A new relationship between an association management company and an association client often begins with varying degrees of hope and excitement. Relieved of the pressures of project management, association boards even experience a sense of euphoria in the early stages of the transition. But if communication is lacking and the relationship is put under pressure, temperatures can be raised in an instant. Learn how to avoid partnership pitfalls, build trust, and create accountability among the parties.

Proceed With Caution
Clear written documentation of the program of work is critical.

The proposal phase or early stage of the relationship has to be carefully presented. Creating false expectations is a common problem. Underselling your association's issues and challenges can result in firms over-promising on what they can deliver. Providing an honest picture of the project will give you a much better chance of finding the right association management company to suit your particular needs.

Communicate the culture of your association. The association management company needs to be sure that it has staff assigned who can work within your association's culture. What are the "traditions or sacred cows"? How about the environment in which your members work? Often underestimated, this is an important consideration for a successful partnership. As you are working on the contract, ensure that it provides enough time for staff to acclimatize to each other's culture, traditions, and personalities. Bear in mind that short-term contracts allow little time for developing or nurturing the relationship. At Association Resources, we attempt to negotiate a three to five year contract. The longer the better! We, of course, have opt out clauses in the event the relationship just is not working. From the beginning, assign a senior staff person as a liaison to the AMC. If possible, this person should be the one negotiating the terms of the contract and the annual fees.

Keep Communication Constant
Develop communications and evaluation mechanisms immediately. These should be in the works as soon as you and the client have determined that there will be a relationship--even before the contract is signed. From our perspective, it is critical that the tone of the relationship be established right away. This means a clear understanding of the program of work, the targeted hours and the expectations in the delivery of service. You want to eliminate as much as possible any element of surprise.

Retain members of the transition team throughout. When you begin working with an AMC, a transition team is organized and includes both staff and volunteer leaders. Maintaining a portion of this team once the transition has been completed is critical to keeping the lines of communication open in subsequent years. A management review committee must be set up subsequent to the initial transition (refer to sidebar for a sample job description for a management review committee). Members of this committee are responsible for ongoing evaluation of the partnership after the transition and should comprise some members of the transition team. By virtue of being involved from the beginning, these individuals will have perspective of what the challenges were in the beginning of the relationship and can put problems and successes in the proper context. By having continuity and history in the evaluation process, you are able to gain perspective and trust--and you won't forget why the AMC was chosen in the first place.

Monitor Your Progress
Arrange meetings or calls with the management review committee at least once a year. To ensure expectations are met, more frequent calls or visits should be made as a means of a periodic "temperature check". Make sure the AMC conducts regular performance reviews of all assigned staff and shares these evaluations with you. As the relationship proceeds, don't allow complacency to cloud the partnership vision. Evaluations are about ensuring both the association management company and the association client are seeing things in the same way and feedback is a necessary and integral part of making the relationship work.

Encourage leadership training for both the board and committee chairs (many will become board members) to keep communication open and expectations clear. Once you begin to receive performance evaluations from the association management company, be fully prepared to discuss changes if warranted. That might mean staffing changes or modifications to your operations. These discussions will be a lot easier if you have planned and have conducted periodic conversations with your leadership team. Some of the best discussions I have had with my leadership were at the ASAE CEO Symposium. It provides a training venue for the chief elected officer and chief staff officer to nurture and develop the leadership partnership and to look at the relationship between themselves, the staff, and the environment in which they work. (For more information about the CEO Symposium, visit www.asaecenter.org/ProgramsEvents/Calendar.cfm.)

During the first year, carefully review the program of work document, ideally with the most senior project manager at the association management company. Be mindful about being billed for time that you have not anticipated or estimated, but also bear in mind that some activities undertaken will not be on the program of work. For a successful and enduring partnership, evaluations should be conducted frequently with fairness and respect.

M. Suzanne C. Berry,CAE, holds a masters in business administration, and is executive vice president, Association Resources, Inc., West Hartford, Connecticut. E-mail: sberry@associationresources.com