Aligning partnership objectives

Misaligned objectives are a significant inhibitor of growth and efficiency of any partnership, and have been quoted as the No.1 root cause of many partnership issues, such as frustrated communication, contract disagreements and mismatched expectations. Therefore making sure that objectives are aligned at the beginning of and throughout a partnership mitigates against failure.

However, what does 'alignment of objectives' really mean? What are the dimensions of alignment that need to be managed? What are the enablers for achieving alignment? How can alignment of partnership objectives be measured?

Addressing these questions is the focus of this Discovery Project; with the aim of providing GBPA members with the means to surface and assess their alignment of objectives issues, so as to be able to engage in the appropriate resolution dialogue with their partners.

GBPA has identified five dimensions across which objectives should be aligned, and these form the basis of an assessment tool - the Partnership Objectives Alignment Diagnostic. This provides a source of information to support conversations between partners and stakeholders to address any underlying causes - and consequences - of misalignment. Using the assessment tool as a starting point and drawing on member organisations experience, this report draws together practical guidance for improving alignment.