According to our Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, in a speech late November 2020, Australia has overcome the coronavirus recession thus far better than almost every other country in the world although he acknowledged there are still major challenges ahead.
He said between the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the coronavirus pandemic, the world had enjoyed relative certainty. But that certainty was now likely at an end.
“There are great uncertainties out there. We are a resilient people, and we need to meet those challenges which are ahead, and which are even present now,” he said.
“We are now seeing and have seen for some time now the return to the uncertainties that Australia has always had to deal with.
“Global competition and tensions we see again. Strains on our rules-based order around the world.
“All of this requires the careful engagement of Australia consistent with our values and our national interest. But this is not new for Australia.”
With the current pandemic, thoughts, and actions around protecting immediate business cashflows often takes precedence over other activities. While this kind of strategy can be very sensible, taking advantage of growth opportunities can be easily missed. But it need not be so.
For many, this year has been seen as an inflection point, a liminal time between the past and something new. But as we have also seen, embracing uncertainty and ambiguity is easier said then done.
Where do partnerships and alliances come into this?
While it may be difficult to meet in person while COVID-19 rages around us, we can still reach out online to our contacts. LinkedIn Zoom and many and other digital and social collaborative tools assist with this.
But still, understanding how to convert online chat to contracts and delivery of outcomes is very much the topic of the day. Perhaps adding some structure to how we can increase the chances of doing business online for some of us is a conversation we need to have. Here are some thoughts put together that might help.
Principle 1: Build Partnerships Based on Trust and Common Ground
Successful networked organisations understand that they may need to forsake a degree of control and short-term growth and to leverage partnership and alliances to broaden their reach. They understand that selection of trustworthy partners who are aligned with a sense of shared mission and values can help build-in accountability and common goals.
Principle 2: Leverage strengths of the network
Partners may bring best practices and expertise which can be leveraged and complement current organisational models. Understanding our own limits can help to integrate with partners who effectively use their strengths and skills to generate superior combined results.
Principle 3: Build Constellations not Stars
A network of partnerships where the organisation is a node interconnected to many others can bring together and optimise allocation of an array of resources and capabilities and allow far greater scalability than previously thought possible. Strong governance processes and good communication practices help build long term relationships and constellations to develop.
At 3i- Strategy, every day, we work with our partners to help businesses who are looking to navigate uncertainty and ambiguity by helping build and leverage trusted networks of partnerships and alliances in Australia and in other countries. In addition, if you need to look at the value generated out of your current channels, we can do a quick health check on the current state of play.
Well-structured trusted partnerships and alliances can allow organisations to collaborate and scale and grow business into new markets and sectors both online and offline while managing cashflow and mitigating risk.