Sustaining the partnership

Enabling transparency and trust, continuous learning and adaptation, and effective governance

Why this matters

Commissioning and delivering services through a formal-relational approach requires an ongoing, active partnership throughout the duration of the contract.

What can go wrong

Sustaining a formal-relational approach requires ongoing commitment and effort from partners throughout the life of the contract, otherwise there is a risk of reverting to business as usual. This can be particularly difficult if and when challenges arise, as partners might look to protect their individual interests and blame others at the expense of the overarching goals of the partnership.

Good practice and useful resources

The content in this section is all about how to enable continuous learning and adaption in service delivery, cultivating high transparency and trust between partners and governing the work effectively.

• Actively managing change within the contract
• Good governance practices
• Sharing data across the partnership