Many of us are looking at the potential for new partnerships and collaborations to optimise our effectiveness and increase social impact. Here's a quick checklist to help you look at every angle before you dive in ... It's a simple yet powerful framework
Look Forward
- Why collaborate? What's the intended social impact?
- Why now?
Look Back
- What lessons can be learned from past attempts to address this issue? (our efforts and others' efforts)
- What lessons have we learned from past partnerships or collaborations?
Look Across
- What are our untested assumptions and expectations?
- Assess our potential partner’s motivations, capacities and the risks they present
Look Inward
- Assess our own motivations, capacities - and the risks of working with us
- What are our 'lines in the sand'?
Look Around
- Consider external stakeholders and their perspective on the collaboration
- Who are our competitors? Should they be collaborators?
Look Deeply
- Do we have a genuinely robust, positive process for working through disagreements?
- How reliable are the data and information sources on all sides?
Look Clearly
- Talk through the collaboration agreement and implications prior to signing
- “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler” Review regularly.
Look Again
- Are we sure this is the most effective approach?
- When's our next assessment of the collaboration?