8Sustaining Longer-Term Partnerships 


Creating	a	sense	of	interdependence	is	key	to	sustaining	longer-term	partnerships.	 

Partnerships	that	bring	diverse	individuals	and	organizations	together	to	find	new	and	 

creative	ways	to	address	shared	problems	are	the	ones	 

most	likely	to	achieve	interdependence.	The	tools	and	 

strategies	discussed	throughout	the	chapters	of	this	 

guide will	help	you	and	your	partners	to	achieve	this	 

interdependence:	 

Strategies for Sustaining 

Longer-Term Partnerships 

• Recognize and reward partners 

• Combine planning with action 

• Create a learning partnership 

Chapter		3.	 What Successful Health-Related Community Partnerships Have in Common 

Chapter		4.	How Well Do You Know Your Environment? 

Chapter		5.	 Determining Your Purpose and Choosing Partners 

Chapter		6.	 Creating a Sense of Ownership 

Chapter		7.	 Making Decisions and Making Progress: Structure and Decisionmaking Issues 

Chapter	11.	Evaluating and Measuring Success 

Chapter	12.	Selling Your Success to Others: Getting Support 

Recognize and Reward Partners 

Showing	sincere	appreciation	to	partners	is	important.	Here	are	a	few	simple	ways	 

partners	can	be	acknowledged: 

•	 As	partners	arrive	for	a	meeting,	personally	thank	them	for	attending.	 

•	 When	partners	have	made	a	valuable	contribution	during	a	meeting,	send	them	an	 

e-mail	or	handwritten	note	that	reinforces	how	important	they	are	to	the	partnership. 

•	 At	meetings,	regularly	acknowledge	the	value	of	work	done	since	the	previous	 

meeting	and	thank	those	involved.	 

At	least	once	a	year,	take	the	time	to	formally	celebrate	the	partnership’s	achievements	 

and	to	recognize	the	partners	making	outstanding	contributions.	When	formally	 

acknowledging	partners,	certificates	of	appreciation	and	plaques	are	often	meaningful.	 

Encourage	partners	to	share	any	cultural	distinctions	that	may	exist	associated	with	 

recognition	and	acknowledgement,	then	plan	your	activities	accordingly.	Inviting	 

colleagues	and	family	members	to	attend	a	recognition	event	should	also	be	explored.	 

Including	family	and	friends	may	make	the	recognition	more	meaningful	to	recipients,	 

while	spreading	the	word	about	the	partnership	and	its	accomplishments. 

Forging Partnerships to Eliminate Tuberculosis: A Guide and Toolkit  

Chapter 8: Sustaining Longer-Term Partnerships 
Things to Keep in Mind 

•	 When	you	clearly	share	throughout	the	year	what	is	being	done	and	by	whom,	 

partners	know	who	is	doing	the	most	work.	Giving	the	outstanding	contributors	 

special	recognition	tends	to	encourage	all	partners	to	increase	their	level	of	 

commitment.	Failure	to	do	so	can	demoralize	your	hardest	working	partners.	 

•	 Let	people	know	in	advance	that	you	are	planning	to	acknowledge	them.	 

Determine	whether	there	are	any	issues	that	need	to	be	addressed	with	individual	 

recipients.	For	example,	some	religions	prohibit	women	from	shaking	hands	with	 

men.	 

•	 Some	recipients	may	be	shy,	and	issues	associated	with	anxiety	may	need	to	be	 

addressed.	Explaining	that	acknowledging	the	partner	is	likely	to	encourage	 

others	to	follow	the	recipient’s	outstanding	example	may	help	to	ease	his	or	her	 

anxiety. 

•	 Decide	whether	you	want	recipients	to	say	a	few	words	when	they	are	 

acknowledged.	If	so,	let	them	know	well	in	advance	so	they	have	time	to	prepare.	 

Combine Planning with Action 

Discussions	held	with	colleagues	in	TB	partnerships	while	developing	this	guide	revealed	 

two	common	sources	of	frustration:	 

•	 Partners	expressed	frustration	when	they	felt	their	level	of	participation	was	confined	 

to	implementing	predetermined	plans.	 

•	 Partners	expressed	frustration	when	they	felt	that	too	much	time	was	spent	on	 

planning,	and	not	enough	was	spent	on	effective	actions.	 

Thus,	it	is	important	to	strike	a	good	balance	between	planning	and	action.	One	way	 

to	approach	this	is	to	divide	the	time	on	partnership	meeting	agendas	to	include	both	 

planning	and	action-related	items.	Agenda	items	aimed	at	identifying	and	then	reporting	 

on	work	that	partners	can	carry	out	between	meetings	can	help.	Activities	should	be	 

consistent	with	the	partnership	vision	and	purpose.	An	evaluation	of	the	effectiveness	 

of	these	activities	should	be	included	when	reporting.	This	approach	allows	partners	to	 

make	and	measure	progress	while	grappling	with	longer-term	planning	processes.	 

Things to Keep in Mind 

When	partners	are	involved	in	longer-term	partnerships,	it	is	important	for	them	 

to	identify	significant	milestones	that	will	be	reached	and	celebrated	along	the	way.	 

Milestones	can	be	applied	to	both	planning	and	implementation	activities.	 

 Forging Partnerships to Eliminate Tuberculosis: A Guide and Toolkit 

Chapter 8: Sustaining Longer-Term Partnerships 
Create a Learning Partnership 

A	learning	partnership	is	one	in	which	partners	frequently	and	consistently	analyze	and	 

improve	their	performance.	A	number	of	organizational	theorists	use	two	categories	of	 

learning	that	can	be	useful	to	those	trying	to	create	learning	partnerships:52	 

•	 Single-loop	learning	occurs	when	organizations,	such	as	partnerships,	focus	 

exclusively	on	fine-tuning	their	existing	operating	systems,	policies,	and	practices.	53 

•	 Double-loop	learning	occurs	when	organizations	question	the	validity	of	their	 

current	operating	systems,	policies,	procedures,	and	objectives.	Assumptions	 

underlying	current	practices	are	identified	and	questioned.	The	consistency	between	 

what	the	organization	says	it	does	and	what	it	actually	does	is	publicly	tested.	The	 

goal	of	this	learning	process	is	to	improve	outcomes	by	fully	accepting	and	exploring	 

successes	and	mistakes.54		 

Learning	partnerships	carry	out	both	single-loop	and	double-loop	learning.	In	learning	 

partnerships,	members: 

•	 Explore	and	seek	to	fully	understand	the	underlying	assumptions,	approaches,	and	 

structures	guiding	their	current	systems,	plans,	and	actions 

•	 Monitor	their	environments	in	order	to	anticipate	and	understand	significant	 

changes	 

•	 Evaluate	and	question	the	appropriateness	of	their	current	assumptions,	operating	 

systems,	policies,	and	practices		 

•	 Allow	new	assumptions,	approaches,	operating	systems,	and	actions	to	emerge	that	 

better	respond	to	their	environmental	circumstances	and	their	ability	to	realize	their	 

common	vision 

Related Resources 

Those	wishing	more	information	about	organizational	learning	may	wish	to	read: 

•	 Argyris	C.	2003.	Double	loop	learning.	www.infed.org/thinkers/argyris.htm 

•	 Argyris	C.	1994.	Good	communication	that	blocks	learning.	Harvard Business Review	 

(July-August). 

52Argyris	C.	1994.	Good	communication	that	blocks	learning.	Harvard Business Review	(July–August).
 53Ibid.
 

54Argyris	C.	2003.	Double loop learning.	www.infed.org/thinkers/argyris.htm.
 

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Chapter 8: Sustaining Longer-Term Partnerships