Resourcing partnerships

Whenever I help a client to establish a partnership, one thing I always stress is the importance of agreeing with the partner how much mutual assistance will be provided. Support from both organisations will be necessary to achieve the partnership's goals and objectives: so once these aims have been determined and agreed with the partner, the next step is to work out what skills and how much effort will be required to make the partnership a success.

When I first started advising on partnering issues, it was surprising how infrequently this was done. Whenever I came across a fully detailed and properly resourced partnering plan, my reaction was not unlike Dr. Samuel Johnson's remark regarding observing a small dog walking on its hind legs – it was not so much astonishment that it was done well, as that it was done at all!

Nowadays I find that many companies realise the need to plan their partnerships properly. This may be as a result of having learned the hard way, that when you don't do this you are "planning to fail"; or it could be that partnering is becoming more mainstream, and many managers have now had a good deal of experience of partnering, some in several different organisations.

But as more and more partnerships are put in place, the problem of "resource contention" starts to become an issue. These days it takes a courageous manager to bid for more people on a strict multiplier basis. So, if it takes three people to manage one major partnership, when the second major partnership comes along both partnerships are likely to end up being managed by a team of five (not six), and three major partnerships by a team of 6 or 7. This works up to a point, because the people involved climb the learning curve and get more efficient at what they do. There is also some flexibility to deal with peak requirements by working longer hours or weekends. However, eventually something will break, with the result that a key partner gets let down badly.

The same is true, of course, in your partners' organisations, and eventually one of them will let you down badly.

Anticipating the crisis

It is vital that in all partnerships you establish a regular series of meetings, probably quarterly, at which the general progress of the partnership can be discussed, issues identified, and actions taken and progressed. A regular item on the agenda at these review meetings should be resourcing. Both partners should be encouraged to measure their own and their partner's performance against the agreed resourcing levels, and be honest about any difficulties that are arising. If you discover that you can only cope with the amount of business being generated by the partnership by calling on your support staff to work late or at weekends, this should be a warning sign that your resources are under strain. Similarly, if you have noticed a drop-off in responsiveness or quality of the support provided by your partner, raise this at the review meeting and ask for an explanation.

Smoothing the demand

Often it is possible to spread the workload on your support staff, simply by agreeing with each partner a simple set of rules or procedures. For example, instead of allowing your support staff to be contacted directly by any partner at any time of the day, try scheduling different contact times across partners – this works well when your partners are located in different time zones. An alternative is to establish a filtering mechanism for requests for support, which can be identified as of high, medium or low importance. In this way, all partners can continue to receive a good service for high and medium importance requests for help. If you believe one of your partners is experiencing a "resource contention" problem, encourage the partner to set up a similar scheme, because over time you will benefit from it.

Focusing on key partnerships

If you have been working through distributor partners or channels for a long time, you may well be in a position to review your relationships and cut out those that are not delivering major value. The Pareto principle is likely to apply, where 80% of your sales (or margin, or volumes) is delivered by 20% of your partners. If resourcing all your partnerships is becoming a major concern, consider reducing the number you are supporting. There may be a small, temporary downturn in your figures, but the better service you can provide will bring longer-term benefits and better results from the key partners you keep on.

Obtaining outside help

Of course, with the best will in the world, crises will occur, or a major opportunity will arise that was not planned for. It is at times like these that organisations need the flexibility to bring in additional support to handle the extra workload for a while. Interim management is catching on in the UK as more and more qualified managers and professional staff choose, or are obliged, to take on temporary positions rather than permanent posts. There is also a growing band of independent professionals who have the skills and experience necessary to move in, help out, and move on again on a project-by-project basis. As partnering becomes more prevalent, and juggling support resources becomes more complex, it will be the organisations that learn how to use these temporary sources of outside help efficiently and effectively who will be able to support higher levels of business and gain the reputation for being excellent partners to do business with.

Partnering Points on resourcing partnerships

• As in most aspects of business, not planning to support your partnerships is planning to fail. Agree with your partners the level of mutual support required to make the partnerships successful, and build a support team that can deliver what is required.
• Regularly review your partnerships and ensure resourcing is included on the agenda. Anticipate "resource contention" problems by raising any concerns you have, either with your own capability to support a partner's requests or with a partner's level of support.
• Try smoothing the demand upon your support team by scheduling partners' access to key individuals, or by channelling all requests for help through a common point and allocating them a priority rating.
• If you have many partnerships in place, consider ending some so that you can better serve those that are delivering true value.
• Start building a capability of using temporary staff to manage peaks in demand. If you learn how to do this well, you will gain competitive advantage and a reputation for excellent partnering.
• Finally, it is vital that you involve the people who will actually support your partners in every stage of decision-making. In particular, they must understand and know the reasons for bringing in temporary staff, without feeling threatened or undermined. Your support staff are key to the success of all your partnerships. Make sure you keep them on side.

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