When a board receives an Ends monitoring report from their manager, a thoughtful process can transform the report from just another document to file away into a valuable resource that helps the board, the manager and the co-op’s member-owners better understand the “story” of their co-op. The board wants to know: Does the report demonstrate reasonable accomplishment? Are we on track for multi-year goals/targets [...]
By Marshall Kovitz 144 September - October - 2009 When we look at the future for the co-op, what do we see and how do we express it? These are vital questions for board members to ask because it’s the board’s job to articulate outcomes that guide and inspire the co-op. And the results must be a thriving business that meets owners’ needs and [...]
By Mark Goehring, Carolee Colter 143 July - August - 2009 A board evaluating the general manager (GM) of a food co-op…now there’s a process that directors should be able to describe, defend, celebrate and appreciate with little or no ambiguity or hesitation. In a recent online recorded workshop on GM evaluation, Thane Joyal and Carolee Colter laid out these four learning objectives [...]
By Thane Joyal 138 September - October - 2008 The man in the wilderness asked of me, How many strawberries grow in the sea? I answered him as I thought good As many as red herrings grow in the wood. —Old Nursery rhyme When I talk to members of a board of directors about its legal roles and responsibilities, I always try [...]
This flowchart describes the steps and questions to use during the process of accepting or rejecting a monitoring report. Use during a meeting or beforehand to prepare yourself.
By Mel Braverman 126 September - October - 2006 Many cooperatives struggle to find appropriate operational benchmarks and to set challenging yet attainable goals. Without the use of external data to help them understand how the industry may be changing, they are left with their own historical performance data (if available) as the sole source from which to base their benchmarks and goals. While [...]
By Mark Goehring 123 March - April - 2006 There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is commonly known to directors and managers. It is a dimension open to interpretation—potentially as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between too much and too little, between knowing and doing, and it lies between the pit of a director’s [...]
