Imagine this: Two people sit back-to-back. A third person holds an intricate drawing. Their job? Describe the image in precise detail. The person listening can only draw based on those verbal instructions.
The results? Hilarious. Frustrating. Revealing.
One person might draw a house with a red roof. The other draws a cottage with a blue roof. Same basic concept, wildly different execution. Sound familiar?
This isn’t just a team-building exercise. It’s a mirror of how businesses actually collaborate – or rather, don’t
I’ve lived this scenario from three sides. As an agency owner working with clients, an agency supporting a brand working with retailers and a facilitator of JBP workshops, I’ve seen how organisations talk past each other instead of truly communicating.
Here’s what I’ve learned. When I ask professionals how well they know their partners – be it an agency, a retailer, a supplier, or even internal departments – they’ll confidently declare, “Brilliantly!” But then comes the real test.
I hand out a questionnaire or ask them a set of questions. Those confident smiles? They fade faster than last season’s marketing budget.
Recent research from McKinsey reveals a staggering truth: Only 23% of organisations effectively use Joint Business Plans (JBPs) to drive meaningful collaboration. That means a whopping 77% are leaving massive potential on the table.
The Misaligned Reality
Most organisations operate like they’re playing a high-stakes game of Chinese whispers. An agency thinks it understands a client’s objectives. A brand believes it knows a retailer’s challenges. Internal departments assume they’re aligned.
But dig a little deeper, and you’ll find a landscape of misunderstandings. Misaligned priorities. Missed opportunities.
A typical Joint Business Plan should be a strategic roadmap of shared goals, mutual challenges, and aligned objectives. Instead, they often become checkbox exercises – surface-level documents that look good in presentations but deliver zero value.
More Than Just Another Document
A Joint Business Plan isn’t a file to be uploaded and forgotten. It’s a living, breathing roadmap of collaboration. Think of it as your shared playbook, not a dusty reference manual.
The real magic happens when you create these plans together – and I mean truly together. Not in isolation, not with one party dictating terms, but as a genuine partnership. It’s about understanding not just your own targets, but your partner’s entire ecosystem.
The Questions That Matter
Creating a meaningful Joint Business Plan means asking the brutal, honest questions:
- What are your actual business challenges – and I mean the real ones, not the PR-friendly version?
- What keeps you up at night?
- Where are your genuine growth opportunities?
- How can we genuinely support each other’s success?
The key word here is ‘we’. Not ‘you’ or ‘me’, but ‘we’.
Beyond Asking the Questions
Now, let’s be clear: getting meaningful answers to the hard questions isn’t as simple as asking them outright. That’s like proposing marriage on a first date – you’re operating in a high-stakes zone without any foundation of trust.
Building a truly effective Joint Business Plan isn’t about ticking boxes; it’s about nurturing relationships. It requires:
- Investing time to genuinely understand each other’s ecosystems.
- Building trust through consistent, open communication.
- Offering real value and support to help each other succeed.
These things don’t happen overnight. They’re fostered over time.
And yes, we live in a world where time is poor and results are needed yesterday. But rushing this process risks creating transactional relationships rather than transformational partnerships. Success comes from nurturing a solid relationship where both sides are aligned towards a genuine win-win.
A Continuous Conversation
These plans shouldn’t be annual tick-box exercises. They need:
- Regular check-ins
- Honest progress reviews
- Flexibility to adapt
- A genuine commitment to each other’s success
It’s about working as one team. Your success is their success. Their challenges are your challenges.
Collaboration ready?
As we move into 2025, the organisations that will truly excel are those who see Joint Business Plans as dynamic collaboration tools. Not static reports, but living documents that:
- Move beyond transactional relationships
- Create genuine ecosystem partnerships
- Treat suppliers, agencies, and internal teams as true strategic partners
Organisations that I’ve delivered our JBP workshop for are now successfully using the training, frameworks, and JBP sheets to build stronger, more collaborative relationships – and, of course, achieve those all-important joint wins. We’ve received fantastic feedback on the impact of these tools, particularly on what is often seen as a tricky area to overcome. It’s incredibly rewarding to see teams transform their approach to collaboration and unlock new opportunities together. So lets wrap this up with….
A Personal Challenge
So, here’s my challenge to you. Look at your current Joint Business Plans (you might not even have any – in which case, what a year to get started!).
Are they gathering dust in a cloud file? Or are they driving real, measurable transformation?
Collaboration isn’t just a buzzword. It’s your competitive advantage.
Cognitive Union is a progressive, boutique learning and performance consultancy. We work with forward-thinking businesses. Transforming their people. Shaping their culture. Helping them embrace change and take on the world. Find this blog useful? Sign up to our email newsletter (bottom of this page) where you can receive articles like this and other insights (not publically published), and you can also follow us on LinkedIn.