GM Report Support
The CBLD Policy Template GM Report Support Compilation GM Report Support By Policy Video Guides About the GM Report Support Project In 2005, GMs asked for support and the opportunity to collaborate in [...]
16th
Aug, 2019
Search
Results
12th
Dec, 2012
How to Use Committees to Help the Board to do Board Work
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 [...]
6th
Nov, 2010
Building a Positive Board Performance Culture 1 of 2
Imagine a board that moves positively forward with a shared understanding of board purpose; following their own words about how they will operate and doing so in a way that respects individual diversity and voice, on the way to making decisions as a unified and intentional whole. Boards that do this over the long haul have built a Positive Board Performance Culture (PBPC) and [...]
8th
Aug, 2024
Explorations in Policy Governance Series Fall 2024
This multi-session series will examine various aspects of governance, including both practical skill-building as well as exploration of broader governance concepts and issues that inform the Policy Governance approach.
18th
Jan, 2022
CBLD Resource Spotlight: Updated Policy Register Template
The new year is a time for reflection and revision, and co-op boards are no exception. Whether your board has just decided to implement Policy Governance® or your board wants to refresh existing policies, the updated 2021 Policy Register Template provides a great opportunity to start these conversations.
28th
Mar, 2009
Taking Policy Governance to Heart
A great cooperative thinker, Sid Pobihushchy, wrote an article in 2002 to help us understand the 10 cooperative values, “The Cooperative Values: Their meaning and practical significance” (find it at The Columinate Library). In his opening paragraph, he asserted that the cooperative movement and its businesses are the only way to accomplish the objective of community, the optimum condition for human fulfillment; that cooperative [...]
7th
Sep, 1999
Management Evaluation Under Policy Governance
By Marilyn Scholl 084 September - October - 1999 The relationship between the board and the general manager is probably the most important relationship in a co-op. To be successful, a cooperative needs a strong manager AND a strong board AND a strong, effective relationship between the two. In 22 years of working for and with food co-ops, I have seen too many examples [...]
4th
Sep, 1998
Using Policy Governance to Improve Board Leadership
By Marilyn Scholl 078 September - October - 1998 Food cooperatives around the country are talking about Policy Governance -- a system of board leadership developed by John Carver. While people are drawn to the simple logic behind Policy Governance, it is quite different from previous board experiences. Governance is an important job and should be done well. As the Food Front Cooperative board [...]
10th
Oct, 2022
Governance for Co-op and Nonprofit Boards Part 2
In 2014, Columinate introduced co-ops to the Four Pillars of Governance in an effort to show how the Policy Governance model fits in a broader framework of governance. As part of his work as a Visiting Scholar at the Vincent and Elinor Ostrom Workshop on Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Art Sherwood collaborated with Marilyn Scholl and others from Columinate to create this model to help organizations govern flexibly and effectively. A model is a way of framing so that the parts and processes make sense. Our Four Pillars model is not about changing systems but is a new way of making sense of governance. In the eight years since we introduced it, we have found that it helps organize board thinking about the complex task of governance. It does not supplant other theories or systems of governance, but rather provides a framework for boards to use in developing and applying those systems.
30th
Jul, 2021
Monitoring Reports: Definitions of the important components
Within the Policy Governance® model, a board delegates authority to the executive (General Manager, CEO, Executive Director, etc) through written policies. The executive then uses written reports to demonstrate accountability for the use of that authority. These monitoring reports are an important and primary component of the board’s evaluation of the executive; knowing what to include and what to look for can help the executive and board members create a highly effective and user-friendly system.