Working in Partnership

1
Working in Partnership

• Professor Peter Lloyd
• Director
• Ecotec Research and Consulting

2
Partnerships Colonise the World

• Ecological perspectives that grows which
  works (Boulding)
• Ways of handling a turbulent and connected world
  - globalisation
• Ways of handling the complex transaction costs of
  inter-connected problems
• The expansion of partnership has a real
  ecological base (not a fad)

3
But Context is Vital

• Member State opportunity structures influence
  outcomes
• Crowded platforms - struggling for a niche
• Receptive spaces going with the grain and
  easily absorbed
• Spaces but resistance opportunity but hard to
  make the political case at the centre

4
Wicked Issues

• BUT wherever it is
• Partnership will only have real political
  relevance where it tackles the wicked issues of
  the day
• The surest ground for it to thrive is where it
  can demonstrate real value added

5
The IDELE Programme

• Ecotec Commissioned by DG EMPL - 11 seminars over
  3 years
• (I)dentify, (D)isseminate and (E)xchange good
  practice across a series of different topics,
  contexts
• Over 100 examples of good practice, 250 local
  and national policy players in debate
• Website reports, fiches, contacts

6
The Key Lessons from IDELE
7
Partnership Value Added

• Sense gaps better - mould central policy more to
  needs tackle some with local strategies
• Offer thinking out of the box creative action
• Mobilise commitment and planning and analysis
  horsepower
• Create new types of service delivery vehicles

8
What Makes them Really Work

• Shared vision and clear objectives
• Clear divisions of labour
• Reflexive trust we understand each other and
  can work together
• Fair distribution of costs, benefits, rewards to
  underpin risk-taking
• Shared mutual learning over time

9
The Partnership Success Checklist

• Good fit right for the mission?
• Focus clear about objectives?
• Space to act the right foothold in the
  governance structure?
• Capacity/competency right shape, management,
  leadership?
• Reality check addresses issues where it can
  make a difference?

10
What Gets in the Way

• Not giving them enough time to grow the trust
  they need
• Pushing them too soon into delivery and driving
  faster change than can be handled
• Failing to design sustainable funding to support
  them properly
• Limiting them to targets set from outside

11
Empowerment against Delivery
Empowerment Focus
Local Partnerships
High
Complex Hybrid Forms Mixed Functions
Level 1 (Base Capacity)
Level 2 (Capacity Delivery)
Mature Multi-Purpose Partnerships (Umbrella
Bodies)
Social Economy
Quasi-Public Service Delivery Bodies
Social Enterprises
Low
High
Service Delivery Focus
12
Partnerships in Governance
13
Multi-faceted Problems

• The more local the level, the more
  inter-connected are the problems
• National job inclusion policies can look
  one-dimensional find them jobs - at central
  ministry level
• On-the-ground it may be jobs skills education
  housing etc
• Integrated approach is vital

14
Silos and Multi-Level Strategy

• Policy silos not only divide up the connected
  elements but often involve different vertical
  levels
• Can block the beneficial effects even of good
  local horizontal partnerships (in spite of)
• The question is how can we break out of this?

15
Finding a Route to Multi-Level Approaches

• Policy actions can be
• Conceived at different levels
• Managed at different levels
• Implemented at different levels
• So various combinations possible
• Do more locally in each element
• Connect the levels to get the best outcome

16
FUNCTIONS AT DIFFERENT LEVELS
Conceived
Managed
Implemented
L
N
N
N
R
L
N
R
R
R
L
R
L
L
L
National
Regional
Local
17
The Strongest IDELE Lesson

• Getting partnership right is not easy
• Transaction (hassle) costs can be high
• It can take longer you think to get it right
• It doesnt make for quick delivery
• BUT when it works it can be a powerful engine
  for creativity!