Positive and less so. SPIA has utilized alliances with familiar and known professional consultants to plug into existing projects and provide clients with competencies that do not exist within the organization.

We find that being very clear and upfront as to the financial arrangements for fees is critical. That's called the NO SURPRISES working agreement.

There have been a number of good alliances that helped us close projects where internal resources were lacking.

The downside is that far too often the alliance partners want to be given project work and do little, if anything, to reciprocate by sharing business with our firm. That's NOT OK.

Once the one-sided nature of the relationship has been established, we, quickly remove those consultants from our potential affiliate list and start looking for others more attuned to understanding that alliances are two sided.

I've had positive experiences working with partners. One of the most important considerations is to set expectations between the parties. This includes any expectation of reciprocal work. Another consideration is how the partnership is presented to the client. We prefer the "one face to the client" approach to make it easier for the client (and more productive for the project).