Keeping partners informed

Keeping partners informed is an essential aspect of building and maintaining a partnership. Communication is a factor that is emphasized several times in this manual, both as a barrier and challenge, and as a key factor for success. When there is effective communication, partners all know the progress of the program, what problems have been identified, and what is being done to solve them. When there isn't proper communication, not only are partners uninformed, but there can be suspicion about the other partners, and the feeling that their participation is not valued.

One of the first things to do for the new partnership is to establish a means of notifying all members of upcoming meetings and events, as well as distributing minutes of meetings, especially to partners who were not in attendance.

The number of meetings, location, and time should be a decision made by the group, not just the facilitator or lead agency. In addition, the length of the meetings should be a group decision; several community partners and literacy practitioners emphasized the need for short, productive meetings, given their busy schedules and other commitments.

Keeping partners up-to-date does not always need to be done through scheduled meetings. Although face-to-face contact is reported to be the most effective means of staying in touch, telephone contact just to "touch base" is an important part of keeping a partnership dynamic. In addition, one coordinator described the importance of interacting with her partners on other levels, such as going to the friendship centre for lunch on soup and bannock day. The partners may not even discuss the family literacy project during such visits, but the contact is important and the opportunity is there for discussion if either partner feels it's necessary.