When something happens that breaks that trust, how do you move forward? How can you build, repair, and maintain trust? A new online workshop, Trust and Betrayal in the Board/Manager Relationship, delves into the ways boards and general managers can build and repair trust.
A meeting packet should help directors prepare for the meeting. After reading the packet, a director should know what the meeting will be about and should have all the information necessary to fully participate in all discussions and to make any decisions that the board will make at the meeting. Establishing a rhythm and discipline in creating, distributing and reading meeting packets can help make the board meetings themselves that much more productive and enjoyable.
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 [...]
Two upcoming classes in the GM Development program cover interesting and relevant topics for diverse general managers, but especially those who are new to their position. The first is called “Co-op Culture, Diversity, and Engaging Stakeholders.” It explores the way cooperative culture helps a general manager bring together all of the relationships within their co-op. The course also focuses on increasing and strengthening diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within participating co-ops.
Increasingly intense and sustained competition in our market is shifting the landscape in which co-ops operate, putting a premium on certain key competencies and skills in management. At the same time, other factors are making the GM job more complex and demanding, including: pressure on prices and margin, increasing costs of real estate and development, and calls for a living wage at a time [...]
GM Retirement Planning Best Practices, or How to Retire Gracefully When a general manager (GM) is planning to retire, (as opposed to leaving the co-op for another job), the specific date of departure is flexible and known well in advance. The outgoing GM's legacy will be affected by how s/he handles the transition. Timing Once you decide to take the leap, let your management [...]
Cooperative managers are charged with creating reports that demonstrate financial accountability to the board. Yet some managers struggle with having the right amount of information for their boards. When it comes to financial reporting what is the right amount? In the Columinate Library in the GM Report Support section, managers can find templates for financial conditions monitoring reports that gives boards the valuable information they [...]
with guests John Hatton, board president, Brattleboro Food Co-op, and Sharon Murphy, GM at Whole Foods Co-op, Duluth CG -- Evaluating the GM by Colter and Goehring
For a board of directors, few things are as unsettling as receiving a complaint about the GM, and few things can more quickly erode the board-GM relationship than a complaint handled poorly.
