The Alliance Health Check

The Alliance Health Check helps you to identify possible areas for improving your alliance. It also allows for timely adjustment of your alliance, if required.

Alliance Health Check topics

The Alliance Health Check is best performed on the areas of:

• Strategic value
• Operational effectiveness
• Cultural/relationship value
• Governance effectiveness

These areas are explored through a structured questionnaire where participants from both organisations rate each topic on a Likert scale of 1 to 5. Respondents are encouraged to add comments alongside their ratings, and the survey includes one or two open-ended questions to gather deeper insights and suggestions for improvement.

Are you due for an Alliance Health Check?

Alliance health checks should be conducted every 6 to 12 months, depending on the alliance’s pace and personnel dynamics. High-paced alliances or those with frequent staff changes may benefit from more frequent assessments, while an annual check is usually sufficient for stable partnerships with lower turnover. Regular health checks ensure continuous monitoring and measurement of progress on improvement actions.

Benefits of an Alliance Health Check

There are several reasons why it may be beneficial to perform a health check:

• Improved Performance: A health check helps to identify areas where the alliance can be improved, allowing both partners to make changes to increase the alliance’s success.
• Better Communication: A health check provides an opportunity for open and honest communication between partners, helping to address any misunderstandings or conflicts that may have arisen.
• (Re) Alignment of Goals: A health check ensures that the partners’ goals and expectations for the alliance remain aligned and that both parties are working towards the same objective.
• Maximise Benefits: A health check helps both partners to get the most out of the alliance by ensuring that all resources are being used effectively and efficiently.
• Increased Trust: By openly and honestly evaluating the alliance, both partners can enhance trust and confidence in each other, which can lead to a stronger, more successful alliance going forward.

Anonymous & Confidential Survey

The survey of an Alliance Health Check is anonymously and is confidential. This is paramount so that participants can share their opinions in a trusted way without worrying about confidentiality, this encourages genuinely honest feedback.

Stakeholder Interviews

Stakeholder interviews are an optional part of an health check. These are verbal interviews that allow for more substance in feedback. They are especially recommended for alliances that are experiencing difficulties in their relationship.

Participants: A balanced set 

It’s essential to involve a balanced group of participants from both organisations. Ideally, this group should represent equivalent roles within the alliance, such as operational staff, alliance managers, executive sponsors, and potentially finance professionals.