Worker Cooperative Technical Skills: Joining Forces for the Good of All

Preface

ADJUSTING TO NEW CIRCUMSTANCES requires many hands on deck. This is why this e-book is written. As you tell yourself this is the best route to take, that of starting or fixing a worker owned cooperative, keep in mind there is a right and wrong way to approach this. Joining forces for the first time as a worker owned cooperative requires much knowledge and forethought before taking the first step.

Development of this knowledge has been deeply thought about and placed in this book for you. If you find the rigors of startup daunting, this book should help ease your mind a bit. Remember that this book contains different material than you can find at worker cooperative organizations or in other publications or the Internet. For their assistance, please locate those different materials and contact other noteworthy people.

Judging from your interest in reading this book, you are ready to partake in the best possible of methods of beginning and running a worker owned cooperative. You are saluted in your efforts! With this informative book you can help overcome some difficulties that typical startup worker owned cooperatives face. Remember that this book is not the be-all, end-all of what you will need on your road to development of a finely tuned worker co-op. This book is, however, justification for your spending time in its pages. Not only will you learn the best of what we have to offer, you will find yourself coming back to these pages when situations that need your attention can be solved from within them.

Go now to the beginning of what promises to be an adventure of a lifetime!

With respect,

Carol A. Manetta

1 In the Beginning: Training Personified

What is training personified?

PERSONIFYING THE BEGINNING of training or other activity involves seeing the activity going forward from behind your eyes and the eyes of others. This visioning sets the stage for outcomes you can count on. For instance, targeting outcomes without visioning means artificial goals set up without really seeing possible tangential outcomes that may take place that are harmful to the original intended outcome. That means unintended consequences that were not foreseen by the planners. The word foreseen tells us this is a good idea.

Telling the story ahead of time

WHEN WE PERSONIFY THIS training, it also means people will tell the story according to how they see the outcome going forward. How do they envision the people behaving toward one another in the technical areas of the worker owned business when things are running smoothly? How do they gather information about their planning, recording of transactions, reporting to governments at all levels, preparing for technical changes to the business, and so on? As we enter into this training, we have many types of scenarios to envision in order to plan in great detail the activities we as worker owners will face, and therefore be prepared for. This is the purpose of all training.

Preparing for visioning

EACH DAY AS YOU DRAW closer to achieving the beginning of a cooperative, your visioning needs to be stronger than you imagine. As your group assembles each morning for either training or for work, set the day in motion by having visioning for the day. This may come in a few categories. For instance, you may have marketing on the mind for drawing in new customers. You might state the vision together with the entire group, We see our new marketing efforts paying off in the sense that more people in this community want to shop here. Or you might try this vision. We see the happy faces of the customers as they arrive for the first time after having seen our ads in a magazine and online.

Each of these visions are ones that the group has enabled together. This way when they say the visions out loud together, it has more meaning for everyone involved. By supporting this vision as they go about the work day, they are realizing its outcome.

Visioning at its best

IN PREPARING VISIONING statements to personify your objectives, include the words We see or We envision at the beginning of each statement. This is a call to action for the people doing the visioning either with their eyes closed or their eyes open. As the words are formed, each person can have a vision that is similar to all the others doing the visioning. As the visions become clear inside everyone’s mind, it sets the day as an initial form of planning.

All visioning is a precursor to quality planning in business, government, and citizenship.

Now here is the next thing to add to visioning. If participants feel good about what it is they are envisioning, it sets the tone for the day in the cranial region of emotions. If worker owners come to work carrying the world on their shoulders, it also sets the tone for the day. Instead, with this visioning comes an opportunity for each and every worker owner to set aside any burdens they brought in with them, and replace it with positive visions with positive tones. This immediately uplifts them. That in itself is a harbinger of not only how the day is going to play out, but also how the business will proceed.

Visioning’s positive results are shown always in the net profits of any business. This means that as you vision so you shall reap the rewards in the end.

More examples of visioning

LET’S TAKE EXAMPLES in different categories so you understand fully how visions can be constructed. This is so you create your own with all the right ingredients.

Startup cooperative – We envision together working side by side in harmony and good cheer for many years to come.

New members joining – We see newcomers as talents waiting to join an awesome crew of worker owners who welcome them into the fold, creating more harmony than ever before.

Joint membership with another cooperative – We see two organizational hearts beating as one unit, with exchanges of good work, products, specialized services and community spirit.

Fair Trade practices with agreeing cooperatives- We envision a partnership across purchasing lines. This vision includes adjusting prices for the benefit of both consumer and producer. We see little middle interactions between them and a holistic relationship unfolding over time to include communities benefitting on both ends. (More on this in a later module.)

Money flow – We see currency flowing first from members into the cooperative, from the public who joins in creating a cooperative (social investors), from good customers into the cooperative, and from the cooperative into the community. All cooperative members see a continuous flow of energy in the form of currency from cooperative ventures into the good hands of members for their livelihood and families.

Talents at work – We see many people engaging in work that is satisfying, eager to be done, and matching skills and abilities, with room to grow from a natural starting point.

Vendors – We envision long term relationships with just the right vendors whose thinking matches our cooperative. These vendors are themselves cooperatives, if possible, and if not, are honest, cooperative in nature, and wish for our success as an outgrowth of theirs.

Governments – We see representatives in various levels of government representing the nature of cooperative activity. We see them visiting from time to time to understand the successful nature of our cooperative and strive to support its mission with laws that are fair and just.

These are but a few examples of visioning statements which, when said together in a group, solidifies their purpose and camaraderie results.

This cannot be overstated. Visioning is done by every successful major company in the world. Often they take place in boardrooms or at management level, so workers are not always aware of their nature or power. Any time a company has grown or gone in a different direction successfully, seeing the outcomes is at the start. This is why we call successful new entrepreneurs visionaries.

Travelling down the road to an outcome involves presence of mind. This means that all other distractions must go away. Being present in the moment requires solitude of the mind. Taking this apart a bit, let’s see how your cooperative can tap into this presence of mind.

First, allow all noise to be calmed down if possible to start. If a vendor suddenly swings the door open with boxes, ask him or her to wait a bit while the group envisions the day. Now, this is not done in most conventional businesses, so a vendor might not understand this activity. Explain that the group is bringing attention to the work of the cooperative so they can have smoother relationships with each other and with vendors, the public, and so on.

With practice, morning visioning can take but a couple of minutes but will have powerful impact that ensures success for the rest of the day...well worth the little time it takes to concentrate on one issue that needs attention. That is the vision of the day that needs it the most.

2 Preparing for Business: Planning at Its Best

THIS CHAPTER SHOWS you how to prepare for a new cooperative through quality planning. As you venture forth with your group of cooperatives numbers, it is likely that you have a plan in mind that’s of general nature. This plan of yours will take root when all of you together have the same vision for how the business is to go forward. Chapter 1 helps you to understand what visioning is and how it can help to prepare for new business. This chapter prepares you to engage in formal planning starting with visions and ending with the small details that enable you to achieve the vision.

What is a logic model?

A LOGIC MODEL IS BASED on logic. When we talk about logic we mean the reasoning skills that every human has and is born with. Logic and reasoning go hand-in-hand. First we have the thought and then we have a second thought that relates to the first one, and then the third thought is a logical one based on the first two. That’s a rough definition of the meaning of logic. If our thoughts were all random thoughts with one thought not relating to another, we would have no meaning in our lives. Since reason helps us to think in a logical order rather than randomly, logic is what we will use to make an orderly path from visioning as our first thought to completion as our final one.

Logic model starters

LET’S LOOK AT THE STRUCTURE of logic models. Inverting the idea of horizontal outlines, the logic model instead uses vertical columns. The lines in these columns help the reader to understand there are separate ideas that are logically placed in order. To illustrate, we see below a logic model outline ready for input by any user.

It starts with a vision. If the vision is quite general, then some of the fields that are filled in on this logic model will be difficult and often challenging. If the vision is more specific as to what it looks like once the vision has been achieved, then fields are easier to fill in with clarity and all readers’ understanding.

What is an objective?

AN OBJECTIVE STARTS with a goal in mind, something that can be achieved which everyone understands. The statement of the objective usually starts with the word To. That word is the start of To do something. An objective relates a need for action with:

why the action needs to take place

who will be affected by the action

or what order actions need to take place in

Example

LET’S GO FROM A VISION statement to an objective  to achieve the vision.

Vision statement:  We see a developed new charter agreement within our cooperative that everyone contributes to and all participants are ready to use, posted on the wall for all to see, as a guide for our daily activities.

Objective based on the vision statement: To develop our cooperative charter for daily activities for all members.

The above vision statement is a clear picture of what people can actually see in their minds as already accomplished.

The above objective tells us what we are then to do after clearly seeing the vision.

Inputs and Resources column

LET’S TALK ABOUT Inputs and Resources of a logic model for planning.

Financial, human, material, tech and info resources used

These are the factors most often talked about as inputs and resources to meet an objective to give form to a vision. Let’s take them one at a time.

Financial – The members can earn enough money to spare some and donate it to accomplish the objective.  They can borrow some.  They can raise funds through crowd funding or credit unions or banks.  Or they can set aside savings from a time ago for this purpose. In any event, this sharing of financial input from all potential sources solidifies the nurturing each member can conduct at the start of setting an objective.

Human – The members can donate time based on their expertise and availability. The members of a group can divide a task and then come together much the same way the table groups in training share their expertise in the activities at the end of a module. Or they can come together and brainstorm ideas and can offer to document the proceedings in a careful way. If physical tasks are generated in an objective, those whose skills match the tasks are able to contribute to achieving the objective.

Material – Here the list of materials to be used to accomplish the objective are listed in order of first used to last used. This way, they can be assembled and brought together in a timely way for carrying out the objective. If purchases must be made for the materials needed, the financial inputs must reflect that and the costs recorded for developing a record of transactions required to reach the objective.

Technical and Information Resources - When considering technical and information resources, begin by considering what you already have. Once you have listed resources you already have that you know will prepare you for fulfilling the objective, you can begin to identify those things that need to be purchased or borrowed. Be certain to include both sets of resources in your budget as separate line items. The first line item will reflect the value of what you already have and can use. The other line item refers to those things that need to be purchased and the current cost that you have researched. Let’s explore each one of these topics separately.

Technical resources. These can include any hardware and software that you possess. Machines that are required to fulfill your objective can be listed here also. Vehicles, if they enter into the picture, should be added here as well since they may be required to make deliveries or pick up other items or people. Any logistical resources that may be required can fall under this category. By logistical we mean transport devices or services needed to get the goods or people from one place to another. That can include logistical services or travel agencies.

Information resources. Website space or development of a new webpage, social networking sites, and email blasts fall under this category. If news needs to go further than the internal control of the organization, then local and even international news outlets, and the public relations efforts behind those required here, are information resources.

As with materials, figure out what you already have and report that separately on line items in your budget. Research the cost of anything you need that you don’t have and enter those on separate line items in your budget.

Logic model Actions or Activities column

WHEN WE TALK ABOUT actions and activities, we referred to very specific tasks that are required to reach the objective. The words action and activity are the same in meaning. An activity can be loosely