Linked Work & Training Trust Partnerships Alex Downie January 2009 BURA award winner for excellence in community regeneration, 2003 Highly commended in the Scottish Urban Regeneration Awards ‘People’ section, 2004 First in the Scottish Enterprise Forth Valley awards in the Business in the Community section, 2005 Taylor Award winner in Falkirk for quality services, upskilling the workforce This was developed as part of the Scottish Government’s Better Community Engagement Programme

Programme Today  Definitions and types  Roles and skills  What makes a healthy partnership  Partnership life cycle  Learning Partnerships

Learning Outcomes Participants will be understand the difference between strategic and operational partnerships. Participants will have considered the applicability of partnerships in relation to their work. Partners will be able to identify the features of a successful partnership. Participants will be able to identify the benefits and drawbacks of partnership working.

Skills Core skills relevant to community engagement practice: Communication skillsProcess skillsPlanning and evaluation skills: ● verbal presentation● motivation● envisioning outcomes (in plain English),● advocacy● investigation ● written presentation● facilitation● appraisal (in plain English)● empowerment● assessment ● use of a variety of media● enabling● monitoring including information and● negotiation● analysis and interpretation of data communication● mediation● analysis and interpretation technology● support of policy ● listening● leadership● reflection ● feedback● training● prioritising ● explanation● mentoring● financial planning and reporting ● empathy● political awareness and judgement

Competences Establish and nurture inclusive partnerships with communities. Identify and build on previous experience of participants. Support inter-agency partnerships to work effectively with communities, respecting, valuing and responding to their views. Enable community members to represent community views effectively and to play an active role in decision making and action. Help agency staff to view partnerships positively. Help to highlight the mutual benefits that agencies and communities can get from partnership working. Respect and recognise the work, values, capabilities and objectives of community groups. Define the respective roles and responsibilities of community representatives and others in partnerships. Assess contributions from professionals and agencies to community engagement, and support improvement. Include and support community representatives in networks and multi-disciplinary teams. Help partners to develop a common understanding of issues and purposes for action. Enable equal participation by supporting effective communication between partners. Identify and address difficulties that might be preventing people from taking part.

Partnerships “It is explained that all relationships require a little give and take. This is untrue. Any partnership demands that we give and give and give and at the last, as we flop into our graves exhausted, we are told that we didn't give enough.” Quentin Crisp

Partnerships - types  Strategic/ Operational  Formal/ Informal  Bottom Up/ Top Down

Strategic/ Operational  Strategic partnerships concern the formulation of new policies and strategy or the redefinition of existing ones.  Operational partnership concern the implementation of agreed policies and strategy

Formal/ informal  Formal structures – suitable for partnerships which intend to undertake a significant amount of project work, particularly where this will be in the name of the partnership itself. Many funders require that recipients of grants have strict financial controls and a formal legal status.  Informal structures tend to suit partnerships that have as their main goal building consensus and agreement between local organisations. In this case, a legal identity is probably not required and as informal structures are generally more straightforward to prepare, agreement between the partners can be achieved more quickly.

Bottom up/ top down  Top-down partnerships emerge as a result of the need to comply with a funding requirement or policy decision. The advantage of a is that it is likely to be more inclusive. A wider range of potential partners is likely to be considered relative to those that might come together in a more ad hoc manner over time.  Bottom-up partnerships arise because local organisations see the benefits of working together and work out methods for achieving this. The partnerships survive as long as they contribute some added value over and above the organisations working in isolation.

Healthy partnerships Checklist Is there a clear vision for what the partnership will achieve? Does the partnership have a clear mission, aims & objectives? Does each partner have a clear mission, aims & objectives? Does the partnership have an effective secretariat & support mechanisms? Are there effective reporting arrangements back to each partner?

Healthy partnerships Checklist Are there effective reporting arrangements within the partnership, especially within the subgroups? Does the partnership have pooled resources (human resources, finance, skills and equipment)? Does the partnership have an effective performance management system? Does each partner have the political will to contribute both financial and non-financial resources? Is there a contingency plan for sudden changes in work plan, annual reviews other problems?

Partnership Life Cycle  Forming  Frustrating  Functioning  Flying  Oh No … Failing!

Forming  Common cause, arising from shared interests, opportunities, threats  Early enthusiasm: new challenge, new relationships  Exploring what’s needed, what’s possible  Nature of commitments unclear

Forming  Create opportunities for people to get to know each other  Encourage partners to focus on a common vision, the difference they want to make together  Define tasks and tangible outcomes  Shepherd the process of building the partnership agenda - including through use of research  Ensure neutral meeting ground

Frustrating  Partners feel “in a fog”  Disputes or tension over priorities and methods  Individuals questioning purpose of the partnership and reasons for being there  Hidden agendas influencing what partners do  Doubts about what each other brings to the party  Partners competing for credit and control

Frustrating  Revisit the common ground – allow time to redefine issues, purpose, etc  Maximise opportunities for practical involvement  Implement actions which demonstrate progress (“little victories”)  Encourage open expression and constructive disagreement  Clarify benefits to individual partners  Promote mutual appreciation of what each other can contribute  Fix the problem, not the blame

Functioning  Renewed vision and focus  Progress through joint project teams  Partners talk in terms of “we” not “you”  Clear roles and responsibilities  Full accountability to each other for actions

Functioning  Agree clear objectives, milestones, responsibilities, success measures  Establish principles/ protocols for collaboration  Encourage shared leadership and accountability  Develop common methods and quality standards  Seek learning consciously through cross- partner project teams, joint training and reviewing activities

Flying  Successful achievement of partnership goals  Shared leadership  Partners changing what they do and how they do it to achieve partnership objectives  Trust and mutual respect  Partnership priorities are central to partner activities

Flying  Anticipate future challenges and build partner capacity to respond  Take stock of how well the group is performing  Keep working at communications  Avoid any unnecessary partnership working  Ask: does the partnership still serve its purpose?  Ensure that all partners are getting the benefits they expect  Continue to celebrate success

Failing  Disengagement  Lack of commitment  Recurrent tensions  Breakdown or frittering away of relationships

Failing  Wind up the partnership if it fails to provide sufficient benefits and results  Go back to the advice offered for Stage 2 - Frustration

Learning Partnerships Organisations and Partnerships are like living organisms. Governed by the laws of evolution, they must learn, evolve, change – or die. To survive and grow, partnerships must learn and adapt at a pace at least as great as change – and ideally faster. L≥C

Learning Partnerships Partnerships achieve little. People produce the results, for better or worse. The pace of change increases; need to continually re- focus on the service, the needs of clients, the future of the organisation, invest in new systems and equipment, adapt to new policies and programmes, changing funding and investment opportunities. Need to get the culture right. Need to create learning partnerships.