Transcript Completing Partnering Cycle

Partnering Skills for
Strategic Engagement
Reviewing Partnerships
12-14 November 2007
Panama City
Joanna Pyres
The Partnering Initiative
[email protected]
David Murphy & Marti Ostrander
UN System Staff College
[email protected]
The Partnering Cycle
COPYRIGHT: THE PARTNERING INITIATIVE
Why do we review?
Convince senior
management in all
partner organizations /
donors / potential
partners that benefits
of partnership
outweigh the costs
Demonstrate that
partnering approach
has ‘added value’ over
other approaches
Provide good stories
to disseminate
Inform decision
making on:
Level of partner
engagement and
partnership’s progress
Terms of engagement
or exit
Stimulate growth
COPYRIGHT: THE PARTNERING INITIATIVE and BPD WATER AND SANITATION
What do we need to know?
That the partnership/partners
Approach was/is the best option
Has been/is being effective in achieving its
aims – how to improve effectiveness?
Is working as well as possible – how to
remove obstacles?
Have all benefited from their involvement
Evaluating: A five-fold approach
2
Reflecting on the partnership’s
management / decision-making
processes
Improve efficiency / effectiveness
1
Monitoring
Activity and
performance
3
Reviewing the partnership
To assess its value / further
potential for different partners
5
Evaluating the
partnership
paradigm
Is it / was it better
than alternative
approaches?
4
Assessing impacts of
activities / projects
As maybe required by resource
providers (partners or external)
COPYRIGHT: THE PARTNERING INITIATIVE
Five-Fold Approach explained
Focuses on
Leads to…
Monitoring
Ensuring partners are fulfilling
commitments and contributions
Project progress, equity
between partners
Reflecting
Decision making process,
communication, partnership
management
Improved efficiency and
effectiveness of the
partnership
Reviewing
Looking at partnership value for
each individual or organization
Sustainability, captures
added value of the
partnership over and
above project impact
Assessing
Impact
Activities, outputs, outcomes
Project delivery
Evaluating Asking if results are worth the
Partnership transaction costs? Is this still the
Approach
best or only approach?
Assessment of
appropriateness of
methodology to aims
Group Exercise: Sample Review
Working at your tables, consider how this sample
review might apply to your current partnerships.
What purpose could a review of this kind
serve in your own partnerships?
Who would be best placed to conduct a
relationship review of this kind?
What other review approaches have you tried
(or could try) that you feel would serve the
purpose as well or better?
Sample Review Process
Meets with representative group from each
partner organization (separately)
Facilitates a SWOT analysis
Explores views of expected and unexpected outcomes
Leads a discussion on priorities
Asks: ‘What would need to change to achieve these
priorities?’
Writes up findings and makes recommendations
Facilitates meeting with all partners
Brokers decisions on how to use the findings
Review Success Factors
Review findings need to be:
Owned by the partners
Tailored to suit different audiences
Communicated effectively
Used to inform partnership decisions
Remember the review is not a ‘test’ but a genuine
attempt to refine and improve
COPYRIGHT: BPD WATER AND SANITATION
Review Success Factors
Any truly valid and effective assessment
of a partnership always needs to:
Involve partners and key stakeholders
in design and data collection
Find a good balance between external ‘objectivity’
and internal knowledge / experience of the
partnership’s history
Include a genuine feedback loop so that the
process truly informs the development of the
partnership
Some Assessment Frameworks
‘Added value’ - benefits derived by partners over time
(BPD Natural Resources)
Evolving partner relationships and outcomes (Brinkerhoff)
Partnership processes to maximize partner relationships
(BPD Water and Sanitation)
Accountability - responsiveness, transparency and
compliance (Caplan)
Outcome-mapping - change in behaviours, relationships,
actions of those with whom partnership works (IDRC)
Preparedness & sustainability - defining concrete
components that define partnership project sustainability
(UN Global Compact & various partners)
Partnership Assessment Tool
Process to enable partners to:
assess the expected value of a prospective
partnership project
identify ways to improve future partnership activities
Tool can be used to assess:
project preparedness, to identify opportunities for early
adjustment, and to position for successful project
implementation
Not a substitute for other assessments used to
determine partnership impact or management
Does not evaluate partner performance
Institutional Reform
Ultimately, institutional reform may be a more important
outcome of a partnership than any other.
In other words, if the partnership leads to a government
department functioning more creatively and efficiently;
… or to an international corporation contributing more
vigorously or systematically to sustainable development
in all aspects of its operations; or to an NGO having a
much larger-scale impact
– then the ‘outcomes’ of the partnership will have become
significantly more substantial than its ‘outputs’…
SOURCE: THE PARTNERING TOOLBOOK