As winter kicks off, I have decided to write a series on facilitation competencies. To do this, I am following the IAF core competency list.

Most facilitation projects begin well before the first participant steps into the room. The visible work,  the session design, the group activities, the post-event outputs,  rests on something less visible but more important: the partnership between facilitator and client.

In the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) Core Competencies, the first capability listed is Develop Working Partnerships. It sits at the front for a reason. Without trust, clarity, and shared ownership, even the most creative design will struggle to produce lasting value.

Why partnership matters

Think of a facilitation project as a journey. The agenda may serve as your map. The working partnership is the vehicle that carries you forward. A good map without a reliable vehicle does not take you far.

Strong partnerships allow honesty to surface without fear. They make it possible to prevent duplication of effort, and they remind everyone involved that the outcome belongs to all of us, not just to one person. They also provide a reference point when, as often happens, priorities shift in the middle of the journey.

I once worked with a leadership team under heavy pressure to produce a new strategy. In our first conversation we did not begin with timelines or templates. We talked about what they hoped to achieve and what I would need in order to help them. They agreed to show up fully, to have every decision-maker in the room, and to create space for hard conversations. I promised to keep the design flexible and grounded in their culture.

Those agreements became our anchor. Months later, when new demands threatened to derail the work, we returned to them and renewed our commitments. The strategy was completed on time. More importantly, the team left with stronger trust than they had when they began.

The three strands of developing working partnerships

In practice, Develop Working Partnerships rests on three strands:

  1. Clarifying mutual commitment

  2. Developing consensus on tasks, deliverables, roles, and responsibilities

  3. Demonstrating collaborative values and processes

These are not steps to be ticked off. They are threads that are woven from the first meeting until the final debrief.

Clarifying mutual commitment

This strand is about uncovering not only what the client wants but also what both of you need. Wants are outcomes: a plan, a decision, a shared vision. Needs are the conditions that make those outcomes possible: access to the right people, enough time to prepare, openness to feedback.

Naming both at the beginning creates a shared frame you can return to whenever circumstances shift. If deadlines change or new priorities appear, you can ask together: Do we still have what we need to achieve what we want?

When this conversation happens well, everyone knows the direction of travel and what to expect from each other. Trust is resilient enough to hold frank discussion. When it is missed, assumptions take the place of agreements. Those assumptions often show up at the worst possible moment.

Developing consensus on tasks, deliverables, roles, and responsibilities

Once the direction is set and conditions agreed, attention turns to how the work will be done and who will do it. This is more than a project plan. It is an agreement about what “done” looks like, who carries responsibility, and how decisions will be made along the way.

Without this clarity, facilitators and clients can walk away from the same event with different stories about what was achieved. A colleague I once coached discovered this too late. She had delivered a national consultation that produced detailed insights. When she presented them, the sponsor was disappointed. They had expected a prioritised, costed plan. Because there had been no shared definition of “deliverable,” the work was undervalued.

When consensus is strong, progress feels visible and shared. Deliverables meet expectations and decision-making flows. Without it, tasks are duplicated or dropped, ownership is uncertain, and time is wasted.

Demonstrating collaborative values and processes

The third strand is lived day to day. Partnership is not built once and stored away. It is sustained in the behaviours we bring into the room.

If we speak of collaboration but make decisions behind closed doors, the message is clear even if unintended. Demonstrating collaborative values means being transparent about why and how decisions are made. It means inviting others into shaping the process and sharing credit with generosity.

These gestures are not soft. They are the ground on which engagement stands. When present, participants feel safe to speak and clients invest themselves in the work. When absent, collaboration becomes a word rather than an experience, and people retreat into compliance.

Holding the strands together

Each strand reinforces the others. Mutual commitment without consensus leaves people aligned in intention but uncertain in action. Consensus without collaboration may produce efficiency but not engagement. Collaboration without clarity of goals can feel warm but ineffective.

Our task as facilitators is to keep all three visible from start to finish. They are not just safeguards. They are multipliers. When they are tended well, the conditions exist for the work to exceed expectations rather than merely meet them.

Ten practical tips for developing working partnerships

Here are ten short reflections you can weave into practice. Each invites a small shift in how we show up with clients, particularly in the early stages of an engagement. None are techniques as much as ways of being in partnership.

1. Begin with the relationship, not the task: Before discussing design or logistics, pause and ask the client what prompted the work. Most partnerships stumble not because the task was unclear but because the relationship was never named. Ask what will make this partnership worthwhile for them, and offer the same in return.

2. Make your needs visible: Many facilitators speak only about client needs and hide their own. Partnership grows when both sides say what they require to be effective. Time, access, openness, or the willingness to face difficult topics are often essential. Naming these conditions is an act of stewardship.

3. Turn assumptions into agreements: Every engagement begins with unspoken expectations. Instead of navigating around them, surface them with curiosity. Ask what the client is counting on you for, and what you can count on them for. The conversation itself builds trust and gives you a compass for later decisions.

4. Invite the client into the design: A process feels more real when the client helps shape it. Rather than presenting a finished agenda, involve them early. Ask what moments they hope the group will experience or what conversations they tend to avoid. Co-creating the design strengthens ownership.

5. Name the real deliverable: Requests often come in the form of an event or a workshop, but underneath sits the real desired shift. It might be alignment, renewed trust, or a better way of working together. Exploring this helps both sides make sense of the work and keeps the visible deliverables grounded in purpose.

6. Clarify who holds what authority: Work becomes tangled when authority is vague. Ask who decides on design changes, who approves outputs, and who will be present. Clarity here is not about formality; it is about making responsibility visible so that it can be shared without hesitation.

7. Model the partnership you want: Every interaction teaches the client something about how you intend to work together. Transparency, curiosity, and the willingness to name uncertainty signal that partnership is more than a contract. People will often mirror what they see.

8. Return to the partnership when things shift: Projects rarely unfold as imagined. When conditions change, go back to your original agreements. Ask together whether they still hold. This simple act prevents drift and turns change into an opportunity to renew commitment rather than work around it.

9. Resist the temptation to become the hero: Facilitators often step in to rescue the work when it gets messy. Partnership invites a different move: hand the work back. Ask the client what role they want to play now and how you can support them. This strengthens shared ownership.

10. End as intentionally as you began: A thoughtful close gives space to reflect on what was learned about working together. Ask what surprised them, what they appreciated, and what they would change. Endings shape the next beginning and often reveal what the partnership made possible.

Review your most recent facilitation project

Take ten minutes or so to reflect. Write down your answers. Patterns may appear that will strengthen your future partnerships.

  1. Did you and the client both name your goals and conditions for success?

  2. Were deliverables defined clearly enough that both of you could describe them the same way?

  3. Was it clear who was responsible for each part of the process and for making decisions?

  4. Did you model the behaviours you wanted from participants? Did the client do the same?

  5. When things shifted, did you revisit your agreements or did you work around the change?

The payoff

When you invest in Develop Working Partnerships, you are not just smoothing the path of a project. You are building trust, alignment, and shared ownership that can outlast the facilitation itself. You are creating the conditions for people to think well together and act with commitment.

That is why this competency comes first. Without it, the rest of the work rests on sand. With it, you have a foundation strong enough to hold real change.

Frequently Asked Questions about IAF Core Competency A1 – Develop Working Partnerships

What is the IAF Core Competency A1?
The International Association of Facilitators (IAF) Core Competency A1 is called Develop Working Partnerships. It is the first competency in the IAF framework and centres on building a strong foundation between facilitator and client before, during, and after a facilitation process. This includes establishing trust, agreeing shared goals, clarifying expectations, and creating the conditions needed for success. Without it, even well-designed facilitation processes can fail.

What does developing working partnerships involve?
Developing working partnerships is more than agreeing to run an event. It is about sustaining a collaborative relationship that supports the work. It involves clarifying mutual commitment, developing consensus on tasks, deliverables, roles, and responsibilities, and demonstrating collaborative values and processes. Each reinforces the others.

Why is developing working partnerships important for facilitators?
Strong working partnerships are the backbone of successful facilitation. They ensure alignment from the start, prevent misunderstandings, and make adaptation possible when circumstances change. They also give facilitators the confidence to raise sensitive issues, offer honest feedback, and navigate complex group dynamics with the support of the client.

How do you clarify mutual commitment with a client?
This begins with a conversation before design work starts. The facilitator invites the client to share not only their outcomes but also the conditions they believe are necessary for success. The facilitator does the same. A helpful question is: What will make this work feel worthwhile for you? The aim is a clear agreement that both sides can restate in their own words.

What happens if working partnerships are not developed?
When this stage is skipped, the risks grow quickly. Misaligned expectations lead to frustration. Tasks are duplicated or dropped. Deliverables miss the mark. Without trust, facilitators may hold back concerns and clients may withhold important information. In the worst cases, participants disengage and outcomes fall short of the real issues.

How can facilitators build collaborative values into their process?
By modelling the behaviours they want from others. This means being transparent about decisions, explaining why changes are made, involving the client in shaping the work, and sharing credit. Small moments of openness or acknowledgement signal that collaboration is not just a word but a lived practice.

Does developing working partnerships apply outside corporate facilitation?
Yes. The principles of Developing Working Partnerships apply equally in community settings, education, non-profits, and government. In these contexts, perspectives are often more diverse and the need for trust and shared ownership is even greater. Whether facilitating a neighbourhood planning meeting, a multi-agency initiative, or a school workshop, working partnerships provide the stability that allows groups to work well together.

What would be a recommended resource for this initial phase?
A valuable companion to this competency is Flawless Consulting by Peter Block. His work explores what he calls “contracting,” the stage in which consultant and client clarify what they each want and need, agree on roles, and define how they will work together. It also looks at three stances we can take as we collaborate. The book offers both language and mindset for forming the kind of partnership that makes facilitation possible.