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3 Ways Women build great partnerships

Written by: Joynicole Martinez

Article Overview: There is something to be said for the way great friendships are formed, especially between women. The unique way women communicate and build relationships create the potential for strong business and lucrative partnerships when three simple guidelines are followed.

3 Ways Women build great partnerships

There is something to be said for the way great friendships are formed, especially between women. Women building friendships and partnerships tend to start with a shared experience, learn each other through voicing opinions, then they work themselves up sharing their common goals, unravel a bit, move past their differences, then build a foundation based on common, tested ground. Building a partnership between women entrepreneurs should be no less carefully and fluidly executed.

Partnerships are supposed to be mutually advantageous. No one person is supposed to carry the entire load. Each partner should be keenly aware of their role and responsibility, and carry that out. If, however, one of you should reach out for assistance, the other is supposed to be there ready to catch. When a call for help comes from a partner or team member, the others should examine their own responsibilities and available skills and time to see if they can offer assistance. It's in the best interest of team to support one another, especially if performance to be rewarded as a whole. If assistance seems unable to be offered, the partners should pull together and determine how to revise the plan or bring in additional resources.

Linda Loehr, writing about trust in project teams, made a statement that has resonated with me over the years. She stated, “the lack of trust among team members constrained their individual and collective voices, restricting the sharing of knowledge, experience, and opinions…”

Who wants to be in a relationship that silences their voice and keeps them ignorant?

So, how do you establish trust in your partnerships?

Communication

There is not a more valuable, impactful and complex tool in relationship building. When you’re establishing partnerships or teams, make sure you work out and agree to the methods of communication and the frequency. This can be difficult if one of you loves email and IM, and the other likes meeting in person over tea. You will have to find a middle ground and be consistent in using the method and abiding by the schedule that you set. A communication system is key when building partnerships. Women tend to communicate in a style that encourages collaboration. When speaking to one another, they communicate more to enhance the relationship in contrast to their male counterparts, who converse frequently with the purpose of voicing opinions and asserting position. Women can use this intrinsic form of communication to their advantage when building partnerships.

Clear Goals and Roles

The IRS says it best: when a partnership exists, “each person contributes money, property, labor or skill, and expects to share in the profits and losses...” Business partnerships are formed based on these expectations. When these expectations are unmet partnerships end. Make sure you know what you are getting into. This is why communication is so important. If you’re running a janitorial service and your role is to handle all of the phone calls, respond to requests for quotes and handle the billing while the other handles all of the crews and vendors then don’t find yourself letting potential clients’ emails sit in the inbox for days at a time, or you’ll find yourself in a fight.

Sincerity and loyalty build trust

Be yourself. Share honestly and openly. You want to be reliable and that means you have to start by presenting who you are openly and present your goals and objectives upfront. People build great partnerships, and you won’t know if you have a true foundation to build upon if you can’t measure whether or not the goals and objectives are shared. As the partnership forms, it is normal that the level of trust to be at a low level. Trust is in part affected by loyalties, and at the outset the individual women may not have developed loyalty to the company or each other. As time and team building proceed, loyalties will naturally build toward fellow team members. This is often a process of two steps forward, one step back. During this process, consistency is key.

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Article Tags: communication, friendships, partnerships, relationships, women entrepreneurs



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Creating Partnerships - Does anybody have ideas for how new companies can create partnerships with other companies to quickly build their businesses? I've heard a lot about joint venturing to success. Do you have any examples?
A ton of Great Women - You might want to profile Teresa Cascioli of LakePort Brewery. She has an amazing story! I met her at at the celebratory luncheon for the Profit/Chatelaine Top 100 Women Business Owners. The Top 100 list is also a great resource for inspirational stories of Women Entrepreneurs.
Re: Advice Wanted - [quote="tobuso":3urnktbh]I keep saying this but I have to say it again. I dont like partnerships. Any family money should be a know donation to you before hand. Borrowing from family is one of the worst most stressful things you can do. I would have to know more to give any real advice but be careful with partners. If you do decide to take on a partner make sure you get a good business attorney.[/quote:3urnktbh] It sounds like you've been burned in the past by partnerships Philip!
Re: History of Women in Business in the United States - Yes. Women have increasingly made positive economic contributions to society and their position is being recognized more and more as seen on the Forbes List of Executive Women. In general, women can be a bit more practical in their approach as entrepreneurs too.
Re: Are entrepreneur women more organized than men? - Women are generally more organised than men. They have good instincts more than men. Women are generally aggressive when it come to business. You don't want to mess up with them.


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