[TA47] Make your partnership great

 

Recently I have been involved with a firm that has decided to split into two sole traders. I have to say that whilst the two guys are great people (and very committed to an amicable split), it’s been a trying time for all involved. Over my time I have been involved with a number of partnership splits, including my own. These have ranged from total disasters, where the people still don’t speak, to seamless processes with strong relationships left intact. (Thankfully my experience was a seamless one).

Now that I am in the middle of facilitating this current split, I thought I would reflect on why some partnerships split and some are hugely successful.

Average (or below) partnerships	Best Performers
No clear joint vision Poor communication No annual planning retreat No outside facilitator	Facilitated Strategic Vision planning session Total review of vision every 3 years Annual operational planning retreat Quarterly facilitated strategic sessions
Operational focused partner meetings Loosely set KPIs	KPI Operational Roles Strategic set annually review quarterly reported monthly
Poor role definition Pressure to perform on equal levels, i.e everyone expected to do same as the other Day to day decisions left to individual partners	Clear Roles Focused on strengths Measurable and monitored An Operational driver and decision maker A Strategic driver and decision maker
Consistent meddling Failing to address issues/concerns Failure to implement firm development activities	Focused on Profitability and Partner satisfaction High emphasis on implementation of strategic activity
Compliance operational Model Poor delegation All focus on operational drivers, getting compliance done	Strategic Operational Model
Adhoc revenue goals, % increase on last year	Growth plan Forecast of growth activity Agreed milestones and strategic action  plan

These best performers are consistently leading the market and have the most satisfied partners. They are often the most profitable and team members are usually engaged and focused.

What I am experiencing within my firms, it is the ones that implement that get the results, and believe me not all will get to the best list. That is they do what it takes to turn off from the day to day and make time to work strategically. Firstly on themselves, then with team members and finally with clients (yes it is in that order).

They are focused more on where tomorrow’s $ are coming from and making sure that today’s $ get done.