Cross Organizational
Alliance Building

Why Try to Build an Alliance?

It's about to happen again!  You're getting ready to start another project (or contract, negotiation, or partnering relationship), with some other organization. You can visualize the lines being drawn in the sand even before you get started!

The various parties involved, each have their own agendas, and there's no scarcity of pressure from above, in each of the respective organizations, to see those agendas accomplished no matter what. So full speed ahead, and you'll resort to waving the contract in each other's face when there's a problem. If past experiences are any guide, you'll wrap it up mad at each other and vowing never to work together again.

But it doesn't have to be that way this time around. Farr Associates can offer you a process that has worked really well in client projects and partnering- a process that deals with potential sources of conflict and division, before they become reality.

What You Stand to Gain

You will go into a project with greater confidence, that you are not going to hit a buzz saw every time a change is needed and "it wasn't in the plans".

The inevitable conflicts will be less frequent, less severe, and require less time to get beyond and into real problem solving.

You will find fewer occasions where the other parties have to lose for you to be able to win.

Mistakes, also inevitable, will be less costly and less likely to be repeated, because they will become an occasion for non-defensive learning and not a reason for blame and finger-pointing.

Overview of the Process
Our alliance-building process operates in four phases over the life of a project or contract (or on a "cycling" basis in ongoing partnerships):

• Diagnosing: A Farr Associates consultant interviews key team members from all parties involved, to assess the current state of the team relationship: project/contract peculiarities, "baggage" from prior working relationships, competing cultural demands in the organizations represented, etc., and team members take personality tests measuring preferences, relationship needs, and behavioral traits.
• Intervening: A two-day, off-site retreat to get feedback on and share personality test results, explore competing culture pulls and their implications, develop a cross-organization vision, create team agreements for the relationship, and identify critical success ingredients for managing the relationship (and the project).
• Including: Team members use newly-acquired leadership skills and techniques to bring their respective organizations on board with project and relationship goals, and to deal with the competing culture pulls.
• Sustaining: Project or steering team meets regularly to checkpoint vision, agreements, collaboration, and shifts in critical success factor priorities. A final "lessons-learned" session is held at project end (or periodically, for ongoing relationships).

Some Typical Outcomes
Our clients have achieved all of these outcomes at a minimum:

• Traditional "sticking points," in cross-organization relationships, disappear or even fail to materialize.
• Mistakes become genuine learning opportunities rather than reasons for finger-pointing and grudge-building.
• Problems and conflicts get solved without defensive posturing, (and therefore more quickly), and with the alliance's vision in the forefront.
• Efficiency is height, and productivity is kept on track.
• True collaborative work is done.  There are no competing interests or agendas, because it is all laid out on the table before the project is started.
• People learn to manage their personalities better and understand those they are working with.

• Bottom Line - the Cross Organizational project is more successful than had the organizations not laid the ground work and given the effort to create collaborative teams prior to the engagement.

It makes sense; why risk millions of dollars on a derailed project because Cross Organizational Work Groups could not get along and be productive?

New vendors, partners, mergers, and cross organizational projects can mean clashing cultures, processes, and personalities.

In today's demanding market, where time is money, the "lets see what happens first" approach may not be a good one. 

Farr's Alliance Building Process will start the new groups off on the right foot, before things can get off track and cost both organizations money in lost productivity, material costs, and a late roll-out to market.

Call Farr today to learn how we can help keep your Cross Organizational Teams on track.

800-395-3277