Yesterday as I was queuing up to buy breakfast, I noticed that the couple preparing the food was in some sort of argument. The gentleman was reprimanding the lady for not doing something right and he kept scolding her non-stop. The lady, on the other hand, chose to remain silent although I could see from her facial expression that she was not happy.

As I continued to wait for my turn to order my food, I noticed that the lady turned more and more agitated by the partner’s remarks and she started showing her frustrations through the way she handles the food orders.

Soon, the predictable happened. A bowl of chili sauce fell from the table to the floor due to the way she started throwing things around and the whole cooking area became a mess. Needless to say, she received more scolding from the man.

For to work well with partners, there is a very clear need for a common goal and clearly defined roles. And when these are set right, there is also a need for a very efficient system to be in place. A system that is easy to implement, and it should be one that allows you to achieve maximum results with minimum effort. Take fast food restaurants as an example. They are successful because food can be served in the least time needed due to an extremely efficient system.

And when you have this kind of partnership, to me, what follows is understanding and communication.

For the first incident, if there was positive communication about how things should be done and could be done better, I believe that the outcome will change. Communication creates understanding which results in positive outcome. Lack of communication, on the other hand, leads each party to ‘guess’ what the other party wants and more often than not, it is a wrong guess. And when each other’s needs are not met, disagreements will set in.

For those who are already in a business partnership, it will be good to check if you have a common goal with your partners? And do you set very clear roles and have a system in place? Most importantly, are you communicating with your partner so that your understanding can only bring out the best in your venture?