If you ask Health Justice Australia’s Partnerships Director, Lottie Turner, ‘How do I get my partners to maintain their buy-in to what we’re doing together?’ her response will likely be, ‘To what extent have your partners been involved in the design of, and decision making around your partnership?’ In other words, what’s your collaborative governance process like?
In her blog Building buy-in, enhancing decision making and staying accountable, Lottie shares the biggest lessons she’s learned while supporting HJPs to build effective collaborative governance, including the importance of making room for diverse perspectives and interests in partnership. As Lottie writes, ‘collaborative governance requires a readiness to create space for the interests of others, which sometimes means putting our own interests aside, not away altogether, while we seek to understand those of others.’
This also includes reality-checking your assumptions and expectations of your partner, which can provide clarity for you, as well as the opportunity for you to ask for what you need.
You can find tips and recommendations for approaching these kinds of conversations with your partner in our Building blocks resource. And you can find more tips for effective collaborative governance in Lottie’s blog post.
If you need more support, please email partnerships@healthjustice.org.au.