For the individual, life without partnerships is a lonely place. For a business, the inability to form partnerships will probably mean a slow and excruciating death in the marketplace as competitors become more adept at adapting to the new reality of interdependence in the twenty-first century.

The first thing you need to do to avoid this predicament is to figure out what you want. To begin, fill out the Partnership Readiness Checklist. This may give you some insight into how ready your organization is to form a partnership. The questions are designed to help you determine whether a partnership is right for your organization.

If you’ve decided that you want a partnership, you are about to undertake perhaps the most difficult task of the partnering process: assessing your organization to determine its needs. This stage frequently requires the most time. Consistent with the Plan–Do–Check–Act cycle, the time is spent planning for what you want from the partnership and the quality of partnership you desire.

So what happens when we can’t fathom the concept of having a partnership? We begin to create a past orientation for ourselves—a series of reinforcing cause-and-effect events. First we refuse to trust relationships because of past experiences. We become afraid of getting hurt. Using old mental maps and remembering the times we were hurt, we end up trapping ourselves: bad relationships become a selffulfilling prophecy, reinforcing the hurt and pain. Consequently we choose to go it alone, which reinforces our desire to be independent.

As change becomes more difficult, we spend more energy maintaining the status quo: a comfortable, safe place.We live in a past orientation because there is no trust. There is no trust because we are unwilling to open up to others by self-disclosing. The cycle continues to reinforce the belief. People sense this closedness and move away from us. People are attracted to openness; they shy away from those who are closed. Those who cannot trust choose a win-lose style of conflict resolution because they cannot trust anyone enough to collaborate.

And so the cycle continues.

With the exception of the hermit on the top of the most isolated mountain in the world, there is virtually no one who has never formed a partnership. Even the hermit grew up somewhere with someone before trekking off to seek wisdom. For most of us, our family experience made an indelible mark on our ability to partner, whether good or bad. The ability to form good partnerships is closely linked with our ability to have good relationships. If we have poor relationships—if we find it stressful to make and keep good relationships— then partnering will be difficult for us. We need to be adept in the skills that allow us to get our needs met while helping others achieve their needs, too. Yet many of us do not have these skills—or if we do, we forget them when we’re in fearful or stressful situations, when we turn to fight-or-flight strategies to resolve them.

Whatever strategy we use to help us cope with our feelings, at some level we know that our “win” is only temporary and the next conflict is just around the corner. This pattern teaches many people that relationships are bad, or difficult at best, and must be avoided at all costs. It doesn’t take a Ph.D. to figure out the next step in this chain of logic: relationships = pain; therefore partnerships = pain.

You have now had an opportunity to assess your current PQ and have gained insights into the Six Partnering Attributes you need to be a good partner. Now you are ready to put this knowledge to work. It’s time to make a leap—a leap from the individual to the partnership. For most of us, the first partnerships we encounter in business settings are internal partnerships. Often our success is measured by our ability to work as a member of a team to accomplish a task. For others, however, partnerships are focused on expanding business opportunities and creating strategic alliances with other businesses. In both situations—whether we’re focused on managing an internal team or an external business alliance—the model, the process, and the skills are the same.

Regardless of the focus, partnerships are alliances between people. And it is how people interact with each other that determines the success or failure of a partnership. The Partnership Continuum model is a thoughtful, organized approach that balances the task and relationship aspects of a partnership. Once you’ve laid the groundwork of improving your personal Partnering Intelligence with the Six Partnering Attributes and understand the dynamics of the model, you can begin to discuss the Partnership Continuum’s disciplined approach for building partnerships with your partners at work—your peers, your bosses, and/or your employees—and with other organizations. The model provides the context and the language for discussing how you want the partnership to develop and gives potential partners a step-by-step guide to success. Partnerships are too important to be allowed to evolve by happenstance.

While there may be many different ways of moving partnerships into the creative zone, I know the Partnership Continuum model works. It is structured enough to provide a framework for those who need it and holistic enough to cover the two essential elements of any good partnership: task completion and a trusting relationship. So let’s now take a look at each of the four Stages of Partnership Development.

First, you must be willing to examine your own readiness, willingness, and ability to engage in the process. The first stage,Assess, enables you to figure out exactly what it is you want from a partnership. It helps you become a more intelligent partner. What’s your PQ? Do you know what you expect from a partner? Do you understand your own limitations? Can you make a decision to change your behavior if necessary?

Second, you’ll need to communicate with a prospective partner. Exploring areas of common interest and mutual benefit will help you balance the partnership at the outset. You’ll need to help each other on the team become better partners. Once you’ve identified a potential partner, explained what you need, and helped your potential partner see the benefits to be gained, you can plan a joint project.

We identify our own needs. We find potential partners. We communicate what we want. We act in accordance with our promises and commitments. In the four Stages of Partnership Development we’re creating a new future with our partner. Through the accomplishment of tasks, the deepening of trust, and the practice of direct communication, our partnership grows and develops.

In theory, there’s no doubt that the script makes sense. The show should be a hit every time. In practice, however, we’re dealing with people who do things for their own reasons, not according to a script. We need to account for various levels of Partnering Intelligence among the participants, which can change in an instant. Analyzing and understanding the process allows us to manage each stage more intelligently.

Each step that we take during the Stages of Partnership Development presents us with an opportunity to accrue trust.And as our trust account grows, we feel more confident about taking risks. Once we feel secure enough to take chances, the possibilities become boundless.

This is when we begin to generate synergy and enter the creative zone. The creative zone is a state of being—a place where we feel totally secure and can let all our synapses spark ideas at once. This is what a company really wants: the creative spark that differentiates it from everyone else.

First, it pays to talk about them.With some groups I draw a diagram of the Stages of Relationship Development on a large piece of paper. I start the partnership meetings out by asking: “Where are we in our relationship development?” I then ask everyone to make a mark on the scale to indicate where they think we are.While this may seem elementary, it’s a basic technique for generating discussions that strengthen the partnership and move it to the next level of development.

It can be used as a tool to pinpoint problem areas that may be preventing the team from moving ahead with the task. Similarly, at the close of the meeting I ask how the meeting went—from a task perspective and from a relationship perspective.While initially the group members may be reluctant to disclose their feelings about the relationship, most of them become comfortable with the question and even begin to look forward to discussing how the relationship is developing.

Another way that I check for relationship development is to hand out the Relationship Feedback Assessment (Assessment 3) at the start of the meeting to open up discussion. I ask each person to fill out the assessment anonymously and then I post the responses on a large sheet of paper. Based on the feedback from the partners, we develop a plan to continue our progress or alter our course to improve what’s wrong. A version of my assessment is presented here as an exercise you may copy and use on your own or with your partners.

Acquiring the right data. Information should be reliable and useful. There are many techniques for acquiring it, including surveys, telephone calls, meetings and interviews, and there are sources such as libraries and information centres. All provide insight if used intelligently.

Customer surveys can be carried out online and the web provides a valuable source of regularly updated information. The appropriate technique depends on the nature of the decision that is to be made.

Reviewing and analysing information. By reviewing and analysing information, options emerge and their effectiveness can be assessed. In the end, decisions come down to judgment, but quantitative statistical methods will highlight trends and anomalies, and scenario planning, modelling and simulation are useful techniques for generating and assessing information.

In order to maximise the usefulness of any information system, it is valuable to understand how information flows, what it is used for and the ways in which it can be applied. Understanding information requirements. To identify information requirements and to make information routinely, consistently and reliably available, ask the following questions:

What information is needed?
How should it be presented (for example, online, with written approval, occasionally, informally, in meetings, by memo)?
When does it need to be supplied (timing and frequency)?
Where does it come from? This can determine the quality of information, as well as relevant details that put the facts into context.
What restrictions are there? For example, is some or all of the information confidential?
Which decisions and activities will it support? It can help if people see why the information is needed.

In addition to the previous post you need to:

Ensure security of information. Confidential data should be secure and information should be backed up to avoid valuable information being lost. Back-up files or documents should be held in a different location.

Manage costs and provide the necessary support. To gain maximum value from investments in information technology, list the functions and features that are required (including price and support) to ensure that minimum requirements are fulfilled.

Make data available for shared use throughout the organisation. Any problems or concerns that may prevent this happening need to be resolved.

Be aware of legal requirements and their implications, particularly relating to data held on customers, suppliers and employees. These requirements are increasing in scope and complexity

Establish guidelines to avoid misuse or misinterpretation of data.