What do you need to make it work? ‘Nuts and bolts’ and the soft stuff!

When you first had discussions about working together, you had ideas about what each partner could bring to the table. Now that you have signed the contract and are working out what to do next it’s important to harden up these offerings so that the relationship’s ‘assets’ can be fully incorporated into the joint operation.  

This is not just a matter of producing a list of those things identified but also giving the details of what they are, who provides them and when they will be available. These fall into four categories: 

- Complementary resources e.g., money, bricks and mortar, IT

- Specialised capabilities e.g., market and technical knowledge, operational skills, IP

- Relationship Management capability. This is a complete overview of what the relationship is all about, how it is run, what it’s achieving and where it’s going. It will be an important factor in building the joint ‘team’. So, what do the partners currently do and what is still needed for this relationship? E.g., one of the partners will provide an App to keep everyone informed. 

“Three years ago, we offered the Customer a terminal from our system to allow them to track the progress of their orders but their security people turned it down!”

Project Manager, Aerospace 

- Culture matching. Simply linking or sharing business processes may not be enough to ensure success unless the partners can find common ground to work together without friction e.g., plan scheduled joint staff meetings, organise staff suggestion and reward schemes  

“Whilst pubs and drinks are a great means of socialising in the UK, that’s not the same in our country; we need to actively create a forum or a social event that enables mutual participation to help seal the relationship.”

Team Leader, Global Software Developer 

This complete view of relationship resources and capabilities allows the partners to respond rapidly to business changes and new opportunities. The Relationship Managers will keep it current and make it widely available.