The Joint Engagement Strategy: A health check for strategic relationships

Research indicates that many alliances and strategic relationships fail for reasons that can be prevented. Reasons often on the soft side of the relationship, like lack of trust, differences in operating rules and lack of coördination between management teams. These elements can be managed and turned around for the success of the partnership, when needed. However to turn these elements around one needs to be aware of them. Often it is difficult to assess the trust your partner will have in you. You may very well have the perception that everything is under control until it is too late. Perception is the basis for these reasons and when not clearly communicated and worked upon they will be the cause of a failing relationship.

Even though perception is on the soft side of a relation it can be measured and visualized in a way that the measurement will form the foundation for future success. A periodical health check will help to get clear insights on the status of the relation, also on the soft side. Simoons & Company uses the Joint Engagement Strategy to evaluate partnerships, alliances and other strategic relationships. The Joint Engagement Strategy has been developed based on extensive experience combined with various studies into the success factors of alliances and strategic relationships.

The foundation for the Joint Engagement Strategy is a perception survey consisting of 17 statements. These 17 statements will give insight in your relationship and will each be scored on a scale from 1 to 6, from “Fully disagree” to “Fully agree”. In order to understand your answer better, you might be asked to give your open feedback on a question. In case of a lot of open feedback, the survey may be a little longer than 7 minutes. No answer, or “not applicable” are not among the available options while answering. “Not applicable” in the world of perception would make you a stranger. You have an opinion on everything in the relationship you are in.

The power of the survey is in the fact that the involved employees and those of your business partner will respond to exactly the same statements. A Joint Engagement Strategy survey will run with a maximum of 10 people involved from each partner.

Every survey will be reported back in a report that summarizes the state of the relationship, highlighting the four main drivers:

• Engagement and Relationship
• Behavior and maturity
• Communication
• Operations, projects and skills

These results will be presented both in text as well in graphics and will be discussed in a joint evaluation with you and your partner. In every relationship there is room for improvement and the joint evaluation will make these elements visible. An improvement plan will be agreed upon between you and your partner and will contain elements like approach, deliverables, responsibilities and the desired outcome. The improvement plan and the progress made will be discussed in the next evaluation. The survey and evaluation process in general runs every 120 days / 3 times a year.

Interested what the status of your alliance is? Contact me to discuss or sign up for the white paper below (available shortly).