This international case study illustrates a partnership workshop template which transformed energy and impact
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Engaging heart and spirit
We have been working with a well-known global software company and their equally well known international consulting partners to develop a process for moving beyond a transactional mindset using the Strategy Engagement Matrix. A process which is engaging more of the heart and spirit of their people in their regional partnerships. Heart and spirit that sets transformative goals for their work in better digitalising and enabling their joint clients .
The issue with transactional partnerships
Their previous partnership processes tended to be largely transactional in nature, centred around volumes of work, numbers of licenses, market share and target clients. Then each party would go and do their own thing within that, based on their respective strengths. But, frankly, it was ‘just a job’.
As a result, many clients only achieved a fraction of the potential that was available to them. And a large proportion of the licences were left unutilised. The evidence of this became more obvious as licenses shifted on-line and consumption became a key measure. People then saw the portion of the licenses that weren’t getting used. And realised that this meant an equal portion of the benefits were probably not being realised.
Inspiring partner aspirations
Interviews with key staff on both sides of the partnerships highlighted a number of factors:- The partner organisations both had a real heart for making a real difference to their clients/customers
- The people involved had ideas and hopes for the transformative impact they wanted to have on their clients
- There were issues, as you might expect, but there were a lot of priorities, and people were working hard
- And they were meeting the numbers … or at least they were until someone added consumption
- But they had never really got together to discuss the differences they really wanted to make – their hopes, their passion
When we asked what might be possible if both parties could realise their strengths and dreams, the interviews came alive. And the interesting thing was that both partners came alive on similar or complementary themes.
Aligning to a shared vision
With the help of key partner staff on both sides, we developed a new partner process. We created the space for people to define aspirational outcomes that would make them proud. And then to sell them to each other, explaining the benefits to both partners and the clients. Then we gave them a process to reconcile these aspirations into a set of shared intentions. Intentions that were “worthy of investing the next year of their working lives in achieving”. And we asked them if they really felt that way about them. Or whether they needed anything else included or adjusted to ‘get there’.The result in each case was a set of really meaningful goals. Goals which emotionally engaged the partners. Which were redolent of empowerment, transformation, client growth, learning and success. Goals that were way in advance of what had emerged from their previous process.
Planning with energy and enthusiasm
Furthermore, once people saw that their ambitions were equally owned by their colleagues and partners, the collective energy became palpable. And the appetite grew for prioritising whatever was needed for each partner to play their part in delivering that vision, that adventure.
Mixed breakout groups containing people from both partners worked to shape up the activities and projects needed to support the goals. They then prioritised these, and people self-selected themselves onto which they wanted to take forward. Some applied directly to current clients. And some were about improving the processes between the two partners at the regional level. Finally, they pulled these together into a practical schedule. And people confirmed their belief that they would succeed in delivering these using the $500 bet.
A replicable partner process
The trialing of the new process took place across 6 world regions during the peak of Covid: India, Australia, South Africa, Germany, Middle East, UK. All were conducted remotely on a massive virtual canvas, which became a digital twin of each partnership. An insight landscape which visually reconnected the people with the commitments they made. And with the emotions they had felt from the start. The outcomes are making a big difference to the partnerships and their results.
The principles evident in this case study are applicable to virtually any strategic partnership. We have been privileged to help our clients develop more effective partner processes in industries as diverse as IT, consultancy, retail, manufacturing and distribution.
What next?
To explore this topic further, feel free to contact us. We find our own thinking is continually sharpened and enriched by the questions people ask, and by the discussions that emerge from it.
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Daily re-restructuring for agility? How adaptive structures maximise agile engagement.
Culture eats strategy for breakfast – but what sort of strategy are you feeding it?
Facilitating mental wellbeing – The power of adventure in keeping our minds fit & healthy.
Patterns of collaborative excellence – Rediscovering the lost wisdom of design.
Prescient emotional knowledge management – do you have what it takes?
Author: Mike Clargo | Culturistics