Partnerships frequently come about as a result of the meeting of like-minded individuals who can match a solution to a problem at a particular point in time. There is a need to understand the constraints and needs of their own organisations and it helps if you are able to take a long-term strategic view.
The importance of building trust, respect, commitment and good communication at an early stage depends as much on the personalities involved as on the expertise that your institution has to offer. Partners need to get to know each other and develop mutual respect before more complex activities can be tackled successfully.
The most effective way to move forward from the initial conversations and meetings, and to initiate a working partnership, is to participate in some form of collaborative activity, no matter how small. Partnerships can develop and grow from small beginnings such as an employer providing a student placement or requesting a one-off bespoke workshop. Ideas can emerge in response to a specific need identified by an organisation, a more open-ended request for input, or from mutual recognition of broader shared interests.
The intervention might start in an informal way but it is important to clarify key issues at an early stage, such as:
- who will be involved
- why are you working together
- what activity/activities are we going to do
- how will the activity be resourced, supported and funded
All these aspects have a direct impact upon each other and should not be left to chance.
It is important to understand the definition in your own institution between a partner and a customer. An example of this is a customer who may return each year to take on an apprentice or a student placement, but this is their only interaction with the institution. Whereas a partnership is a development of a relationship beyond this one interaction.
Partnerships can be initiated by staff at any level in an organisation, however, they will require input at different levels in order to become established and grow. Strategic partnerships are often initiated by senior management - through high-level sponsorship arrangements, for example. However, collaborative activities need to be fostered at operational level in order to tie both organisations into a long-term sustainable working partnership.
In the early stages of any potential collaboration, both parties will need to consider whether the opportunity is of interest to their organisations in terms of alignment with strategic priorities; whether they have the capability and resources to make it happen and whether colleagues and management will support the initiative. This should cover strategic fit, practical fit and commitment, which are crucial components in turning an opportunity into a successful collaboration. Company data shared through a university-wide CRM system can help in the early stages of a new engagement by providing background information to determine likely “fit” to your institution.
In recent years, education-business collaboration has been strongly supported by public-funded bodies such as Regional Development Agencies, Business Link, Foundation Degree Forward etc. These organisations have acted as intermediaries and brokers to help bring parties together, with varying levels of success. Following government funding cuts, many of these organisations no longer exist and institutions can expect to receive more direct enquiries from external organisations in future. The need to manage and exploit these enquiries is therefore greater than ever.
In the Embedding BCE infoKit there is some very useful information on the different types of partnerships that your institution can develop.
