Co-opAdvantage Developing Directors of Co-operatives encapsulates
the essence of co-operative education – an understanding of and commitment
to the Co-opAdvantage and how this must underpin education for co-operatives
and co-operators. The Co-operative Federation of Victoria Ltd is committed
to the importance of Co-opAdvantage workshops. This Co-opAdvantage publication
provides the discussion material and resources for these workshops to help
current and potential directors of co‑operatives to:
·
explore the director’s role and responsibilities,
·
identify essential and desirable knowledge, skills, attitudes
and behaviours, and
·
identify pathways for developing essential and desirable
knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours.
This
material is a modular program for use by directors, potential directors
and members of Victorian co‑operatives.
- Existing directors – to strengthen
their knowledge and skills.
- New directors – to develop their
knowledge and skills.
- Members – to prepare them as director
candidates.
- Members – to understand how to keep
directors accountable.
Co-operatives
are distinctive organisations and their social goals provide a competitive
advantage. The key to achieving this competitive advantage is acceptance
and articulation of the Co-opAdvantage – the values and principles of co-operation. The prerequisite to this is
informed and educated members and directors through an ongoing educational
process based on the recognition that there is a co-operative difference
– the Co-opAdvantage. An informed and active membership depends on understanding
and accepting the Co-opAdvantage.
It
draws on:
·
material in the UK report Developing Directors of Co-operatives and Other
Similar Enterprises prepared by
the Plunkett Foundation and the UK Department of Trade and Industry,
·
expertise of the Co‑operative Federation of Victoria
Ltd,
·
materials successfully piloted with a NSW consultants
co‑operative,
and
·
the authors’ experiences as company directors and directors
of non‑profit bodies as well as other business and life experience.
The
Co‑operative Federation of Victoria Ltd will periodically evaluate
and refine the Co-opAdvantage program to:
·
provide a timely and effective self‑education mechanism,
·
integrating this program with effective mentoring and support
services, and
·
use feedback from this program to update this publication
and assist the development of further programs.
This
program complements other activities undertaken by a range of government
and
non‑government organisations working with co‑operatives or working
to conserve and promote study of Australia’s co‑operative achievements
and heritage.
Some
of these organisations are identified in this program’s Resource Book.
This
program uses a self‑paced, group‑learning approach, which has
been used successfully in Sweden for the last 50 years to train directors
of non‑government organisations.
For
Victoria’s co‑operatives, its appeal lies in its flexibility
and its capacity to minimise the time, travel and cost demands on members.
Co‑operatives
can easily distribute the program’s materials to their members for use:
·
in conjunction with regular board meetings or committee
meetings, or
·
by informal groups of interested members.
The
materials can be discussed in face‑to‑face meetings, in
phone conferences, or via Internet conferencing or video conferencing.
The material
will also be held on the web sites or intranets for easy reference.
Whether
the discussion takes place face‑to‑face, in a teleconference
or on the web, the main things to remember are to:
·
bring an open mind,
·
listen to all views,
·
value your own experience and that of others,
·
ask others for help with points you don’t understand,
·
decide for yourself what you want to learn and how deeply
you want to explore any topic, and
·
supplement this material with local material, expert opinions
and site visits as appropriate.
The
Co-opAdvantage Developing
Directors program has 3 separate sessions:
The
big picture,
Getting
down to essentials, and
Development
paths for directors.
Each
session is outlined on this page. Participants decide:
·
how much material to use,
·
which points to discuss,
·
how deeply to explore any discussion point,
·
how long the discussion lasts, and
·
how many breaks to take and how long the breaks are.
This
session:
·
explores the special characteristics of
co‑operatives and the legislative and regulatory frameworks within
which they operate, and
·
introduces the idea of developing a job description for
the co‑operative directors and office bearers.
Before
or after this session, the program participants might like to:
·
ensure each participant has access to the co‑operative’s
rules and legislation or bring these along to the discussion,
·
review the co‑operative’s rules, bylaws and legislation,
·
gather the annual reports for some other co-operatives
or look at the annual report format required in the Co‑operatives
Act,
·
look at the history of some local or well‑known
co-operatives,
·
look at documentation available for your own co‑operative’s
history, and
·
browse or start a collection of press clippings about
co‑operatives.
This
session explores the essential items that a co‑operative’s
Board of directors must have. These include:
·
time,
·
commitment to co‑operative principles,
·
common sense and reasonableness,
·
a working knowledge of the co‑operative legislative
and regulatory frameworks,
·
a good understanding of the co‑operative’s members
and the markets,
·
an ability to work together, and
·
other items that program participants identify as essential.
Before
or after this session, the program participants might like to
·
visit a library or use the Internet for further research,
and
·
invite a guest speaker (e.g. lawyer, accountant, insurance
broker or director from another co-operative, perhaps from a more established
co-operative).
This
session explores:
·
desirable capabilities and qualities for directors of co-operatives,
and
·
development paths that best fit the needs of a co‑operative’s
directors and their available resources.
Before
or after this session, the program participants might like to consider:
·
inviting a speaker on education and training pathways,
or
·
arranging to browse catalogues of community education programs,
TAFE and university course and programs offered by bodies such as the Australian
Institute of Company Directors.
The
program’s Resource Book contains:
·
a rich range of exercises
to assist further exploration of the director’s role, and appropriate development
paths for directors; and
·
case studies of several Victorian co‑operatives.
All
of this material is optional.
When
the icon †appears in the session material, it highlights opportunities
for a further workout on a particular topic using exercises from the Resource
Book or other resources.
Quotes
from case studies in the Resource Book are presented in boxes between super
size quote marks like these
|
+ Case study 99
} case studies of Victorian co-operatives ~
|
Potential
outcomes from using this program include:
·
a clear understanding of the roles and responsibilities
of directors
·
a clear understanding of the distinct co-operative competencies
·
agreed job descriptions for directors, and perhaps for
the Chairman and Secretary-Treasurer
·
statements of the Board’s current competencies (knowledge,
skills attitudes and behaviours),
·
statements of the Board’s desired competencies (knowledge,
skills attitudes and behaviours,
·
statements of preferred pathways for enhancing existing
competencies and moving toward desired competencies,
·
agreed performance indicators for the Boards, Chairman
and Secretary–Treasurer,
·
a resource list to assist learning about Director’s role,
·
an action plan to assist learning about Director’s role,
·
greater confidence in performing the director’s role,
·
facilitate management accountability to boards
·
facilitate director and board accountability to members
·
better working relationship among participants; and
·
smoother running of the co‑operative.