Organizational leadership development, team-building and...
michaelhealy@columinate.coop
802-881-7306
Co-op boards that use Policy Governance® write policies as a way to codify their agreements for how they will work together, how they will delegate responsibility to management, and what authority they will then actually delegate. Our CBLD team of consultants created this set of template policies based on what we saw does or doesn’t work for most food co-op boards, and we periodically [...]
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 [...]
Chapters: Overview Ends to Interpretation Interpretations to Strategic Planning Planning to Action Ends Reporting Communicating Ends Accomplishment Note: Click to view all chapters
A director should be equally as concerned with the future of the governance of their co-op as they are with the issues of the present day. Recruitment and orientation of new directors is the role of all board members, all year long. This Online Recorded Workshop gives thorough walk-through of the processes, and high-level thinking required for healthy board recruitment. [...]
Boards that want to provide the best leadership possible will regularly evaluate their own performance to highlight successes and areas needing improvement. Using your board’s stated policy agreements as the basis of your assessment offers one straightforward approach to self-evaluation.
Michael Healy and Mark Goehring are shooting the breeze in this casual (and short) video recording featuring some great pointers for boards and meeting facilitators to help get you through your meeting agendas on target and on time.
Keeping good records is one part of a board’s legal Duty of Care; as the record of what happens at meetings, the minutes are an important tool for fulfilling this duty. In practice, minutes primarily serve as a tool for helping directors remember what the board decided at previous meetings, and secondarily as a way to keep our co-op’s members informed about the actions [...]
Meetings are foundational to cooperative culture. 2 levels of learning Thane Joyal Presenter "Playing together is the best way to learn. We've designed these workshops to allow participants to experiment with different roles and different voices and to have fun doing it." [...]
What’s the difference between an excellent board president and a so-so one? Being an effective president requires a host of proficiencies, attributes and knowledge—it’s no easy job! A mix of people skills, the talent to manage and a curiosity and willingness to develop a keen understanding of your co-op’s business are key traits of any good board president. From facilitation savvy, the ability to [...]
Where we are headed matters. If we don’t know where we are going any road will do. A primary responsibility of a board is to define the reason for the organization’s existence. What are we here for? What should be different because we exist? For whom? For a board that uses Policy Governance®, Ends are written policies which define a) results, outcomes or benefits [...]
