Table 2.
Examples of successful partnership characteristics for the CGPP in India
| Successful partnership characteristics identified by Shortell et al.26 | Examples from the CGPP |
|---|---|
| Manage size and diversity | Established formal working relationships among a diverse set of international, national and local NGOs, United Nations Children’s Fund, the WHO, Rotary International, and the government working in different areas/districts |
| Used work groups | |
| Set goals | |
| Use multiple components of leadership | Established the CGPP secretariat as an independent entity to coordinate NGO partners |
| Recruited senior government officials to lead all national, state, district, and subdistrict-level task force meetings that were supported by partners | |
| Recruited members from the community to assist | |
| Used respected community leaders to reach out to needed partners | |
| Maintain focus | Applied a high-risk approach to focus on prioritization of resources |
| Restricted partner organizations to those serving identified program needs | |
| Identified a designated point person for each partner organization | |
| Established work groups around specific needs (such as social mobilization) | |
| Manage and channel conflict | Organized partner meetings at various levels to discuss issues, enhance communication, and improve problem solving |
| Undertook joint activities such as joint review meetings to develop a common understanding among partners and to establish better coordination | |
| Adjusted organization policies to meet program challenges | |
| Used real-time monitoring and evaluation data to guide decision making | |
| Recognize program life cycles and the need for “succession planning” | Developed a standard orientation for new partners and for new staff of existing partners |
| Redistributed geographic areas of responsibility (joining of the new partners or areas at various stages of the program did not affect the pace of the program implementation) | |
| Anticipated and planned for crisis management (such as the preparation of a rapid response team). | |
| “Patch” or reposition assets | Used independent monitoring and surveillance data to allocate areas to partners and resources |
CGPP = CORE Group Polio Project; NGO = non-governmental organization.