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 There are also proven strategies for successfully creating deep partnerships and mergers:
- Start small, move slowly, build experience among the various players, develop skills for collaborative work, and be patient.
- Make sure that all of the potential stakeholders are invited to participate in the collaboration process, and offer their ideas about what might work.
- Build trust, respect, and mutual understanding among the partners: staff, volunteers, and Board members.
- Build on the strengths of each partner, ensuring that each can offer resources, skills, and knowledge to the common goal.
- Create a common vision for the collaboration, but also make sure that the unique interests of each partner are respected in the process.
- Focus on mission and shared values. When making decisions or solving conflicts ask, “Why are we here?” and “Does this fit with our values?”
- Use consensus-building processes.
- Invest the resources (funds, time, energies, staff support, and facilitation skills) to make the collaboration work.
- Build commitment to the collaboration within each of the partnering organizations. Communicate a lot to staff, volunteers, Board members, and other stakeholders.
- Attend to the “people” side of the partnership or merger, including such issues as people’s fears and other feelings about change, team building and culture clash.
- Ensure that the collaboration has effective leadership, and people to champion the ideas.
- Take the time that is needed to carry out the process well, and to ensure that everyone has full opportunities to participate, engage in the process, and “buy in”. On the other hand, do not drag the process out over years. Make sure that there are concrete wins, as the process unfolds.
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