When we have ‘Trouble’ with a Partner Organisation Many of us are now called upon to work in partnership with other teams within our organisations, or across organisations. When these partnerships work well they pool wisdom, build good collaborative relationships and lead to better outcomes.

However, these partnerships sometimes go pear shaped! Recently we have encountered a number of these situations in organisations we have been working with. Trouble with a partner team or organisation causes a lot of stress, takes up valuable time and leaves missed opportunities.

When we have ‘trouble’ with another party, be they individuals or an organisation, we tend to first blame the other! I think we have all been guilty of this! As we all know this doesn’t help! Groups often then go around in circles getting stuck on how awful the situation is, and focus on the ‘sins’ of the other group.

We have developed a small reflective process for looking at ‘trouble’ we might be having with another team or organisation. It goes for approximately 45 minutes.

We have used it with considerable success. It has really shifted the ‘stuckness’ and lead to some great results. It may also be a helpful reflection process to use when looking at conflict we are having with another individual. The times need to be specific and strictly adhered to. The process goes like this:

* Take a little time of quietness to ‘settle’ (1 minute)

* A specific time to talk about the details of the ‘trouble’- what has the other partner actually done or not done (ie what is the behaviour (5-9 minutes only)

* Talk about the effect the ‘trouble’ has had on individuals or your team (5 min)

* Talk about how it might be being experienced by the other partner – how might they be feeling, what might be the effect on them? (10 min)

* Answer the question; what has been our contribution to the trouble? This can provide an important shift. (5 Min) * People to reflect (in silence) on what they, individually might specifically do now to help rebuild the partnership (1 min) * Share with the group (2-5 minutes)

* Decide as a team what to do now. How can we reach out in collaboration? (10 min) Conflict with organisational partners can difficult to navigate. I hope this process might be useful. It would be great to hear how it goes, if you do use it.

Visit Groupwork Institute of Australia for more info.

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