For most organisations, the ambition and promise of partnering is rarely matched by the reality. Organisations often set out with strong intentions and bold commitments, only to find themselves after a few years with a disparate assortment of partnerships, many of which no longer deliver strategic value or have been neglected after an initial period of excitement.
So, how can organisations turn their partnering ambition into sustained impact? One effective solution: a dedicated Partnership Unit.
Partnerships tend to develop organically across different teams for various reasons. Some are strategic, some politically driven, and others merely symbolic. With each team setting up and managing partnerships in their own way, information often ends up scattered across isolated inboxes and shared drives, without a central record. As a result, mapping the full landscape becomes difficult—missed opportunities for synergy and unmanaged risks become common.
In our two decades of experience, we see organisations respond in one of two ways. The first is to declare that partnering should be “everyone’s responsibility”. In principle, this sounds right: collaboration should be embedded across the organisation. But in practice, when everyone is responsible, no one is accountable. The same challenge arises with other cross-cutting areas like sustainability, gender equality, or diversity and inclusion.
The second option is central coordination, with internal structure and champions that can make partnering proactive, strategic and impactful. In our work, we are seeing increasing impact from dedicated partnership units: a function specifically tasked with tracking, supporting, strengthening and strategically guiding partnerships. The Partnering Initiative has helped to establish or support 34 partnership units over the years, from every sector: multi-national companies, major research foundations, INGOs, development banks and the United Nations.
We have found that while making the case for a partnership unit can be difficult, it is one of the most effective ways to maximise an organisation’s partnering capability and therefore impact. It creates new opportunities and helps organisations fully realise the value of their existing partnerships.
A partnership unit does not “own” every partnership or centralise all relationship management. Instead, it provides the infrastructure that turns ambition into coherent practice. It shifts partnering towards being systematic, professional and aligned with organisational strategy. It provides a focal point for maintaining partnering as a priority and gives relationship managers a clear sense of what’s expected.
We have seen successful partnership units adopt one or more of these four roles:
Role 1: Developing a partnership strategy
A partnership strategy means the organisation can realise the potential of different types of partnerships to deliver its objectives, and that all partnerships are aligned with these priorities. The Unit creates opportunities, rather than reactively pursuing them, so partnerships are considered as part of a managed portfolio, with attention to gaps, duplication and long-term impact.
Role 2: Building partnering skills
High-quality collaboration needs more than good intentions. A partnering function develops the systems, templates and processes that underpin effective partnerships. It embeds collaboration skills in training and leadership development and ensures that governance structures support partnership working. Over time, it helps build a culture where partnering is recognised as a professional discipline that can be honed.
Role 3: Supporting partnerships
Even well-designed collaborations encounter challenges. A partnership unit can provide structured support across the lifecycle of a partnership, offer health checks and troubleshooting when tensions arise, and ensure that governance arrangements are clear. By capturing and sharing lessons learned, it strengthens future collaborations and avoids repeating mistakes.
Role 4: External relations and partner engagement
An effective partnership unit clarifies what value an organisation brings to collaboration and provides clear entry points for potential partners. It ensures that external inquiries are handled professionally and that partnership successes are communicated in a way that builds credibility and trust.
These roles transform an organisation’s collaborative potential. Instead of scattered agreements and fragmented responsibility, there is a coherent approach. Instead of partnerships that depend on individual champions, there is institutional capability. Instead of MOUs gathering dust, there are collaborations designed, supported and stewarded for impact.
In a world that demands collective action, ambition alone is not enough. Partnerships are powerful tools if they are managed with the same seriousness as finance, strategy, sustainability or operations. A partnership unit is an investment in turning collaborative ambition into meaningful, sustained change.
