MANAGING ALLIANCES & NETWORKS: SOME

THOUGHTSACORD LEARNING FORUM

13 October 2016Richard Bennett

WHY NETWORKS & ALLIANCES?

• Learning from/with each other: becoming excellent at what we do

• Influencing collectively: more powerful• Combining expertise/access• Economies of scale: collective buying

– Training, skilled people, supplies

• Access to money: a challenge because…

NETWORK DYNAMICS: A VIRTUOUS CIRCLE

Formation

Work more closely

together Deepen trust in each other, & in the partnership

Deepen basis of unity

Develop clear & transparent

responsibilities for decision making & action

Develop clear channels & responsibilities for

communication

Develop shared values & norms of

behaviour

Improve understanding of each other’s operating

environment & priorities

Share skills, approaches & good practice

Increase in ad hoc 1:1 relations

between partners

Deepen common agenda

Deepen common strategy

Greater effectiveness &

impact

THE IMPORTANCE OF TIME• Strength & impact only after many circuits

• Takes time – Networks don’t deliver (to their maximum) fast– Gates Foundation’s ‘The Lost Year’

• The investment conundrum

• Quick wins

RUNNING A NETWORK• Few networks survive if control is too heavy

– It’s voluntary: members contribute because they want to, not because they have to

– They stop if they feel they don’t belong/have ownership

• We’re used to command and control– Hierarchy, authority at the top

• Networks seem loose, uncontrollable– Flat not pyramid, flexible, can change

• Power & authority is spread, hard to see/fix– ‘Distributed leadership’

• It works if all feel– Ownership– Belonging– So commitment & responsibility

RUNNING A NETWORK‘Servant leadership’

• Facilitating & enabling– Convening: creating spaces for members to…

• Share information; Learn; Develop influencing positions– Ensuring inclusion, preventing isolation– Encouraging/supporting new members– Balancing power and influence– Not ‘what am I going to do?’ but ‘how am I going to enable

others to do it?’– Linking the whole network with others– Oiling the wheels of the virtuous circle

• An art, not a science

…DIFFERENT FROM MANAGING A PROJECT

• Delivery against deadlines versus developing the network

• Hierarchical delegation versus facilitation, enabling, joint ownership & decision making

• All the pressure is on delivery– But developing the network is equally important

• Most donors have poor understanding or tolerance for network dynamics– Even though they’re pushing for consortium projects

• ‘Lead partner’ a challenge for joint ownership, decision making, belonging

CONSEQUENCES & LESSONS• NEVER start a network mainly to get the money

– Need confidence in strong common cause & relationships first

– Ideally build the network before money opportunity arises• Build network development into project proposal

– So it’s part of delivery expectations of partners & donors• Ensure collective ownership & decision making

– Get ALL partners’ buy-in to WHOLE project proposal– Build collective decision making structures– Focus as much on network development as on project

delivery– Facilitate & enable, don’t instruct– Ensure any ‘policing’ is done with collective ownership of

the decisions & rules being enforced

AND WHEN WE GET IT RIGHT…