By Nina Johnson 160 May - June - 2012 You know the feeling: you walk into your first meeting, you don’t know anyone, you’re not sure what to say or do, and everyone but you seems to know what’s going on. That’s how it can feel for a newly elected board director who has had no orientation, and this feeling can last for months. [...]
Sometimes what appears to be a performance problem—employees not doing the job up to your expectations—is actually a problem with the organizational structure of your business. If tasks go undone because they are falling off someone's overfull plate, or because they are on several different plates, or because they aren't on anyone's plate, you've got a structure problem. Sometimes what appears to be a [...]
Building a positive board performance culture takes continuous work and vigilance on the part of the board. Part I explored the vital concepts of Shared Understanding of the Job of the Board & Shared Expectations for Board Performance, but every year boards have an election and end up with a ‘new’ board. This provides the board with the opportunity to take advantage of a [...]
By Art Sherwood 157 November - December - 2011 There has been much discussion, debate and downright argument about the role of the board in the strategic process of our co-ops. "Isn't that getting into operations? Aren't our hands tied by our governance system? Isn't "strategy" a taboo word to raise in the board room since that is supposed to be the general manager's [...]
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 [...]
By Rose Marie Klee 150 September - October 2010 Board of directors’ self-evaluation is the act of reflecting upon the past in order to constantly improve. It is rooted in a sincere commitment to providing high-quality governance as trustees of an organization. When a board practices periodic evaluation, each director comes to better understand the expectations for individual directors, as well as the entire [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
