Sector,

Business and Civil Society as Partners in Development, Ros Tennyson
Published: The Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum, 1998
The Guiding Hand: Brokering Partnerships for Sustainable Development,
Ros Tennyson and Luke Wilde
Published: United Nations Office of Public Information, 2000

Institutionalising Partnerships: Lessons from the Front Line, Ros Tennyson

Published: International Business Leaders Forum, 2003
Further inspiration has come from:
Written by: Ros Tennyson,
Partnership Specialist and Director of Learning Programmes,
International Business Leaders Forum

Content editor: Barbara Torggler

The Way of Being Free, Ben Okri

Published: Phoenix

A Brief History of Everything, Ken Wilber

Published: Shambhala Publications, Inc.

Technical editor: Anna Hill

Cover design: Alison Beanland
Cartoons: Guy Venables
Design and Print: www.blahdblah.com
ISBN number: 1899159 08 8
Copyright: 2003. The International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF)
and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)

Acknowledgements
This material builds on the experience of many practitioners from all over the world,
but particular thanks are due to Michael Jacobs for writing Box 7: Telling the Story, to
Alain Gaultier for compiling Tool 2 and to Barbara Torggler for her invaluable editing work
on the whole text as well as her and UNDPs specific in-puts into Chapter 4 and Tool 5.

This publication is in three parts:

Part l is a short book that describes the generic partnering process from inception to conclusion.
Part 2 is in the form of stand alone tools to enable practitioners to develop effective partnerships.
Part 3 includes more information about GAIN, the issues around food fortification and
case studies selected to be locally appropriate for each of the different language versions.
The views and ideas expressed in this publication are those of the author
and the additional named contributors (see inside back cover).

The author gratefully acknowledges the invaluable feedback from Dr. Soekirman and
his colleagues of Koalisi Fortifikasi (Indonesia) and from Dr. Juan Rivera Dommarco,
Director Ejecutivo del CINyS and Guadalupe Rodriguez (Mexico) as well as other
GAIN Board Members and Partners in response to an early draft of this publication.
Enthusiastic support for this project came from those present (60 people from 15 countries)
at a GAIN workshop in Geneva in August 2003. With their encouragement, a commitment
was made to producing versions of The Partnering Toolbook in a number of other
languages available in electronic format.
The intention is that this publication will reach a large number of
(actual or aspiring) partnership practitioners by using the networks and
dissemination channels of all the partner organisations.

Index
of tools

GAIN
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is a global and regional alliance of
public, private and civil society partners committed to eliminating vitamin and
mineral deficiencies. By 2007, GAIN aims to have contributed to the improved
nutritional status of at least 600 million people in up to 40 developing countries,
primarily through facilitating fortification of commonly available and consumed local
foods. GAIN also aims to energise and harmonise the work of governments, bilateral
donors, UN agencies, the private sector as well as public health and development
organisations working to reduce micronutrient malnutrition.
More information: www.gainhealth.org

1
PARTNER
ASSESSMENT FORM

2
COHERENCE ASSESSMENT
QUESTIONNAIRE

UNDP
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN's global development
network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience
and resources to help people build better lives. UNDP is active in 166 countries,
working with them on developing and implementing their own solutions to global and
national development challenges. World leaders have pledged to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals, including the overarching goal of cutting poverty in
half by 2015. UNDP's network links and coordinates global and national efforts to
reach these goals.
More information: www.undp.org

3
SAMPLE PARTNERING
AGREEMENT

4
PARTNERING ROLES AND
SKILLS QUESTIONNAIRE

5
GUIDELINES
FOR PARTNERING
CONVERSATIONS

IAEA
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is the global focal point for nuclear
cooperation within the United Nations family. Its programme, dedicated to helping its
Member States achieve their social and economic goals, is focused on many activities
that serve basic human needs by applying nuclear science to improve health care
(nutrition, cancer treatment, communicable diseases etc.), increase food production,
improve management of water resources and assess sources of environmental
pollution.
More information: www.iaea.org

6
PARTNERSHIP
REVIEW TEMPLATE

7
CASE STUDY TEMPLATE

8
COMMUNICATIONS
CHECK LIST

IBLF
The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) is a not for profit
organisation established in 1990 to promote responsible business practices that
benefit business and society and contribute to sustainable development. The IBLF
believes that business has a significant role to play in addressing the downsides of
globalisation: poverty, social inequity and environmental degradation. With a
membership of over 80 companies from around the world, the IBLF works at strategic
levels as well as in developing / transitional countries. IBLF has established an
international reputation in its cutting edge cross-sector partnership building work.
More information: www.iblf.org

the

Partnering
toolbook

table of contents

THE PARTNERING TOOLBOOK has been produced in co-operation with the following
partner organisations:

1
THE PARTNERING CHALLENGE
THE RATIONALE FOR PARTNERING
OBSTACLES TO PARTNERING
KEY PARTNERING PRINCIPLES
THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE

2
BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS
IDENTIFYING PARTNERS
ASSESSING RISKS & REWARDS
RESOURCE MAPPING

3
PARTNERING AGREEMENTS
SECURING PARTNER COMMITMENT
INTEREST-BASED NEGOTIATION
GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

4
MANAGING THE PARTNERING PROCESS
PARTNERING ROLES
PARTNERS AS LEADERS
PARTNERING SKILLS
GOOD PARTNERING PRACTICE

5
DELIVERING SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS
MANAGING THE TRANSITION
KEEPING TO THE TASK
REPORTING, REVIEWING & REVISING

6
SUSTAINING PARTNERSHIPS
PLANNING FOR THE LONGER-TERM
SECURING GREATER ENGAGEMENT
BUILDING INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY

7
SUCCESSFUL PARTNERING
DEFINING SUCCESS
SHARING GOOD EXPERIENCES
COLLABORATION IN A COMPETITIVE WORLD