Effective Partnering

I have created a series of three workshops for partners in business that I will start facilitating in January. I thought of "effective partnering" in the middle of the night as I was thinking about how important it is to be in harmony when you are working with someone and you equally are making successful oriented business decisions together. In a perfect world I would have worded this "effortless partnering" but sometimes we have to struggle and make decisions that may be difficult. It's very important at the beginning of a business partner relationship to get everything that is relevant to your success on the table.  Define people's roles, create boundaries and get clarity on expectations so if there is a surprise that shows up, you can deal with it rationally without making someone wrong. Too many times these steps are left out, not thought of or thought of as not important. Things will come back to bite you if you don't address key issues up front.  You can never assume that the other person thinks like you do, big mistake.  We are all wired very differently with life experiences, education and backgrounds that reflect on who we each are. Taking time to sit down and talk about roles is key to how successful and balanced you will be in decisions you will be making together in the future. What steps do you need to make now to start a   more successful relationship?