Electric Co-op Today

Co-ops trying to get the most from new technology should start by taking an objective look at their long-standing operational procedures.

“It’s a lot easier to change the way people do their jobs than it is to customize software,” said Brian Sloboda, a Cooperative Research Network program adviser.

CRN has just released a Business Process Improvement Toolkit designed to help co-ops evaluate their day-to-day tasks and identify ways staffers might work smarter and accomplish more.

“We’ve come up with self-tests to help managers identify where their co-op’s routine procedures fall compared to other co-ops,” said Sloboda. “If they’re fairly low on the scale, there may be a need to improve some of their processes.”

The 98-page report, developed over 18 months, recommends that co-ops identify redundant steps that could tie up resources or inconvenience consumer-members.

“It’s like diagramming a football play,” said Sloboda. “It helps you identify where your strengths and weaknesses are.”

Consider execution of a new service order: Getting power to a new consumer-member or a new location involves a co-op’s engineering, operations, member services and accounting departments.

“Co-ops may be able to improve the workflow to save time and money for their members,” said Marty Gordon, a CRN senior program manager.

Nearly 200 people, representing about 90 co-ops, tuned into a January Web conference that rolled out the new Toolkit. Participants were asked if their co-ops had ever tried to systematically change work processes.

While 61 percent of those responding said their efforts had been successful, 31 percent admitted no such effort had ever taken place, and seven percent said their co-op’s efforts had been unsuccessful, possibly due to a top-down approach that didn’t encourage staff involvement.

“There has to be widespread buy-in among both management and staff to make this work,” said Gordon. “Lots of staffers have ideas on how they can serve the co-op’s consumer-members better.”

Tags: Cooperative Research Network, Trends Reports and Analyses