Strategic connections - CheckUP

STRATEGIC CONNECTIONS

14 September 2018

Robyn Keast

Keast, 14 September 2018

• The rapidly changing landscape in which health services operate makes connecting and staying connected difficult and challenges the ability to build meaningful and effective partnerships. This Master Class will provide state-of-the art information on how to build and harness connections that benefit your organisation and build a stronger service community.

Wired-up, linked-in & connected!!

Benefits:

Well-connected people – more healthy, live longer, & are happier

Well-connected people – get jobs & opportunities, services

• Strength of weak ties

Rationale:Use your & others’ connections & influence to ‘do better’ not just ‘get by’

The good news • The sector has long history of working together

• Togethering is in its DNA


The bad news


Too connected?

01Not always the right type of connections

02Embedded networks & over-invested relationships

03

The good news

• Overtime experimented with & perfected models & approaches

• Been innovative & showed leadership

• People with well developed skills

• Holds enormous reserves of social capital


The bad news

• Crescendo of ways working together

• Terms & fads?

• Evidence of being hyper-connected

• Operating off values, social capital & intuition

• heart & soul can only take you so far ….

– not additional creating value


Partnerships

• Inter-organisational arrangements

• 1600 - Commerce & law:” the relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with view for profit” (Partnership Act, 1865)

• Hallmarks of a formal partnership are the equal sharing of powers & responsibilities in a relationship of good faith, common liability & equal division of surpluses

• Partnership is a term that has been applied to denote a new & desirable relationship between organisations – including between government & business & community sectors.

Partnerships in soft infrastructure / social/human services • Introduced in late 1990/2000 with New Public

Management – i.e. managerialism

• Project partnering is a method of transforming contractual relationships into a cohesive, cooperative project team with a single set of goals and established procedures (Cowan & Larson, 1992).

• Contract based, but also change interactions• Call for trust, respect, information sharing & commitment

to mutual goals

The lure of partnering

• Reduce administrative costs• Reduce coordination costs

• More efficient use of resources• Reduce duplication & overlap

• Improved communication

• Maximise collective knowledge• Improved innovation –

solutions • Improved performance• Tap into partners opportunities• Solved ‘wicked issues’

Institutional arrangements

• Partnership is not a relationship per se

• Intuitional arrangement that orders the relationship

Cooperatives

CoalitionsInter-organisational

Committees

Coordination committees

IDC

Federations

Alliances

Joint Venture

merger

Collaborations

Partnerships

Are you really my partner?

• Who has the power?

• Is information genuinely shared?• Not just base information

• What is the trust level?

• Is risk & reward equally shared?

Term Purpose/focus Defining features Amalgamation/merger Formed to achieve efficiency • Vertical coordination via hierarchical /formalised

authority

Alliance Joining of resources/forces to meet a common purpose (protection, trade)

• Limited number of partners (exclusive)• Close relations by affinity, similar or shared

interests (strong lock-in)• Pooling of resources • Incomplete contracts, detailed negotiations &

communication

Joint Venture Legal association for the purpose of mutual profit • Entity owned by two or more independent entities

• Vary in terms of legal basis• Can be a product of alliance

Network Aggregate grouping (three or more) of entities around a common function or task

• Based on flow of resources & affect & cohesion of effort

• Open system of interpersonal relationship • Self-organising (loose lock-in)• Inclusive membership

Examining the terms … 1

And more … 2Consortium Loose association for the purpose of engaging

in a joint venture, work together to achieve chosen objective

• Interagency agreements, such as MOUs • incomplete contractual agreements• members responsible to others in terms

of agreed actions• Pooling of resources

Coalition Temporary alliance formed for the purpose of defence against attack, advocacy/gain access/support

• Inter-agency agreements such as MOUs

• Clear rules and operating principles• Temporary or time limited

arrangement

Partnership a. formal, legal association for the purpose of shared profit/lossb. informal connecting relationship

• Unincorporated• Smaller number of partners• Linked by written (formal) or verbal

(informal) agreements• Incomplete contracts • Time limited by agreement

Governance modes


Governance Regime State Market Social Networks

Domain of influence/action

Public Domain Private Domain Civic Domain

Integrating mechanism Centralised/legitimate authority hierarchy,

Exchange relationships –formalised, legal contractual

arrangements Supply and demand

Social/communal relationships

Influence Orientation Dependent Independent Interdependent

IntegrationArrangements

Procedures, rules, regulations and

legislation

Partnerships Mergers, acquisitions alliances

Networks, compacts, collaborations, consortia

Management Strategy Top-down, command and control, chain of

commandPlanning, organising etc

Communication is prescribed

Rationality and self-interest advancement

Arms-length transactionsWritten contracts, formal

agreements & reliable performance

Building relationships, trust & reciprocity

Communication thick & multi-directional

Compendium of ways of working together –5Cs

Inter-organisational Relationships


Networking

Networking

Networks Network Structure

Fit-for-purpose


Task is to match the approach to what you want to achieve & the strength of relationship

Independent, information sharing &

adjusting actions = cooperation

Do the same, but more efficiently &

effectively through joint projects,

alignment of resources & actions =

coordination

Systems change, transformation,

pooling of resources etc. = collaboration

Increased consumer choice & efficiency =

competition (not always bad )

Unity, cohesion, economy =

consolidation

All 5 Cs have merit & application

Keast, May 2017

Not business as usual

• Managing relations•Bringing in people & organisations•Mobilising resources •Strategic relationship building •Leveraging relationships

• Shared performance measures •Knowledge •Established decision making•Joint budgets & clear agreed goals ; decision making processes;

pooled funding

• Correct organisational structures form•Right integration mechanism•alignment of top down policies & bottom up issues

•New skills & training • Shared Leadership•Shared skills development•Shared roles & responsibilities•Collegiality• Shared frames of reference•Common language •Culture of working together

People & culture Structure, & governance

New ways of working, managing

and leadingProcesses & systems


Keast, October 2016Keast, 14 September 2018

Tool

• http://etraining.communitydoor.org.au/course/view.php?id=15

http://etraining.communitydoor.org.au/course/view.php?id=15

Networks & connections & partnerships

• Recognising & taking advantage of valuable relationships to get things done & achieve purpose /yours & others • Relationships have to be built & nurtured

• Why? Take a moment to think about why/when you need to connect/work with others?• How: how do you go about this? Purposeful /serendipitous?

• Professionalism – be mindful that you are representing your organisation (and clients) – message has to reflect mission/purpose • Permission to act?• Dual roles ?


Key Actions

Be service & future oriented -what do you want to achieve /change?

Determine membership basis(right people & relationships)

Who needs to be ‘in’ based on problem & resources needed

•Not who you like (although prior working relationships helpful)

•Over-connected – under invested

Invest time upfront to get agreement on:

A. What going to do (outcomes)

B. How going to do it - terms of engagement (how work together)

Put effort where likely to secure optimal results – not going to every meeting

Connecting: Top Points

your options Know

your connections Know

strategic & deliberate in actions Be

a VAC not just a connector Be


Intuition only goes so far …

• Requires detailed understanding of networks &their connections • who is connected to who, around what types of resources, and

how strong are the relationships • Who is in and out, points of vulnerability• Who are the gate-keepers, the connectors• Nature of partner relationships

• Mental maps • The SNA way!



Social Network Analysis

Shared information Shared Resources

What can we learn from the ‘dark side’?

Bright networks Dark networks


Importance of being strategic & deliberate


Strategic – look to the future –what do you

want to achieve /change?

Analyze your network/connec

tions

Got the right people, the right strength of

relationship?

Under-invested /over –investment – toxic?

Hyper-connected –

focus on a couple of things

/those most useful /most

likely to deliver But … be open to

opportunity –serendipitous happenings or

connections

Also … remember karma –

relationships, reciprocity &

reputation

Moving from being

connectors (networking)

and super-connectors

Leverage the connections made

through networking & use them

Will not happen by magic

Be strategic & deliberate in your actions

(personal agency can

over-ride structure)

Pay attention to people & process

Be a Value Adding Connector


Service delivery organisations – emphasis is on creating & delivering social value

VACs

• Don’t just connect – follow through & look to add value to the connections made

4 Steps:

Make real connections

• Genuine relationships, ask questions – learn about others & how they are connected • Realise the value & power of reciprocity, reputation, reflection

Assess the connections - understand your network and others

• Reconfigure – hubs etc.

Deliberately leverage the connections – do something with them that adds value

• More than networking, more than a ‘cup of tea & a bit of a chat’

Curate & convene: collect & share information, hold ‘connecting 'events e.g . Coffee

TASKS


Task 1: Draw your Ego network


Drawing Instructions • Identify the connections (people & organisations) you have that relate

to your work

• Discuss/explain how these benefit the your work

• Now full draw these into an ego-network - lines between people /organisations (nodes) • Arrow /one or two way depending on the flow (reciprocal)• Dotted line if you know alters connect also

• Line on top [frequency, type of exchange & importance to your work]

• Codes – frequency = 1 daily, 2 weekly, 3 monthly or less, 4 1 – 6 months, 5 > 6 months

• Importance/relevance – very Important (VI), quite important (QI), maybe important (MI), Not really Important (NRI)

• Type of exchange – information, advice, support, referrals, resources, on committees – other …


Strategic relationship building


Identify those groups/organisations with which your Project/ organisation should have a relationship with to achieve project outcomes.

Circle those with whom you already have a relationship

Of those circled consider if the current strength or nature of the relationship is sufficient to secure outcome.

For relationships that are considered not strong enough, identify possible strategies to strengthen. Similarly it might be necessary to weaken relationships to secure outcomes.

For the firms not circled consider (a) what engagement strategies should/could be employed to mobilise commitment/involvement and (b) how strong the relationship needs to be.

Take home points

Connectivity is central to delivering individual

& service outcomes

Numerous ways to connect – fit-for-

purpose

Everything doesn’t have to be fully connected – all the time• Not effective, too costly &

hard to sustain

Be strategic (what want to achieve) & deliberate in types of connections & how these are used

There are also many ‘connectors’ & even

super-connectors out there

But:

To advance change & create real value – more

VACs are needed to create compound value

This art & science – art is from the heart

/science based on logic & evidence


Documents

Strategic connections - CheckUP