And what about our Intellectual Property; are we really protected? What if our key IP gets out; if a competitor gets it? What kind of contracts or agreements do we need? Is any of it already in place? Am I a complete fool to trust these guys? How do I protect myself ... ourselves?
What really worries me is the time. I don't have time to manage partners. I don't have time to learn (yeah, I have to admit that I'm not an expert in managing alliances). I've got good people, but none of them are experienced in managing partnerships and they just don't know what they don't know. Most of them will keep insisting that they know exactly what they're doing until they run the alliance into the ground. Maybe I should let the Supply Chain guys manage the partners. Maybe I should just dodge this one.
What if ... I'd really like it if my team could manage these relationships. I think about what we would accomplish if they really were skilled at getting maximum value out of our alliances. I think about how much more comfortable I would be if I knew we had the right partners and the right agreements. We could be so much faster! I think about how much better off our company would be if these partnerships worked; really worked (and it wouldn't hurt me, either).
Solution: Partnering isn't as easy or intuitive as it might seem. There are many pitfalls. Success requires following a set of steps to make sure the right questions are answered and the right actions are taken. It requires following a process. Many people possess the skills necessary to manage a relationship, but they have to be guided by a process based on what many partner managers have learned through decades of experience. They have to know the best practices of partner management.
Details
Step 1: Adopt and enforce a process for managing the partnerships that incorporate best practices.
If managing partnerships was as easy as some people think the success rate would be much higher than the 30% experienced by most. If fact, companies that employ a partnering process based on best practices do achieve higher success rates.
Examine the current ways your organization manages partnerships. Compare this to the best practices published by organizations like ASAP. Consider a successful, established process used by others. Then design a process for your organization that reflects your unique circumstances and style, but leverages what others have learned about the requirements for success.
Step 2: Identify role ownership within your partnering process and ensure awareness, preparation, and motivation.
Partnership relationships typically touch a diverse set of people across your company; each is part of the process of managing the alliance. Identify roles in your partnering process. Who owns each function? Who provides support for the function? Make sure that every function has a primary owner - avoid role conflicts that occur when multiple people own the same role. Every function has to be assigned. If no one owns it, it won’t get done. If there are any people who touch your partner, but their role doesn’t show up in your process, figure out what they do.
Once you’ve identified clear role ownership, make sure the owners do what is expected. Make sure they understand what is expected of them. Provide any preparation, training, tools, or support they may need in order to accomplish their role(s). Finally, examine their motivations to ensure that playing the role you expect them to is aligned with their personal objectives. People don’t do things that are contrary to their best interests.
Step 3: Align objectives, processes, and role ownership with partners.
An alliance requires clarity and alignment. Understand exactly what you expect from a partnership, how the partnership is likely to deliver it, and what specific roles you and your partner will play in delivering it. Then sit down with your partner and build a joint plan that achieves each of your objectives. Define how you will work together to achieve those objectives. Make sure that all functions are identified and that clear ownership of each is agreed to by you and your partner.
Step 4: Develop legal agreements to mitigate risks and support joint business plan.
Put your legal agreements in place after you build a joint plan, and don’t try to replicate the plan in the agreements. Some preliminary agreements, like Non-Disclosure Agreements need to be in place in advance, but your other agreements will typically be better and easier to develop after you’ve reached agreement on Joint Business Plan. Don’t design your legal agreements on what what you are going to do, or how. Focus them on what happens when things don’t go as planned. Legal agreements are there for protection.