Last month, I sat in a project review meeting for a major energy infrastructure development. The technical specifications were flawless, the engineering plans meticulously detailed, and the project controls robust. Yet something wasn’t clicking. Despite world-class expertise around the table, the various partners weren’t truly collaborating—they were merely coordinating, each operating in their own silo. Out of 20 people in the room, only five were actively engaged; the rest sat behind their laptops, disengaged, treating the meeting as background noise rather than a forum for shared problem-solving.
This scenario, one I've encountered repeatedly across two decades of consulting on major capital projects, illustrates a crucial truth: technical excellence alone doesn't guarantee project success. The human dynamics between project partners often determine whether a project thrives or merely survives.
The Partnership Paradox
Through my work with leadership teams across Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia, I've observed a consistent pattern. The larger and more complex the project, the more critical human relationships become. Yet paradoxically, these are often the elements given the least structured attention during project planning and execution.
Forty years of research shows that major capital projects experience predictable phases that put pressure on culture, collaboration, and relationships. Understanding these phases isn't just academic—it's the key to building resilient partnerships that can weather the inevitable storms of complex project delivery.
Three Critical Patterns in Project Partnership
1. Trust Precedes Transparency
Most project frameworks emphasize transparency as a foundational element. However, my experience working with consortiums from Norway to Kazakhstan has shown that transparency is an outcome, not a starting point. It emerges only after teams have established fundamental trust.
For example, in a recent major infrastructure project, we noticed that early warning indicators of schedule delays weren't being shared between partners. The issue wasn't a lack of reporting systems—it was that teams didn't feel psychologically safe enough to be the bearer of bad news. Only after we invested in building trust through structured dialogue and aligned incentives did the early warning system begin functioning as designed.
2. Cultural Integration Requires Intentional Design
When multiple organizations come together on major projects, each brings its own cultural norms and ways of working. The assumption that these differences will naturally sort themselves out is a costly misconception.
I recently worked with a consortium where European, Middle Eastern, and Asian organizations were collaborating on a major energy project. The technical interfaces were meticulously planned, but cultural interfaces were left to chance. By implementing structured cross-cultural workshops and establishing shared partnership principles, we helped the team move from mere coordination to genuine collaboration.
Consider the case of a Nordic Energy Transition project involving dozens of countries, which faced significant challenges due to vast cultural differences among partners. Some teams emphasized hierarchical decision-making and long-term strategic commitments, others favored consensus-driven approaches, while another group prioritized efficiency and individual expertise. These contrasting work styles resulted in project delays and budget overruns. To address these issues, project leadership created an independent governance structure, reinforced a shared global vision, and introduced integrated project teams designed to leverage diverse technical strengths while accommodating varied national perspectives on risk management and engineering standards.
3. Partnership Maturity Follows Predictable Phases
The journey from initial coordination to true partnership isn't random—it follows predictable phases: Activate, Regulate, Perform, and Adapt. Understanding these phases allows leadership teams to anticipate and prepare for challenges rather than simply reacting to them.
Moving Forward: Practical Steps for Project Leaders
Based on these patterns, here are three actionable steps project leaders can take to strengthen the human dynamics of their projects:
1. Invest early in building psychological safety. High-stakes projects often suffer when teams lack psychological safety—members hesitate to voice concerns, misalignments go unaddressed, and tensions escalate at critical moments. Start by creating structured opportunities for teams to build trust before key project phases begin. This isn't about team-building exercises—it’s about holding each other to account, establishing clear partnership principles and mechanisms for working through disagreements.
2. Make cultural integration as rigorous as technical integration, balancing structure with human connection. Map out the cultural interfaces between organizations with the same diligence you would apply to technical interfaces, while also fostering trust and mutual understanding. Establish clear protocols for decision-making, communication, and conflict resolution that not only bridge cultural differences but also create an environment where teams feel respected and heard.
3. Plan for partnership evolution. Recognize that partner relationships will evolve through predictable phases and build this understanding into your project execution plan. Include regular partnership health checks alongside traditional project controls.
The Path Forward
As projects become increasingly complex and global, excellence in human dynamics isn't just a "nice to have"—it's a critical success factor. The most successful projects I've seen are those where leaders gave equal weight to building strong partnerships as they did to technical execution.
The good news is that partnership capabilities can be developed systematically, just like technical capabilities. The key is recognizing that they require the same level of structured attention and investment as any other critical project element.
What patterns have you observed in project partnerships? I'd be interested in hearing about your experiences in the comments of my LinkedIn post.
Akin Belo is a Senior Consultant at Kintla, specializing in Leadership Team Effectiveness and Partnership Development for major capital projects. He has worked extensively across Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia, helping leadership teams develop the cultures required to achieve sustainable high-performance environments.
