5.2 Communicating and working well with partners

Handling communication with partners while working together on a language tech project requires a different approach to communication with language communities. This is because the aim and intention are different. You may need a more formal approach to communicating with partners, with more focus on goals, especially when working together for strategic reasons. We have learned from experience that this kind of communication needs to be driven by the following:

• Long-term thinking

Your aim may be to build a long-term partnership as a long-term strategic investment. You will need to clearly define roles and responsibilities with a long-term goal. With this type of communication, you need to set the roles and responsibilities of each party from the start. This can be very helpful and may prevent any conflicts in roles. When an overlap occurs, this could become an area where you work together and learn together.

• Building trust

It is very important for a successful partnership that the partner organizations trust one another. Building trust is a process. You need to take into account the difference between and uniqueness of each partner. If you trust one another, you can communicate freely. You can exchange ideas, debate, and discuss the progress of the project and the milestones.

• Being clear about the different kinds of expertise needed in the project

Each organization brings its expertise, and this is the basis for a partnership. For example, CLEAR Global has many years of expertise in software development, NLP, human-centered design, and partnerships. Another local organization may have expertise in local dynamics and needs. Or it may have a better understanding of the language barriers. By working together, the two organizations complement each other.

To handle this kind of communication so that you work together well and get the most benefit, you need a well-guided approach to communication and the right channel. We have also learned from experience that, when communicating with partners, we need the following high-level steps:

1. Setting up multi-level communication channels

This means setting up various possible ways of communicating. This is to meet different needs for information sharing, working together, decision-making, and sharing feedback. We need to understand that different types of information and interaction need different levels of detail, urgency, and privacy considerations. Experience has shown that it is important to identify communication needs, levels, and suitable channels.

Setting up proper labels and channels of communication makes it easier to share information and creates better ways of making decisions. For instance, to communicate with partners, you might need to use official channels that allow you to make references but are also faster and more efficient. When communicating with others working on the project, you might require fewer official channels but also fewer details. You may also need an option for urgent communications. You might also want to create communication guidelines. And you may want to ensure consistency and adaptability to give you the flexibility that you may need in a virtual work environment.

2. Aiding interaction with the user organization

To aid interaction with the user organization, we have learned from experience that it is important to take ownership of the process and final product with a local partner. For this to work well, partners need to be involved in multiple communication channels, with several channels of communication and knowledge sharing.

The communication process should be completely user-centered so that user needs are met. You also need to involve all stakeholders in finding a solution, at every stage. We have also learned that local partners need to build user communities for any tech product and shape communication around the product. It is useful to be transparent in sharing feedback and providing communication leadership.

3. Sharing best practices and lessons learned

Some of the best communication practices are as follows:

• make the process two-way

• be clear to avoid misunderstandings

• manage expectations at all times

• use multiple channels

• set up a feedback loop

• be transparent

• be timely and

• be aware of cultural factors.

These are key practices for smooth communication and to allow you to work well in a partnership. It is also important to share lessons learned in the course of the project. These lessons could be learned from hits and misses, challenges, and opportunities. It is vital to collect these lessons at every milestone, keep a record of them in a document, and share them for future partnerships.