Create a recognisable partnership platform or hub

To create drive and direction within a partnership a sustainable and powerful source of energy needs to be created at its heart. A significant number of partnerships have done this by identifying or creating a particular organisation, or grouping of key organisations, that can become the credible centre of the partnership, the hub of the nexus.

To be a credible platform or hub that can support the effective development of a partnership the selected organisation or organisations need the following characteristics:

•       Capacity in terms of relevant expertise, knowledge, money and other resources likely to be needed.
•       A willingness to share these resources with others involved in the partnership in order to help them build their capacity to contribute effectively.
•       An obvious passion for the partnership’s area of activity.
•       A clear vision of the direction and future of not only the partnership itself, but also the whole area within which the partnership is operating.
•       A strong commitment to seeking out and encouraging new blood, in the form of partners and others, that could provide the partnership with additional perspectives, creativity and innovation.
•       A commitment to making itself, the partnership as a whole and the processes that support it as accessible and transparent as is realistically possible. 

Another important point to consider when identifying and developing a platform or hub for a partnership is its capacity to consolidate and continue the work once the partnership initiative has come to an end. Is the hub organisation committed and resourceful enough to ensure that the benefits realised through partnership working are absorbed effectively into the ever – flowing mainstream of organisational and institutional practice?


Read more in 'Sleeping with the Enemy - Achieving Collaborative Success - 2nd Edition'