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Survey Questions: Partnering/Networking

Definition: Partnering and networking are essential for fostering collaboration, where employees build alliances, expand networks, and form relationships that create opportunities for growth and shared success. Through communication, mutual learning, and exchanges of information, colleagues work across departments and industries to pool resources, pursue common goals, and develop complementary services that drive efficiency and innovation. With a foundation of trust, commitment, and conflict resolution, organizations facilitate cross-functional activities, ensure oversight, and strengthen partnerships that contribute to long-term success.
People Skills
Communication
Change
Resourcefulness
Career Development
Pride/Loyalty
Professionalism
Partnering/Networking
Meetings
Respect for Others
Teamwork
Work/Life
Stress


Builds Alliances
Builds Alliances focuses on strategically forming partnerships and networks that enhance business operations, strengthen internal cooperation, and expand opportunities. This dimension highlights fostering long-term alliances within departments, across companies, and with complementary organizations to create value and drive mutual success. It prioritizes structured, strategic relationships, ensuring that collaborations serve long-term business goals and organizational synergy.


Partners in the Industry
Partners in the Industry focuses on developing meaningful, long-term partnerships with industry professionals, organizations, and associations to enhance business operations and best practices. This dimension highlights attending industry conferences, fostering connections with senior leaders, collaborating on technology and innovation, and nurturing key contacts within the sector. It prioritizes structured partnerships and industry engagement, ensuring that business relationships drive mutual success and sustained collaboration.


Expands Network
Expands Network emphasizes actively seeking new connections, broadening outreach, and identifying fresh opportunities for business growth and collaboration. This dimension centers on participating in networking events, leveraging personal contacts, facilitating forums and seminars, and encouraging employees to explore new partnerships. It prioritizes relationship-building and proactive outreach, ensuring that professionals continuously grow their network to unlock new business potential.


Contacts with Others
Contacts with Others emphasizes establishing and maintaining professional connections that facilitate collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and business development. This dimension centers on engaging with industry contacts, forming relationships across organizational boundaries, participating in networking opportunities, and collaborating with external stakeholders. It prioritizes relationship-building and professional outreach, ensuring that connections are actively cultivated to unlock business growth.


Forms Relationships
Forms Relationships focuses on creating and maintaining strong interpersonal and business relationships across teams, industries, and sectors to foster collaboration. This dimension highlights developing partnerships, engaging with colleagues, supporting diverse connections, organizing team-building activities, and forming beneficial networks with customers and stakeholders. It prioritizes relationship-building and networking, ensuring individuals and teams have a strong foundation for collaboration.


Common Ground/Goals
Common Ground/Goals emphasizes aligning interests, objectives, and problem-solving efforts to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. This dimension centers on shared goals, active listening, collaborative problem-solving, leveraging core competencies, and working toward common solutions. It prioritizes goal alignment and collective strategy, ensuring partnerships are based on shared interests rather than just relationship-building.


Exchanges Information
Exchanges Information focuses on facilitating the free flow of knowledge, insights, and ideas across departments, companies, and networks to drive innovation and problem-solving. This dimension highlights inter-departmental collaboration, reducing barriers to communication, creating shared knowledge bases, and ensuring that relevant expertise is accessible across teams. It prioritizes knowledge-sharing and transparency, making sure information is readily available for strategic decision-making.


Pools Resources
Pools Resources emphasizes leveraging partnerships and networks to combine financial, operational, and logistical resources for mutual benefit and efficiency. This dimension centers on aligning efforts, forming joint ventures, collaborating on supply chain strategies, and ensuring partnerships maximize available resources. It prioritizes strategic asset allocation and optimization, ensuring organizations make the most of collective resources to reduce costs and enhance services.


Complementary Services
Complementary Services focuses on building strategic partnerships with external organizations or teams that offer complementary expertise, technology, or resources to create mutual advantages. This dimension highlights identifying compatible partners, sharing intellectual property, leveraging strengths across companies, and fostering innovation through collaboration. It prioritizes external partnerships and synergy, ensuring businesses combine their strengths for shared success.


Cross-Functional Activities
Cross-Functional Activities emphasizes internal collaboration among departments and teams to optimize processes, facilitate teamwork, and align organizational objectives. This dimension centers on interdepartmental cooperation, knowledge-sharing, problem-solving across boundaries, and leveraging diverse functional expertise. It prioritizes internal integration and teamwork, ensuring that different business units work together effectively.


Mutual Learning
Mutual Learning focuses on creating environments and opportunities for continuous knowledge exchange, training, and shared skill-building among partners. This dimension highlights fostering open collaboration, organizing workshops, promoting inclusivity in knowledge-sharing, and ensuring lessons from partnerships are leveraged for collective growth. It prioritizes development and learning, ensuring individuals and teams benefit from shared expertise.


Communication
Communication focuses on facilitating open, ongoing dialogue and ensuring information flows effectively between individuals, teams, and organizations. This dimension highlights maintaining regular check-ins, promoting transparent discussions, supporting collaboration across departments, and fostering clarity in interactions. It prioritizes effective exchange of ideas and alignment, ensuring individuals stay connected and informed.


Workflow


Understanding
Understanding emphasizes analyzing, assessing, and comprehending the deeper implications of partnerships, risks, and strategic alignments. This dimension centers on fostering curiosity, performing SWOT analyses, assessing risks and rewards, and ensuring leadership can explain and justify collaborations effectively. It prioritizes critical awareness and strategic assessment, ensuring organizations make informed decisions based on comprehensive insights.


Trust and Commitment
Trust and Commitment emphasizes building strong, lasting relationships by fostering credibility, mutual respect, and fairness in partnerships. This dimension centers on establishing trust, ensuring equitable treatment, reinforcing integrity within networks, and strengthening long-term commitments among collaborators. It prioritizes relationship depth and reliability, making sure partnerships are rooted in trust rather than just information sharing.


Conflict Resolution


Oversight