This publication addresses a key factor in the creation of successful partnership: the purpose and content of partnership agreements. Time invested in designing and negotiating a detailed agreement between partners will not only create a more effective framework within which the partners can work, but will lay a foundation of sustained co-operation through enhanced mutual understanding. Good partnership agreements can make a significant contribution to shaping good partnerships – and ultimately define their success.
This guide includes both an overview of the nature and value of agreements and a new tool for their construction and review – the Partnering Agreement Scorecard. It will be of value to any organisation that contemplates setting up a new or reviewing an existing partnership. It provides a shorthand of the most critical questions that should be addressed when developing a partnership, and offers a structure for generating and assessing an agreement which should fit the initial needs of most partnerships.