 The Board of Directors is critical to the success of a cooperative. It oversees the running of the business, makes decisions in the interests of members and ensures its long-term success. To deliver its responsibilities, its directors need the right mix of expertise and experience. This short film is a guide for how to bring the best mix of people onto your cooperative's board. It isn't uncommon for boards to be made up of like-minded individuals with similar interests, experiences and backgrounds. Whilst this might mean having a board that works well together, it also increases the risk of a homogenous board. A homogenous board lacks diversity of thought, which can result in not enough constructive challenge. Directors should generate effective discussion and debate around the co-op's focus, potential risks and proposed developments. This requires a range of relevant skills, competencies and perspectives. It's important that all co-ops, whatever their type, consider the value of recruiting directors with differing relationships to the co-op. For many cooperatives, the entire board of directors is elected by and from the membership, whether those members are workers, customers, tenants, suppliers or a mix. Often, any member of a co-op can be elected as a director without demonstrating the experience and skills needed to carry out the role effectively. Having members on your board increases the likelihood of your directors being passionate about the aims and purpose of your co-op and driven to make it succeed. But relying only on this approach could leave the makeup of your board dependent on luck and relies on the right people coming forward and being elected. There are steps that all co-ops can take to make their own luck to ensure the best candidates stand and are elected to the board. Undertaking regular director and board evaluations will help identify strengths and gaps in your board's expertise and inform future director recruitment. Your board could consider introducing qualifying criteria for members standing for election. These should be clear and reasonable so the bar is not set so high as to discourage member applications. And you could start a development program to help members that don't meet the qualifying criteria acquire relevant skills and experience. The processes for nominations and elections must be open and transparent with clear and accessible communications that aim to reach as many members as possible. They should include a plain English outline of roles and responsibilities of the board and its directors. Contested elections are vital for a strong democratic process. Co-ops should encourage contested elections through engaging communications about the nominations process and being a director. As well as having a good mix of industry and business skills in the boardroom it's also vital to have directors with the skills required to implement cooperative values and principles. A commitment to cooperation should be a key part of your recruitment drive. As part of the process of identifying strengths and weaknesses in your board makeup you may find your election process doesn't always offer up the right candidates. Co-ops should consider recruiting additional expertise to help optimize the performance of the board and strengthen the future of your cooperative. One potential route is to consider executive board appointments be it the chief executive if your co-op has one or other executive or staff members. Although this scenario won't be appropriate for all co-ops there are many benefits to having executives on the board. It brings strength and stability and an understanding of the co-ops detailed day-to-day operations. It can strengthen the relationship and share the load of responsibility between the board and executive team. It brings highly skilled and experienced people into the boardroom. Senior managers often have some influence over board decisions appointing them as directors clarifies their role and liabilities if the co-op ever ran into difficulties. Another consideration should be non-executive appointments people external to the co-op who on appointment demonstrate independence of character judgment and ties with the co-op. They can offer an objective opinion or different way of thinking that brings constructive challenge to board discussions. They may be brought in for expertise to fill an identified gap where a skill set hasn't been recruited through the democratic process. The success of this approach is dependent on engagement with members who should retain overall democratic control of elections to the board. This can be achieved in a number of ways such as electing or ratifying the appointment of independent non-executive directors onto the board. This is a brief overview of some recommendations for ensuring the best makeup of the board for your co-op. Visit here for more resources.