1. Choosing a partnership structure
Audience
Smaller organisations exploring which kind of partnership structure is most appropriate for a particular collaborative business opportunity.
Purpose
To help smaller organisations:
Evaluate the collaborative models outlined in 1b (What does working in partnership mean?) through practical exercises with colleagues or potential partners.
Start to plan in more detail the steps required to develop the most appropriate model for their particular circumstances.
Intended outcomes
Smaller organisations:
Have a clearer understanding of which kind of partnership structure may be most appropriate for their particular business opportunity (through support from an external facilitator).
This workshop is designed to be a facilitated service – an activity that supports frontline organisations in developing partnerships, which is typically delivered by an independent facilitator rather than by the frontline organisations themselves.
The facilitator in this case is likely to be either the commissioning body (a clinical commissioning group or local authority) or a support/development organisation.
If you are interested in Voscur facilitating this kind of workshop for you, contact Voscur:
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2. Choosing a partnership structure
Equipment You Will Need:
Laptop and Projector
Post-it notes
Flipchart Paper
Small cuddly toy elephant (£5 from Debenhams / similar)
This training is designed to be used in conjunction with the “Creating a Partnership” Briefing Note.
It is important participants have had that document in sufficient time to be able to answer the Key Questions For Discussion contained within it.
It’s also important that they bring their answers to the questions to the training session itself.

3. Objectives
Understand the importance, purpose and usefulness of partnerships.
Understand the pros and cons of different partnership structures.
Make key decisions about how to move forward.
Undertake action planning to know the next key actions that are required.
Check everyone is happy with these. You will return to them at the end of the day

4. Pre-reading time; questions and clarification
Activity
09.30
Pre-reading time; questions and clarification
09.50
Welcome, housekeeping, introductions and icebreaker
10.10
Partnerships – why are they important?
11.00
BREAK
11.15
Options for partnership
12.30
LUNCH
13.15
The elephant in the room
Joint risk analysis
14.15
14.30
Action planning: evaluate/test potential models exercise/activity
15.30
Action planning
15.50
Conclusion, reflection and close
Talk through this timetable / outline, making clear how it relates to the Training Objectives of the previous slide.
It’s also helpful to say you understand people sometimes need to leave early for childcare.
Make sure participants know that they will be sent copies of this presentation and all the text that’s written on flipchart – so they can spend the day thinking / talking / reflecting – rather than writing!

5. Icebreaker
Talk to your partner – introduce yourself and your organisation.
What are your hopes and fears about partnership working?
Feedback on your partner.
You will probably find that most people share very similar hopes and fears. Be sure to comment on this as it builds a sense of purpose and unity amongst trainees.

6. Ground rules
First, talk to the group about establishing a set of groundrules for the day.
Ask them to come up with them, shouting out ideas. Write down the suggestions on a sheet of flipchart paper.
Add to the list using the below examples as needed:
A lot to get through today – respect each other’s time.
We all have our own purposes for being here.
Ask for more time if something is going well or you are really getting a lot out of an exercise.
Finish on time
We are all in a difficult place and all under pressure. To make the most of today we need to be honest and keep things in confidence. Take away what you learn, leave behind the details.

7. Partnerships – why are they important?
Split the participants in to groups of three people or so – ideally from different organisations so there is a mix.
Hand out post-it notes. Ask people to come up with a list of reasons why partnerships are important and what they can achieve, writing one idea per post-it note.
The aim for this exercise is to have a positive, energetic discussion about the principle of partnership working, rather than the detail of specific opportunities.
Give people minutes or so to undertake the brainstorming exercise.
Then ask groups to feedback on their discussions, going throug the post-it notes.
Tell people that if another group has the same idea / discussion as they have, to put a tick on their post-it. This saves time and prevents repitition.

8. Break
15 mins

9. Options for partnership
Type of partnership
Advantages
Disadvantages
Alliance
Hub and spoke
Lead body/ consortium
Joint venture/SPV
Merger
Give participants an overview of what’s been done so far: They have talked about the benefits and issues associated with partnership working. They’ve also shared their own organisation’s situation .
Now we want to start to focus and drill down / become more practical to their own individual circumstances.
Explain that there are five broad areas of partnership, as shown above. These form a spectrum.
Ask participants to think about their situation impartially and work together to identify the advantages and disadvantages of different structures.
Explain that disagreement is fine (healthy!) at this point. Just be sure to capture all issues where people need more information / discussion as these will be returned to later.
Summarise common issues as people are feeding back.
At the end of the exercise, be clear that people have done a lot of work and it’s time for lunch. Make sure people know you are around if they need to talk to you at all.

10. Lunch
45 mins

11. The elephant in the room
Welcome people back.
Explain that it is human nature to want to get along with people. It is a very useful survival skill, hardwired in to our brains.
This means that we sometimes avoid issues because it is easier. But it’s nearly always better to confront them and get them out in the open.
Take out the elephant. Explain that this exercise is about building trust and moving forward together. Ask people to think of “Elephants in the Room” that they think need discussing. People are passed or thrown (gently!) the elephant when they a suggestion for something.
Common examples include:
One organisation being more prepared than another
Stronger / clearer governance in one partner than another.
Trustees not sure of how to proceed
Anxiety about jobs / roles
Uncertainty about how to proceed
It is strongly advisable that you discuss this activity in advance with a participant – such as CEO / Chair or an organisation, so they are ready with some examples and get the ball rolling.

12. Joint risk analysis Impact  Low Low-Med Med Med-High High
Probability:
Explain that now we have done exercises that look at the issue of partnership. Now we want to make it even more relevant and practical for the specific situation organisations are in.
Ask participants to discuss the risks that they are currently facing, particularly the risks associated with entering or creating a partnership. Write up the risks on the flip chart.
When they have all been explored, ask participants to rate each one for its Impact and Probability, showing where it falls on the table above.
The purpose of this is to help organisations focus on the things that really matter (red), rather than the things that just require a watching brief.
Explain that a follow-up piece of work from today will be for organisations to go through the risks and identify actions that they are going to take to mitigate these risks.

13. Break
15 mins

14. Testing potential models
Advantages for our situation
Disadvantages for our situation
Overall fit – score out of 10
Alliance
Hub and spoke
Lead body/ consortium
Joint venture (SPV)
Merger
NOTE: Participants should be familiar with the overview of these potential models from resource 1b. What does working in a partnership mean?
Print this side out and hand out to learners.
This exercise is designed to provoke a discussion amongst learners based on their reading and also their own individual organisations / circumstances.
Again referring participants to resource 1b. What does working in a partnership mean? should help them identify potential advantages and disadvantages of different models for their own specific situation.
Ask people to work in pairs / threes to complete the grid – allow 15 minutes or so for this. Then ask groups to feedback on what they have discussed, one model at a time, and identify areas of agreement / contention between groups’ perspectives.
Facilitate a discussion and assess whether learners are able to agree a preferred way forward.
If they aren’t, at least see if any options can be ruled out.

15. Action planning – deciding next practical steps
What do we need to achieve?
By when?
Who is in charge of this?
How will we know it’s done?
What are the immediate tasks?
Print out copies of the above slide – two per person is enough normally.
Explain to the group that they have been working really hard and we are now on the home stretch.
Explain that there is nothing worse for a trainer than when you equip a group of people with skills that they then don’t have time to implement or forget about for a while and so gets lost.
This exercise is designed to make sure people capture key tasks and can make things happen by asking them to think about the work that needs to be undertaken whilst they are here and focussed on the issue, away from the office etc.
Ask people to go back in to their organisation’s groups and populate the table. If possible, take photocopies of these task lists so you can speak to people two-weeks after the training and see how they are getting on.
NOTE FOR WORK AFTER THE SESSION:
Highlight the other resources available to participants to help them develop partnerships:
In particular:
3a. What can small organisations contribute to partnerships? -
3b. Selecting a lead agency -

16. Objectives
Understand the importance, purpose and usefulness of partnerships.
Understand the pros and cons of different partnership structures.
Make key decisions about how to move forward.
Undertake action planning to know the next key actions that are required.
Remind people of what the objectives were. Check everyone is happy that these have been achieved.

17. Conclusion, reflection and close
Tell the group you hope they found the day really useful etc. Evaluation forms may need completing.