Partnering is great in theory: A consortium can take on much bigger projects than smaller companies; the greater spread of skills and experience means that you can bid for broader projects; costs and overheads can be spread multiple ways. When it comes to the practice, many participants find that things are not so rosy.
If a consortium is to be successful for all the participants – and for its clients – it needs to be based on a sound foundation of trust and agreement. All parties involved must be equally clear about their roles, rights and responsibilities. They must also have realistic expectations about their share of any profits and liabilities. Only then will a sufficient level of trust exist for all parties to realise the considerable benefits of working together.
So does this mean that there can’t be any conflict in the relationship? Paradoxically, the strongest consortia are those where conflicts is part of the ‘business-as-usual’. In weaker consortia, partners suppress concerns until they become un-resolvable problems; stronger parties erode the interests of the weaker members; personalities take precedent over discussion and consensus evaporates.
We use a framework for partnering based on the ‘Twelve skills of conflict resolution’ developed by Hollier, Murray, Cornelius et al, which embeds a conflict resolution mind-set in the management of the consortium. In the formation stage, we provide skilled facilitation – honed over a twenty year period – to help build a sustainably equitable constitution for your particular consortium.
Stablebridge can also provide regular through-life support to a project consortium in the form of independent chairing and administrative/secretarial support.
> I would like to know more about partnering support and conflict resolution – please call me back.
> We need help selecting partners to fill a capability gap in our consortium
> We need help negotiating a sustainably equitable constitution or multi-party contract.