Over all the Alliance Health Checks I’ve performed for clients, the average satisfaction score relating to the partner relationship varies between 3.2 and 4.6 (out of a scale of 5). In other words, between 64% and 92% of those surveyed are satisfied with their partner collaboration.
Would you be happy with a 64% satisfaction score for your strategic alliances? Probably not! You would most likely want to belong to those scoring around the 92% mark or preferably even higher! Before I continue, let me first demystify a dream here; perfection doesn’t exist! There will always be room for improvement in a strategic alliance relationship and a 92% score is close to nearing perfection.
The real room for improvement in strategic alliances won’t be found through absolute scoring. The scoring is merely an indication, or a warning sign. The real suggestions for improvement can be found reading between the lines of scoring and the commentary. A well-performed Alliance Health Check is completely anonymous, enabling participants to freely share their observations and suggestions without career-limiting risks. And that’s what I see when analysing Alliance Health Checks for clients; almost everyone feels immense warmth toward their alliance but they often don’t feel heard, or don’t dare to speak up internally. The Alliance Health Check offers a safe space to do just that.
So what are the common threads I see in Alliance Health Checks? Relationships don’t purposely grow apart, but more often the reason this happens is down to lack of communication, a misalignment in strategies or sticking to an original governance structure that’s no longer fit for purpose.
Perhaps your thought process is, “So does that mean that an Alliance Health Check will just show us where we went wrong?” The answer to that question is a resounding no! A well-performed Alliance Health Check will examine your alliance on alignment in strategy, operation, governance and relationship and won’t just provide a dashboard of what went well and what could have gone better. More importantly the health check will result in an extensive report containing an analysis of the state of the alliance and advice with suggestions for improvement.
As one of the parties involved in the alliance, your judgement will always be subjective. Just conducting a survey by yourself won’t do the job! An objective assessment with solid advice can only be generated by an independent specialist.
This summer I will have room to perform two more health checks on alliances, schedule a call here to explore if you want your alliance to be one of them.
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash