Governance training for co-operatives

Good governance is essential to every successful co‑operative. Our expert governance training helps directors, chairs, secretaries, boards and governance leads understand their roles, meet legal duties, improve decision‑making and strengthen member accountability. Choose from scheduled training sessions or ask us about bespoke in‑house training tailored to your co‑operative’s needs.

Flexible, comprehensive training for co‑operatives

Good governance isn’t just about complying with the law (although that’s extremely important, of course). As experts in co‑operative governance, we’re here to help. We offer a comprehensive range of training to ensure the people at the heart of your governance are skilful, knowledgeable and operating at their most effective – so your organisation remains strong, compliant and successful.

Our training programme includes expert sessions to skill up co‑operative secretaries, directors, chairs and those dealing with risk (as well as those in other operational areas crucial to your success such as HR and finance).

Governance training sessions

Click the arrows for an overview of our expert co‑operative governance training. (All half‑day online sessions unless otherwise stated.)

In both a theory-led and practical session, this training provides all the essentials a successful co-operative director needs, focusing on the legal and governance knowledge required, as well as the ‘softer’ needed to support and build relationships. (In‑person or online, half day or full day.)

An effective secretary is a trusted advisor to the Board, delivering essential services to ensure the well-being of the co-op. This training ensures they do so effectively. It provides all the essentials a successful co-operative secretary needs – from legal and governance knowledge to interpersonal skills for building relationships with the Board.

This is an all-day in-person session for those who have completed Co‑op secretary I and are looking to put their learning into practice. It will equip you with a suite of practical plans covering every event in an annual governance cycle – and ensure you have the knowledge to deliver on all the responsibilities of your role.

An effective chair can play a pivotal role in the success of a co-operative, providing strategic direction and overseeing the management of the co-operative’s senior executives. This training covers elements of influencing boardroom dynamics, facilitating effective decision-making processes and how to encourage productive participation from directors.

Book Essential co-op secretary I and II together at a discounted price for the package. The training covers everything you need to know to feel confident in your role as secretary within a co‑operative or community benefit society. Find out more here.

The session is designed to provide an overview of what board members need to know about the key principles of risk and risk management – and how risk should factor into key decision‑making. It also examines risk culture and appetite at board level, as well as exploring the responsibilities of board members in relation to risk in their co‑ops.

What is risk? What is risk management? Why is it important to manage risks? In a theory‑led session with practical and interactive elements, this training answers these and other essential questions to provide an understanding of risk and how to handle risk in your co‑op.

The training was accessible, practical and delivered in an engaging way. I left the course with a much improved understanding and clear actions to take away.

– Northwest Housing Services on Essential co-op secretary I training

Bespoke training for co‑operatives

Need training tailored to your board, members or leadership team? We can design bespoke, in-house governance training for your co-operative. Sessions can focus on your organisation’s structure, challenges and goals, whether you need support with board effectiveness, Chair development, member engagement, inclusive governance, AGMs, risk or co-operative values and principles.

Boardroom behaviour
Member engagement
Diversity and inclusive governance
AGMs and democratic participation
Specific roles (e.g. Chair, Secretary)
Values and principles
HR for co‑operatives
Finance and risk

Facilitated workshops

We also offer workshop facilitation to support your co‑operative to make important decisions about its future. This might be facilitating a business strategy workshop or board away day, or facilitating a workshop to deal with a particular issue such as your board composition or whether to merge with another organisation. We will enable a systematic and objective process and can provide a write up of the session and a report recommending associated next steps.

Contact us at [email protected] to discuss your training needs.

Our training programme

We produce our training schedule on an annual basis with sessions held at different points throughout the year. If any of the training listed above does not appear on our training course page, it may have already taken place within this calendar year. If you’d like us to run this specifically for your co‑op before it’s scheduled again, please email us at [email protected] to discuss.

Build skills and confidence across key governance areas and roles

See our range of expert training across governance and other important areas.

Find out more >>