I heard a story recently about someone in a co-operative who, fed up with a situation, turned around and proclaimed: “I can co-operate perfectly well by myself, thank you very much!”
Of course, co-operation – real, messy, good co-operation – doesn’t work like that. Co-ops exist to meet the needs of members, whether these members are customers, colleagues, neighbours or different stakeholders. But problems arise when members and organisations start to overlap. Previously very different organisations end up duplicating work as they try to diversify income streams, and end up in competition for scant resources, suffering miscommunications, and facing a loss of focus on what they are doing, why they are doing it, and who they are doing it for.
That has certainly been the recent case with Co-op News, Co-operatives UK, the Co-operative College and the Co-operative Heritage Trust. Yes, we share a building, values and principles. But we haven’t been co-operating. That’s the bad news.
The good news is that we are doing something about it. I appreciate it may feel like I wrote something very similar this time last year. And collectively we know it may appear that not a huge amount has changed since these conversations (nicknamed New Force) began 16 months ago – but the change here is palpable. A group of us (the operational leads from the four organisations, two board representatives, plus representatives from other potential collaborators as appropriate) have been meeting monthly to figure out how we can provide good value to our members. One of the Co-op Press representatives has been our secretary, Richard Bickle.
“The whole process has been a mixed experience,” he says. “There have been some positive experiences around improving relations and communications between the movement’s key national bodies, but it’s fair to say there is frustration around the pace of progress. If we’re being frank, some of that boiled down to personalities around the table. Some of it was that we haven’t necessarily been clear enough about what the task in hand is.
“I’m feeling a lot more positive now than I was three months ago. We have reached a level of clarity around the purpose and process, and the change of key personnel in some of the partner organisations presents opportunities to look to the future. I’m also encouraged by practical examples of collaboration that are already delivering benefits for our members.” He is particularly encouraged about the radical co-op podcast, shared back office services centre, and work on a joint education and training offer.
Related: More Than a Shop, the radical new co-op podcast
A strong culture of collaboration is important because these organisations share many key members, customers and funders, says Mr Bickle. “We need to be aware that we are stewards of their money and need to deliver value and not duplicate effort. We need to think extremely carefully about what we do together and separately to deliver the best outcomes for everybody. As relatively small organisations, who share a physical space, sharing resources to maximise impact is a no-brainer.”
He believes co-ops have a very exciting part to play in building a new economy which is based on fairness, justice and sustainability. “The challenges we face as human beings in the UK and the world are pretty huge at the moment; I think it’s very interesting to see debates coming out following the UK general election around the fact that social change is at least as likely to happen in local communities building local economies, as it is coming from Westminster or Brussels.
“We’re not the only model of economic organisation out there, but there’s an opportunity here for co-operatives; the onus is on us to offer
co-ops as a powerful toolkit for the 21st century, as it was in the 19th and 20th centuries. Co-operation is a democratic, people-based economic model that is getting on in the here and now and building a better future.”
The task now is to look at what central resources, services and support the movement needs now and in the future – and how best to deliver that in practical and organisational terms, in a more efficient and effective manner. The next step is to consult with different stakeholders, then use this data to inform an ongoing – measurable – change in joint cultures and strategies.
“We are at a middle point of the process where it is absolutely right to test our work with our largest and longest standing members,” adds Mr Bickle. “We are engaging in conversations rather than just broadcasting, to ensure we are meeting real needs, not just the ones we assume.”
