When building strategic partnerships, best practice always points to following the steps in the alliance lifecycle. But what if you want to move faster, or simply don’t have the organisational bandwidth to follow every step in detail?
I get it. But don’t just dive into a partnership and expect it will work out fine because you like your partner. Instead, here are four minimal steps you can take to create a solid foundation:
First, get to know your partner and understand how their organisation differs from yours. Those differences will matter during the lifetime of the partnership. You can do some research online, talk to people who know both organisations, leverage AI, or use the partner assessment tool. Whatever the method, make sure you uncover their particularities.
Second, clarify what you both expect from the partnership and what you will each contribute. Then do a gap analysis to identify what else is needed for success that neither party currently brings. The Needs & Contribution Matrix is a useful tool for this, ideally completed together with your partner.
Third, know where you’re going. Plan ahead, set milestones, and measure progress as you move forward.
Finally, assign a dedicated person in each organisation with joint responsibility for the partnership. No ship reaches its destination by accident; it needs a helmsman to steer and course-correct. Partnerships are no different. They need an alliance or partnership manager to orchestrate collaboration and keep both sides aligned.
These four steps will help you fast-track partnership creation without cutting corners. If you want to explore this further, the Partner Selection Guide provides amongst others the partner assessment tool and a template for the Needs & Contribution Matrix to support you in building fast-track partnerships that last.