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Learning Histories
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Management Resources Partnership Learning the Dance steps: The step-by-step process for developing & maintaining the partnership. The most fundamental key to the success of the partnership is finding a way for organizations of disparate sizes and resources to equally participate in the initial development phase. Memorial Hospital had 3,500 employees, whereas Home Management Resources had a staff of approximately 50 people, most of whom were volunteers. At first, some members of Home Management Resources were concerned that they might be dancing with an "800 pound gorilla". It was important for the undertaking to be mutually inclusive from the start. The ultimate goal was a true partnership, not the dependency of a smaller organization upon a larger one with access to more resources. In 1999, a group of approximately 30 people was assembled with representatives from staff, boards and management of each organization. Barbara Walsh, Assistant Director for Organization Development, acted as facilitator and organized the initial meetings. She brought valuable facilitation skills to the process as the partners were getting to know each other. One of her main tasks was to ensure equal participation of both partners in the planning process. Participants met monthly for one year to develop the plan of action for this new strategic partnership. Step 1: Understanding the change process: It is critical that the participating organizations receive assistance in managing the inevitable change that accompanies a new partnership. In the initial meetings the participants were led through a 5 step Change Management Model in which they learned how to:
Step Two: Creating a shared vision for this partnership. For Memorial Hospital and Home Management Resources, everyone in the planning group was committed to a shared vision of "creating a healthier community by strengthening families." It is critical that an attitude of equal participation from each organization be established from the start. Therefore, sessions to create the vision should be conducted by a skilled facilitator. For example, at the end of one year of planning meetings, Memorial Hospital and Home Management Resources agreed on the following Partnership Development Plan: The main priorities and desired results identified by the group were:
Step Three: Developing the plan. In this phase, everyone rolls up their sleeves and gets to work with regard to how this partnership will work. It is necessary to specifically identify the goals, actions necessary to achieve the goals, and the desired results. The meetings centered on setting priorities and making plans on how to implement them. The group then needed to identify the specific actions that would yield the desired results and assign accountability for each action item: For example:
Step 4: Identify Critical Success Factors/Potential obstacles: At each meeting the group identified what they perceived as the factors that were necessary to achieve the desired outcomes. Potential barriers to success were also identified. For the partnership between Memorial Hospital and Home Management Resources, the critical success factors were:
Some of the potential obstacles that could derail success were identified as:
Step 5: Develop a process for ongoing evaluation of the partnership: Intending to go beyond traditional program evaluation, the development group established the following criteria for evaluating the success and effectiveness of the relationship itself:
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