Successful partnership working

'Partnerships are like relationships and we should approach them as such'

Making partnership work

The process of partnership building is at least as important as the outcome
Stakeholders need the knowledge and skills to help support effective partnership

Some perceptions and attitudes

Cynicism – from all sides
Partnership overload
Marginalisation - groups members not participating fully
Lack of clarity over peoples’ role
Some positive experiences (direction, commitment)

Keys to effective partnership working

1	Leadership	Effective leadership brings visibility, promotes shared ownership, draws in reluctant partners and can drive forward a (sometimes contentious) agenda
2	Synergy	The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. To achieve synergy trust and confidence must be developed with an understanding of each other's motivation, culture and decision making processes. A shared vision must be developed based on an understanding of the starting point building a unique partnership culture and acknowledging that community representatives need back up with admin and information support.
3	Commitment	Involves both organisational and individual commitment.
4	Accountability	Often a contentious issue. ‘Token’ community representation is not enough. Partnerships need to engage in a wide range of consultative and participative processes if they are to work across the spectrum of community issues. Mechanisms are needed to hold partners accountable to each other.
5	Conflict Management	Conflict is virtually inevitable in partnerships: they bring together a wide range of interests, levels of power and resources, and different priorities. Vision building is the key to defining shared objectives: it’s not enough to list what each partner is doing separately

It is important at the outset to acknowledge the challenges of effective partnership working at all levels, and the fact that there are no easy solutions or 'off the shelf' answers. There will be a need for cultural change and continuous learning and development to meet these challenges. (Fife Community Plan)