- What is Partnering?
- Partnering is a formal management process in which all parties (stakeholders) to a project voluntarily develop and agree to a set of project goals and a method of dispute resolution. This is accomplished during a one or two day facilitated partnering workshop
- How Long Has OrgMetrics Been in Business?
- OrgMetrics was founded in 1986 - so 25 years. We've facilitated literally 1000's of partnering sessions.
- What makes OrgMetrics Different than Other Facilitators?
- It's our Calling:
Partnering is not just our business, it is our calling. That is why we founded the non-profit International Partnering Institute and work tirelessly to articule the lessons learned into best practices.
We are Truly Committee to Your Success:
We have learned a lot in the past 25 years on what works and what does not work to establish collaboration and assure a project's success. We are totally committed to your project's success. We have seen a lot of different things. There isn't much that surprises us.
We are Here To Help:
Orgmetrics literally wrote the book on partnering and we have pioneered many of the best practices that are used around the world. We have designed partnering programs that have consistently produced significant results. We are committed to continuing our quest to help projects work in collaboration and to helping the industry improve its results. - What's the Most Important Thing in Setting up a Partnering Session?
- Getting the right people to the table.
- Can We Facilitate Our Own Partnering Session?
- Sure, and you could probably (with some direction) remove your spouse's appendix if you had to. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it. An independent, third-party, professional facilitor brings several key benefits to the partnering process. The first is objectivity; they are not entrenched in any of the project issues and can view things objectively. Second, as a professional facilitator, they have the skills necessary to steer the team to consensus. Their presence tends to make even normally intransient team members more reasonable.
- Will We Have to Sing Kumbaya at Our Session?
- NO! OrgMetrics' sessions are not "touchy-feely" We believe in building project teams that can work together to solve problems. The first part of each session is designed to give project team members the skills they will need to successfully address project issues. Then, after developing project goals, partnering commitments, and a dispute resolution process, the team will identify actual project issues/risks/problems and make commitments to resolve/mitigate them.
- Who Pays for the Partnering Session?
- Generally the cost of the session is split 50-50 between the owner and the prime contractor. This gives everyone a stake in the process. Usually the contractor receives and pays the invoice, and then submits 50% of it for reimbursement. If partnering was not in the bid specs, a change order is issued. There are instances when one of the parties believes in partnering so firmly that they will pay the entire cost of the session to encourage participation by the other stakeholders.
- After the Kick-off Partnering Session - then What?
- We strongly recommend follow-up partnering sessions at regular intervals (3-4 months). Partnering is NOT a one-time event. It is a process. In addition to follow-up sessions, we stongly recommend a monthly project scorecard be used to track the team's progress in meeting its commitments.
