You're aiming for market expansion. How do you navigate a partnership with differing goals?

There is something called 90% Agreement Rule! We spend 90% of our time, talking about the 10% of things we disagree on The golden rule on how you can use this in relationships and at work is not to invest your energy in minor differences BUT Create clarity (and build on) wherever there is ‘about 90% agreement’ first— then come back around and address the disagreements after ! When you concentrate on differences the space grows wider, but when you seek out what you have in common it helps bridge the gap.

Market expansion through strategic partnerships accelerates growth aspirations. Partners bring diverse outlooks and perspectives, enriching business capabilities. However, building diverse competencies requires time. To initiate a successful partnership: 1. Identify common areas of convergence. 2. Address potential points of conflict. 3. Establish trust as the foundation. Key next steps: - Respect each other's goals. - Form a joint team to develop a framework of operation focusing on 2-3 actionable initiatives. - Document shared goals and operational modalities. Collaboration fosters mutual understanding of culture and values. Aligned values significantly increase the partnership's probability of success.

Partnerships exemplify the old adage — it takes two hands to clap. Asymmetric partnerships, where one partner does all of the giving and the other does all of the taking are usually short-lived. Find the fair exchange of value and scope for Peer to Peer relationship. Last but not the least, both the parties should have commitment to continuity both during the tailwinds and headwinds.

When exploring partnership opportunities with industry peers that have different interests than yours, consider these strategies: 1. Understand their business models and seek out potential synergies 2. Collaborate in a way that benefits both companies' customers 3. Collectively build a product or service that meets the needs of both organizations 4. Maintain clear and open communication, and negotiate terms that work for both parties

Clear objectives from each of the partner is half the work done for success, since these time bound or clearly charted objectives will give an understanding to different partners on: 1. What to achieve 2. How to achieve 3. When to achieve Without this clarity the partnership may come under risk or will not produce the desired result.

Develop a shared action plan. Create a detailed plan outlining the steps each party will take to achieve the objectives, including deadlines and key deliverables.

Should align your visions and set SMART objectives that address both partners’ needs. Ensures that both the partnership's success and individual goals are clearly defined. For example, In the oil inspection field, partnering with a shipping company looking to optimize logistics while we focus on inspection accuracy, could involve setting a SMART objective like avoid any delays for inspection processing time to get final inspection report and update our clients on time without compromising quality, aligning both logistics and inspection goals for successful market expansion.

Develop a shared action plan. Create a detailed plan outlining the steps each party will take to achieve the objectives, including deadlines and key deliverables.

Evaluate and adapt : Continuously evaluate the partnership’s progress and be willing to adapt your strategies as needed. Regular check-ins and performance reviews can help ensure that both parties remain aligned and committed to the shared vision.

It is important to set a process prescribed interaction with the two partner teams in form of reviews, progress meetings at regular intervals and set escalation matrix which is openly communicated across teams. This will help in identifying potential bottlenecks earlier and timely decision making. It is a key role of leadership team to nurture transparent culture and unbiased feedback mechanism.

Implement structured communication protocols. Set up regular meetings with clear agendas to ensure efficient and focused discussions on progress and challenges.

El diálogo abierto es fundamental en la estrategia empresarial porque fomenta la comunicación efectiva, la colaboración y el trabajo en equipo, mejora la gestión del cambio, incrementa la participación y la motivación, fortalece la cultura de la empresa, mejora la reputación de la empresa, incrementa la productividad y la competitividad, ayuda a identificar y resolver conflictos, fomenta la innovación y el aprendizaje, y incrementa la satisfacción laboral.

Há que se ter uma comunicação assertiva. É sobre não evitar conversas difíceis. É sobre discordar. É sobre falar de forma aberta e verdadeira a respeito das coisas sem culpabilizar. É sobre acolher a necessidade do outro ao invés de apenas se justificar, e fazer o que precisa ser feito para o melhor para o projeto.

Any challenges, future plans, risk & mitigants needs to be communicated in a timely/proactive manner between each partners to avoid any risk to the overall strategy. This may include (not limited, may change according to industry): 1. Change in market dynamics 2. People challenges 3. Technology challenges 4. Platform challenges 5. Shift in consumer behavior 6. Regulatory challenges

Learning from each other and leveraging each other strengths is the core of any partnerships. Even while selecting partners for any collaboration one should select partners who provide: 1. Mitigating your weakness 2. Strengthens your strengths 3. Or you do the same to them Since no partnership is perfect and one should always strive to balance the best SWOT to exceed in the partnership to achieve their shared vision/goal.

El asociacionismo es una herramienta muy potente para generar estrategias globales, entornos equilibrados y fuerza de negociación, pero la relación de los asociados es muy dispar, no todos tienen la misma implicación, participación e incluso objetivos con la asociación Esto hace que el gobierno y desarrollo de la misma requiera el conseguir un grupo comprometido con el máximo nivel de coincidencia con los objetivos de la asociación, sin que en el desarrollo de los mismos se lesionen los objetivos particulares de ninguno de los asociados. De esta manera las acciones que se realicen dentro del seno de la asociación, serán apoyadas por la mayoría, aunque a veces requiera una explicación previa y detallada a alguno de los socios.

The best partnerships are formed from complimentary strengths. We tend to gravitate toward people that are just like us, but when forming partnerships, look for people that compliment you.

Are you leveraging strengths, or just avoiding weaknesses? Leveraging strengths sounds great, but are we actually tapping into each partner’s unique value, or are we just covering gaps? Henry Ford didn’t create the assembly line alone—he relied on experts in different fields to revolutionize production. Instead of focusing solely on what each partner does best, consider how their strengths can push boundaries in unexpected ways. True synergy isn’t just about combining strengths—it’s about creating new ones.

I think it is important to leverage on each other's strengths and see how leads to the benefit of both parties as you work to a common goal which is meeting the need at hand. This can lead a better customer offering.

All the terms & conditions should be properly inked into an agreement before going live. These may include: 1. Commercials 2. Usage of proprietary information/technology 3. Data/IT Infra sharing 4. Launch of MVP/Business go live 5. Expectations 6. Details of partnership closure Apart from this a trust in each others capabilities is also paramount otherwise we will only be limited to T&C's and the original plan will go astray.

I agree with this statement as the first step because it will not matter if everything is planned and strategized, if you do not negotiate beforehand you will loose time, money and resources in planning and structuring if the negotiation terms are not agreed upon all parties, it will be a deal breaker.

Be prepared to negotiate and make compromises that allow both parties to achieve key aspects of their goals. And be aware that you will lose something. The main question is how much you are willing to sacrifice in order to reach other important goals. Very hard to achieve a negotiation with equitable terms. Remember that.

Roles and responsibilities : Clearly outline the roles and responsibilities of each partner. This helps in setting expectations and ensures that all tasks are covered without overlap or confusion.

Key and almost the most important aspect is the discussions about the terms of collaboration, as they determine the future level of cooperation. A thorough discussion at the beginning regarding the division of responsibilities, accountability, and profits gives us a greater chance of a return on investment rather than problems and unnecessary disputes.

Monitoring progress is necessary, but are we monitoring the right things? Monitoring progress isn’t just about checking off boxes—it’s about ensuring the partnership evolves and adapts to changing conditions. Just like Toyota’s Kaizen philosophy of continuous improvement, the focus should be on both immediate results and long-term growth. Evaluate not just the milestones, but the journey—are we learning, adapting, and improving together? Success isn’t just in meeting targets; it’s in growing stronger through the process.

Monitoring progress is also a great time to confirm that your and your partners' priorities continue to be aligned and complementary. The info for projects/launches are often shared with partners in a vacuum, meaning that the partner does not always know everything that is going on with the partner. Is the partner running out of money? Is there another major project happening simultaneously that could pull expected resources (financial, human, etc.)? Do both parties still feel like this project works to their best interests? Monitoring progress in the early days must be done more frequently than later, and both parties must be willing to share when a fundamental change happens, and before it's too late for the partner to pivot.