Having a strong community partnership is important, particularly when it comes to social awareness. A well established partnership results in successfully working towards the same mission. However, there’s one thing to establish a partnership, there’s another to keep the right one going. Below are some suggestions that could help you maintain the right partnerships in order to work with them effectively:
Having a shared mission
This is important, so check in to find out if you still share the same mission you formed your partnership on. If the answer is NO it’s time to have a discussion… if nothing is resolved, decide whether this is the right partnership. Sharing a mission means aligned goals, working together by investing your time and resources, so that both parties can continue to collaborate in order to bring real change. Whether you’re working to dispel misinformation and address any lack of trust in the Covid-19 vaccine, or working on other community issues, your partner should share at least one of the same missions as you do. If they don't, it may be time to amicably walk away.
Follow agreed ground rules
Agreed ground rules provide clarity and set expectations for both parties. These rules should be established by each of the partners and should outline the list of rules to be followed. However, before implementing these agreed upon rules, first set out your expectations of the partnership upfront, as this helps to avoid misunderstandings. Discuss specific roles with your partner so it’s clear what their expected contributions would be.
Finally, as unpleasant as it sounds you may need to hold your partner accountable if they fail to meet their agreed-upon contributions. But remember, they may do the same if you fail to meet their expectations.
Leverage your resources
Before using resources, first examine your community by taking note of the areas that have the greatest need. Once community needs are confirmed then you can look at the mutual benefits of combining resources such as:
combining each other’s expertise
sharing information and resources i.e. staff/volunteer
identifying collective ways to improve on the community needs
Both partners need to take ownership
To maintain a strong community partnership both parties should take ownership of the agreed upon responsibilities. Here’s what you can do to ensure this happens:
Have a discussion about what each of you will take ownership of especially when working with communities
Ask for feedback regularly on how they feel the partnership is going, in which they should do the same, this will help nurture a two-way relationship.
Evaluate your partnerships
Evaluation helps to determine whether both parties are still on the same page, so consider discussing the following: are responsibilities being met and resources being leveraged.
Identify any potential challenges and apply solutions
It may be obvious, but when you work with individuals conflicts can arise, the key is to ideally work through them constructively by:
communicating effectively and keeping lines of communication open
give individuals the chance to air their views
listen and try to understand and work on resolving the points of view
keep partners updated on any issues they have raised if it can not be resolved on the day it is mentioned
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