Cooperatives must change
Combating Global Distrust in Cooperative Members
Everyday I read more and more stories about the corruption in cooperatives.
Everyday I read more and more and more stories about cooperatives having to shift the way they do business.
The fact is, the world has come to a point where no one trusts anyone — and this makes the job of a cooperative board member incredibly difficult.
Unfortunately, what has happened is the world has become awakened to its own corruption and because of that there is simply a lack of trust in the world.
People don’t trust police, people don’t trust politicians, people don’t trust globalization, people don’t trust nationalism, people don’t trust corporate board officers, and all this means — people don’t trust those who run their cooperatives.
Regaining and Maintaining Cooperative Trust
This is a very complicated topic. Whenever issues of trust are called into play, and like it or not they are being called into play everywhere, we must be very cautious not to offend or otherwise upset the members of the cooperative.
In other aspects of life, you may not be used to be humble and unoffensive. However as a cooperative where trust is an issue, its like trying to deal with a PR situation. Being very humble and very careful is the only way.
You must embrace the 7 core cooperative principals. The following will both keep in line with the principals while also ensuring your members stay happy and trusted inside the cooperative.
- Committees
Have some committees setup within your cooperative to address the issue. Those committees need to reach out to the members and learn their opinions. Anyone who feels their voice is not being heard, needs to be invited to a special session meeting. - Special Sessions
Listen to these people. Do not invite others in the cooperative to the meeting. Your bylaws should make exceptions for special session meetings to allow this to take place. Make sure every last member feels someone is at least attempting to address their concerns — even if it doesn’t turn out in their favor. - Cooperative Project Involvement
People trust things that they have hands on experience with, things they have been involved and active with, and things that make them feel part of something. Get tons of projects people in your cooperative can join together and work on. People that are not active with projects — reach out to them and find out why. Get them involved! - Education Education Education!
Cooperatives live and die based on education. Education is the key, and sadly an area where Marketers Cooperative is severely failing. Most cooperatives seem to think education means education about the services the cooperative provides. This is not the only important type of education. It is also important all your members are aware of your cooperative mission and what steps are being taken to further that mission, as well as how they can help.
Becoming more transparent
The fact is, every cooperative I have ever looked into could do a better job of being transparent. One of the best things a cooperative can do, is get people involved who understand cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
This is technology that can ensure beyond doubt your cooperative stays transparent. It can be used to show publicly every transaction made by the cooperative in realtime. No one can even dip into cooperative funds without all cooperative members knowing if funds are stored on the blockchain.
Although we are still very much in early stages of working with a cryptocurrency, this is one of the most important aspects of its usage to us as a cooperative. It is our belief that cooperative who adopt cryptocurrency technology earn on — will have a much more stable footing in terms of public trust and transparency.
The important thing to keep in mind in terms of trust — is to ensure your members are satisfied and remain that way. The best way is always to use the 7 cooperative core principles.
