Barbara Grant of the Barbara Grant Consulting Group, led a session with the WebJunction team in 2012 and shared some of these universal attributes and conditions of successful partnerships. Thank you to Barbara for allowing us to share here on WebJunction!

Universal attributes for partnerships:

• Trust
• Clear roles & responsibilities
• Strong contributions
• Clarity on assets/understanding of shared benefits
• Expectation of success
• Celebrate successes (success breeds success)
• No self doubt
• Both open to learning
• Find mutual drivers (especially when no $)
• They “get it” – shared outcomes
• Clear external communications
• Honest about challenges
• Sustained commitment and engagement

Best partners:

• Voluntary
• Mutual dependencies
• Explicit agreements
• Good communications

Universal conditions that spark conflict:

• Geographical differences
• Structural conflicts
• Lack of interpersonal connection
• Conflicting commitments
• Constant change