What is Business Partnership?
Some people have insisted that partnership is about the skills, tools and experience that staff people bring to bear in working with operating people. Others suggest that having an organization with people dedicated to business partnership does the trick. Our experience shows that both of these notions miss the central point: Business Partnership is a style of staff-line collaboration in pursuit of broad business objectives. It is demonstrated when: • Professional staff collaborate in situations that require the knowledge and experience of both operating managers and key staff people • Leaders break down functional silos for the benefit of customers, fellow employees and shareholders • Staff people bring business issues to discussions with operating managers and achieve superior solutions together The relevance of business partnership is rooted in the belief that organizations arrive at better decisions through collaboration in addressing business issues, through deliberate exploration
