Partnering Leadership from the Public Sector

I have the honor of being on the communications team for the Asset Management group for a leading power provider in the Pacific Northwest. This group is rolling out a very innovative program designed to increase productivity, reduce risk, and provide safe, reliable power at a reasonable cost to customers across their service area. And, they have partnered with national and local specialists to help them achieve success.

Midway through the project, this Utility asked us to provide partnering services to the team to help members remain aligned to project goals and expectations as they ramped up towards the implementation phase of their very aggressive project. In a one day session, Utility leadership, project team members and their consultants worked together to document overall goals, design teamwork improvements, and plan the course for the challenging months ahead.  It was, to say the least, an exhausting day. At the end, everyone, the facilitators included, felt they had achieved real understanding across the team and had developed the start of a workable “way forward.”

Currently, the team is working through a very challenging aspect of the project and I’m impressed with how team leadership is using the partnering agreements as a guide.  During the partnering process, the team created a team charter as well as clear metrics to chart the success of teamwork.  During a meeting of team members from across the project team, one of the first agenda items was to tie the current work and difficult decisions with a renewed focus on the charter and project goals.  This refocus encourages team members to resolve issues and design strategies based on their commitment to a common goal.

A Partnering session is a common way to kick-off a project, particularly in the public sector.  Many teams recognize its importance as a time to talk about teamwork before the team moves quickly through project meetings and milestone dates. However, many times, that’s the last time a team focuses on partnering unless the team is having problems. As a result, at the conclusion of every partnering session my colleagues and I facilitate, I remind team members that the real work of partnering starts after the session is over. The success of partnering occurs when team members working through challenging issues refocus themselves on the project charter – the agreements they made at the start of the project to work together toward a common good.

It’s gratifying to see that one of the largest agencies in my region not only understands the value of partnering, but more importantly, for this project team to actively use the work they did in partnering to drive success at critical milestones. In recommitting themselves to keep the commitments they made in partnering, this team reaffirmed the importance of teamwork, while improving work processes and creating a common understanding of future deliverables. That’s the real value of partnering.