How can you effectively address resistance to change when introducing new partnership strategies?

Acknowledge and Empathize with Fears: Recognize that partners may have concerns about change, such as its impact on their roles, increased workload, or uncertain outcomes. By empathizing with their situation, you create a supportive environment for open communication. Encourage Open Communication: Foster an atmosphere where partners feel comfortable expressing their concerns. This transparency helps uncover specific fears, enabling you to address them effectively and build trust within the team. Provide Targeted Support: Once fears are identified, offer targeted information and support to alleviate them. This proactive approach not only reduces resistance but also empowers partners to embrace new strategies with confidence.

1. Communicate Benefits Clearly: Highlight how new partnerships will address specific challenges or improve outcomes. For example, if proposing a tech partnership, explain how it will streamline processes and enhance productivity. 2. Involve Key Stakeholders Early: Engage influential team members in the planning process to gain their support. For instance, involve department heads in discussions about how a new marketing partnership could boost their team's performance. 3. Provide Training and Support: Offer workshops or resources to help team members adapt to new strategies. For example, if adopting a new CRM system through a partnership, provide training sessions to ensure a smooth transition and build confidence.

People are always hesitant about uncertainty. Take things step by step, no meaningful change happens overnight. Break it down into bitesize pieces. Run pilots and listen to the feedback along the lines. Share success stories, past failures and be transparent so they know what they can expect

Begin by understanding the fears and concerns your partners may have regarding the new strategy. Conduct one-on-one meetings or anonymous surveys to gather honest feedback about their reservations. Common concerns might include fear of the unknown, potential disruptions, or loss of control. Acknowledging these fears shows empathy and sets the stage for addressing them effectively.

In my experience, sharing fears is not generally welcome in work environments. Leadership often fosters a mentality of upholding positivity or labels those who express concerns as being resistant to change, which leads to suppression of feedback that might be construed as critical. However, this mentality in itself is a fear - a fear that if a leader listens to concerns, their great idea or initiative might have its flaws exposed. A good leader can show that they understand fears by allowing themselves to sit in the discomfort that opposing ideas bring to the table and listening with an open mind. Even if they ultimately do not agree, this demonstrates that they are not putting ego over progress and builds trust with their team.

It’s important to set expectations not only with the company you’re evaluating, but also within your organization. As a member of a global organization representing and negotiating partnerships for a large geo, I have many needs that a lot of my partnership opportunities can help satisfy. But I have to be in constant collaboration with my team in other geos to make sure the opportunity makes sense for everyone. If not, I’m wasting everyone’s time. Education, transparency, and collaboration are crucial in every step of the process. At the end of the day, treat people with respect and earn their trust so the partnership is successful for everyone. A partnership truly has to be built on relationships and not just closing the sale.

State your value/benefit during the "adoption" phase of the partnership and ensure you see this through during the "value realization" phase using agreed metrics for success.

You need to make sure that you understand what in it for them before you start any project. Once you know what's in it for them and how you help them reach their goals you can start communicating. Break down the benefits into smaller achievable goals and the benefits along the way

Clearly articulate the benefits of the new partnership strategy to all stakeholders. Highlight how the changes will improve outcomes, streamline processes, or create new opportunities. Use case studies, data, and success stories to provide concrete examples of the potential positive impact. Tailor your communication to address specific concerns and demonstrate the value of the new approach.

Whenever I need to communicate a change to a partner, I do my best to incorporate their own past feedback into the communication. For example, if they have shared a concern in the past, I'll share how the change directly addresses that concern. When possible, I'll also invite them to give feedback (and sincerely consider it!) because when people contribute to a project, they often associate more positive feelings towards it and want it to be successful. Of course, this approach does assume that changes are being made with partner benefits in mind, so stakeholder feedback needs to be a major part of the decision-making process to begin with.

Involving partners in strategy development can lead to more creative and diverse solutions. By pooling varied perspectives and expertise, the strategy benefits from a wider range of innovative ideas, potentially uncovering unique approaches that might not have been considered otherwise

Involve partners in the planning and implementation process to foster a sense of ownership and collaboration. Establish working groups or committees that include representatives from all key stakeholders. By giving partners a voice in the decision-making process, you can reduce resistance and gain valuable insights that can improve the strategy.

Involving partners in decisions is not only good for reducing resistance, but for actually creating a product or service that works. However, it requires more than simply asking for general feedback to be successful - both stakeholders and experts have blind spots and sometimes will not know the right questions to ask. When thinking about how best involve partners, it is crucial to 1) Create a welcoming space for sharing ideas, 2) Provide data-backed context for all contributors, 3) Share multiple viewpoints and/or solution pathways, and 4) Structure conversations so that time is used efficiently. These steps will go a long way towards ensuring that everyone feels heard while also providing for useful feedback.

Comprehensive training ensures partner competence and confidence, reducing resistance and fostering adaptation to new strategies through diverse, accessible resources.

Offer comprehensive training and support to ensure that everyone is comfortable with the new strategy. Develop training programs that cover the new processes, tools, and expected outcomes. Providing resources like workshops, webinars, and hands-on training sessions can help partners build confidence and competence in the new approach.

Pilots are super powerful to help drive the change you need in your partnership strategies. It allows both parties to commit to a smaller project and learn and adjust. Have a clear start and end date, milestones and actions that needs to be done in the pilot to ensure that both parties commit to the things that is necessary to be able to evaluate the pilot. A successful pilot builds the foundation from which you can start scaling of. Set clear expectations whats expected prior, during and after the pilot and what signals you and your counterpart should look for to keep track of progress

Implement pilot programs to test the new strategy on a smaller scale before a full rollout. Choose a few partners or regions to pilot the changes and gather feedback on their experiences. Use this feedback to make necessary adjustments and demonstrate the strategy’s effectiveness. Successful pilot programs can build momentum and reduce resistance by showcasing tangible results.

Continuously monitor the progress of the new strategy to ensure it is meeting its objectives and addressing any concerns. Set up regular check-ins and feedback loops to track performance and gather input from partners. Use data and analytics to measure the impact and make data-driven decisions to refine the approach as needed.

To sustain the change and overcome resistance, it’s essential to build a culture that embraces continuous improvement and adaptability. Recognize and reward partners who actively support and contribute to the new strategy. Share success stories and celebrate milestones to maintain motivation and engagement. Additionally, ensure that leadership demonstrates commitment to the new strategy by consistently communicating its importance and leading by example.