In addition to building a healthy foundation through developing trustworthy relationships, one of the most important tasks of the partnering team is assessing the level of contribution each partner provides to the overall success of the project. Each member of the alliance has completed an internal assessment identifying its own needs and learned how it can help satisfy its partner’s needs. It is during the initial activity that the whole puzzle comes together. It is at this stage that each member begins to realize how its individual contributions are turned from proposed benefits into tangible assets. This is accomplished by bringing the partnering team together and designing a plan to implement a task.

To begin the initial activity process, assemble the team that will be responsible for implementing the activity. Once the team is together, review the Initial Activity Team Checklist (Exercise 15) for use during the team-building and planning session. This session will probably take place over a period of days or even weeks, depending on the scope of the activity. The checklist covers both the Stages of Relationship Development and the Stages of Partnership Development. In the initial meeting it is important to spend time on developing the relationship. Note, however, that people will want to move right to tasks. It is important that they understand that by establishing the relationship issues first, they will save time in the long run. Ultimately, when people go directly to tasks, relationship issues impede task development, causing conflict and frustration.

In our Bank of America/Exult case, the task portion of the business was easy. Each team had process integration people paired up to ensure seamless flow of information and data between the two organizations. But it was the time spent up front that enabled them to build trust with each other, helping them endure the tough times.