Working well with each other – some key ingredients
Michelle Clarke
“It’s been a really interesting process over the past three years. The only way I can describe it is that it’s like a relationship – we started out as friends, then we dated for a while, and now we’re official!”
Listening to Elenid Roberts describe how an informal partnership of CT operators in north Gwynedd developed was both informative and entertaining. Our Working Well sessions create space for operators to share experiences and learn from each other.
Elenid, from Yr Orsaf social enterprise, emphasised the importance of strong working relationships as a foundation for partnership working saying “It’s important to share values, but you also need to get along with your partners, so build trust first.” Trust leads to partners actively looking for opportunities to share, rather than compete.
A key ingredient for building trust is honest and regular communication as Wyndham Williams from the Pembrokeshire Association of Community Transport Organisations explained: “We work on the principle of keeping everyone ‘warm and informed’ as communication is a golden thread running through partnership working.” It was interesting to hear Wyndham talk about the importance of having courage when working together. “What do I mean by courage? Being bold enough to take risks, confront challenges and address difficult issues.”
Another ingredient of partnership working is having a collaborative problem-solving approach, according to Sacha Petrie from Awel Aman Tawe’s Taith CT. “Working together is the key to solving transport challenges in our areas that we may not have the capacity or resources to tackle on our own.” As well as working in partnership with operators, Sacha emphasised how collaborating with other sectors creates more integrated transport services.
Marie Monk-Hawksworth, Manager of The Friendly Bus and Chair of the Shropshire CT Consortium encouraged a focus on the unique qualities that each partner brings to the table. “Recognise that groups are different because of very special reasons in how they developed in their community, and appreciate the local knowledge they bring.”
Becoming a formal partnership helped the consortium secure funding for the benefit of the partners, such as paying for MiDAS training and employing external consultancy to create impact reports. Their most recent impact report showed £3.6m of social value was provided collectively, and demonstrating value to funders and decision-makers can unlock further investment.
It was striking how partnership working facilitates thinking long-term about what can be achieved on a greater scale. Listening to the speakers, I was reminded of a quote I once read: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
Our next Working Well session is on volunteering and it would be lovely to see you there!