Using Your Existing Skills
You’ve been successful in building partnerships with many different groups, and those same skills can help you build a relationship with a business. You may be concerned about differences in terminology, operating philosophies, and overarching goals, but you have the skill set you need. Just apply the same practices you use when connecting with nonprofits, local agencies, and community residents.
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1. Aligning Goals
The same active listening and conversational skills you've used before can help you and a business representative get on the same page.
While the primary goals of local businesses may differ from the primary goals of other organizations you’ve worked with, the same active listening and conversational skills you’ve used before can help you and a business representative find where your goals intersect. Learning more about the business, their values, goals, and vision for the future will help you discover opportunities for partnership.
For example , you may learn one of the goals of your potential business partner is to attract and retain talented employees. Helping the business adopt a family friendly workplace can help further both the business's goal as well as your goal of creating safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for all children.