BY: EVELYN SUMACBAY & MAYTA BANDAY
The Federation continues to conduct capability-building and skills trainings among its officers, members and staff. Members of partner-organizations also attended some of the trainings in the spirit of cooperation.
BOD TRAINING ON PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURES
On July 9, 2007, the newly-elected officers and members of the Board of Directors (BOD) went through a "Parliamentary Procedures" training facilitated by Mr. Butch Ferriols, the Federation's consultant. The Robert's Rules of Order was introduced. After the work-shop, the officers resolved to adopt the Robert's Rules of Order and implement this during their meetings.
Effective communication seminar-workshop of officers and staff
STAFF AND OFFICERS' DEVELOPMENT
Two training-work-shops for the Federation's officers and the national staff were separately conducted in September and October 2006. These are the (1) Effective Interpersonal Communication & Business Presentation and, (2) Effective Written Business Communication. The trainings aimed to equip the participants with sufficient skills so they can effectively and efficiently respond to the growing needs of the members and the whole Federation. The trainings also help them cope with the rapidly changing environment.
FINANCE-RELATED
Based on our experience during the 2002 DepEd project, some member-cooperatives (MCs) had difficulty in submitting financial requirements. This was due to the lack of recording systems. As a part of the preparation for the implementation of the 2005 DepEd contract, trainings on Basic Cooperative Bookkeeping and Finance were conducted among MCs in Luzon in September 2006 while Mindanao MDx went through the same training in October 2006. In January this year, a three-day Accounting Software Workshop was conducted among 20 participants from 11 MCs. This was intended to standardize the accounting system of the whole Federation. The training budget included a computer set loaded with the accounting software so that MCs can use this right after the training.