Maintaining Cooperatives

Depending on the kind of co-operative, to maintain it successfully, you shall establish parameters and criteria for your success and failures, so you can parameter your co-operative on your scale. The co-operative is not related 100% as a business to make profit but it has to be sustainable, because it’s a community based project where benefit to the community will ensure its longevity. The co-operative management should encourage and involve a large number of potential members willing to conduct business with the co-operative.

• Hold regular information meetings,
• Establish an education program for the members and the community.
• Participate in events within the community,
• Secure relationships with other organizations
• Get into federation and professional associations
• Become informed within the development of co-operatives

After the incorporation phase and the business have already started its ongoing process, the co-operative will build its own management system regarding its size, services, products and clients.

The governance is the efficient and appropriate way that the organization has to work with. The co-operative establishes a manual of roles and responsibilities for all participants. The first learning and teachers of the governance model are the directors of the board.

Good governance sets up a formal system with the conditions supporting its development based on five keys:

1- Determinate power, roles, responsibilities and respect of areas of competence.

2- Transparency and communication

3-  Democratic and/or participative management

4-  Leadership of director and members

5-  Education and training.

The co-operative as a democratic organization works via a board of directors, which needs a manual and tools to work with, so the governance model gives the board the guidelines to act and react at any circumstance.

The structure of the co-operative will determinate the interaction and the accountability for every component of the organization.