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 [...]
Properly structured and monitored board committees can be a good way for a board to accomplish specific board tasks and to ensure that ongoing, repeating processes are carried out. Small groups of people working together are nimble, effective and fun! Improperly used committees can waste precious board time and energy, and at worst can undermine the Board’s relationship with its General Manager and the [...]
In a democratic organization like a cooperative, it is vital that the owners’ voices come through to the co-op leadership. In the Ends to Ends Strategic Process ORW, board members can learn how to effectively channel the values and voices of their owners to create Ends that not only reflect desires for their co-op, but also demonstrate how Ends are also part of the [...]
By Art Sherwood 163 November-December 2012 Expansion and growth are on the minds of many cooperative board and management leaders. And this makes sense, since growing our cooperatives’ abilities to deliver on their organizational Ends is of critical strategic importance. It certainly was on our minds at Bloomingfoods Co-op (Bloomington, Ind.) this last year as we addressed growing to include a fourth store and [...]
Chapters: Overview Ends to Interpretation Interpretations to Strategic Planning Planning to Action Ends Reporting Communicating Ends Accomplishment Note: Click to view all chapters
Have you ever been in a room with 2,800 cooperators from around the world? This past October, cooperators from around the world gathered for the Imagine Conference and International Cooperative Summit in Quebec. The experience was nothing short of inspiring. The room was approximately the size of three football fields filled with people dedicated to making the world a better place! You can imagine [...]
UPDATED: February 27, 2016 Bylaws are an important set of governing agreements in which the member-owners of a cooperative articulate the special dual relationship they have with each other: members of an association and owners of a business. In the bylaws, the member-owners define how they will make certain decisions together and how they will empower a board to make other decisions on [...]
Boards delegate to their GM the task of effectively managing the co-op’s operations, which requires a clear system of accountability to ensure the GM is doing this job well. How can a board and GM maintain this system of delegation and accountability during the more risky and busy time of an expansion project? How can the board be sure that good financial management continues [...]
