Look around your management team meeting. Is everyone engaged in the conversation? Or are they looking at their phones as the meeting winds its way through a parade of topics or check-ins? We invest payroll and time in these meetings, so let’s make sure that we leverage that investment into a valuable and productive use of time. It’s good for the organization and for [...]
Theories of Participation Dan Arnett, general manager Central Co-op, Seattle, WA Theories of Participation Dan Arnett, general manager Central Co-op, Seattle, WA Dan Arnett shares his views on sustaining the cooperative identity through owner participation in co-ops. Expanding on the concept of Own, Use, Serve and Belong, Arnett sees the foundational aspect of the cooperative as an association and the [...]
By Michael Healy 177 March-April 2015 In many co-ops, the manager and board of directors function effectively as a leadership team. Along with having systems and structures in place that support and encourage healthy personal and professional relationships, a key element in each of these high-functioning teams is a general manager (GM) who has accepted responsibility for strengthening the board-GM relationship. Through interviews [...]
By Mel Braverman, Jeanie Wells 177 March-April 2015 Almost every cooperative retail grocery is feeling increased competition in its community. Twenty years ago, merely having featured products consistently available was enough for co-ops to be successful, but this is no longer an option. In the last few years, not only has the conventional industry become smarter operators of its natural/organic sets, we have also [...]
Policy Governance is an operating system for boards of directors. As with operating systems for computers, the system itself is not the point of the board’s work; the system simply provides an underlying framework on which boards can build further agreements and activities. Policy Governance does not mandate specific decisions, but does highlight the kinds of decisions a board should make. These decisions include [...]
