Write down what the partnership is there to do

What we found in the news

NHS England’s May 2023 framework on practical barriers to partnership (opens in a new tab) includes this suggestion:

“Engaging early, thinking about what each stakeholder has to offer.”

— Collaborative working

The resource considers relationships with voluntary, community, and social enterprise organizations in England. Its cases describe particular experiences. We are using the question to examine how a smaller partnership can make its service arrangements clear before someone relies on them.

Why this matters to us

Two organizations can agree that a joint activity is worthwhile while imagining different versions of it.

Consider a hypothetical community center and local support organization planning a regular advice session. One expects the partner to handle bookings. The other expects reception to do so. Both assume someone else will explain what information a visitor needs to bring.

The purpose may be shared; the practical responsibilities are not yet settled.

At genus, we are interested in the work that makes a partnership useful after the launch announcement. A participant encounters the arrangement through ordinary details, including whether a question reaches someone who can answer it.

Describe the offer together

Agree what the partnership will provide, whom it is intended to support, and what it does not cover. Use language the people delivering the service can understand.

Walk through a typical visit or inquiry. How does someone find out about the offer? Who checks whether it fits their need? What happens when no appointment is available?

In our hypothetical session, the partners might discover that their published descriptions imply different levels of support. Correcting that before the first visit matters more than producing a polished joint leaflet.

Invite suitable participant input while the arrangement can still change. People may identify an access difficulty or an unclear expectation that neither organization noticed.

Make responsibilities visible at the points of contact

Identify the role responsible for each practical step and confirm that the organization has accepted it. Include cover when the usual person is absent.

Discuss how changes will be communicated. If the visiting adviser cannot attend, who updates the people booked, reception, and the relevant public information? If a participant raises a concern, which route applies?

Use the appropriate formal agreements and professional advice for the arrangement. This article is about the operational conversation, not a substitute for contracts, information-sharing decisions, or regulatory responsibilities.

Only share information through an agreed, suitable process. Being partners does not mean every colleague should have access to every record. The purpose and boundaries need to be clear to the people using the service as well as those operating it.

Review the arrangement after it meets real life

Set a practical point to check how the partnership is working. Ask both organizations what they are doing that was not anticipated.

Perhaps reception is answering more questions than expected. Perhaps the partner is preparing information that nobody uses. Those details may change the resources required to sustain the offer.

Include the experience of people who tried to use the service, including those who found it unsuitable or could not obtain a place. Attendance alone may miss an important part of the picture.

Keep changes explicit. When one organization begins covering an additional task informally, decide whether that is a temporary response or an agreed change to the partnership. Goodwill can help a service start; it should not conceal an arrangement that one partner cannot maintain.

What this means for the people you serve

People should not have to understand the partnership’s organizational structure to find the next step. Explain the offer, the relevant contact, and any limits plainly. Make room for someone to choose another route if the joint service does not fit their situation.

The genus connection

Today, configured genus resources and staff workspaces can help organizations present service information and organize supported work. The Partner Portal provides access according to agreed modules and roles.

Connections between organizations require a defined purpose, appropriate permissions, and technical scope. A resource link or shared program description does not establish that a referral was accepted or information was exchanged. We want the technology to support responsibilities that the partners have actually agreed.

One question for your next team meeting

Which step in our partnership would a participant find unclear because we have not agreed who handles it?