Several weeks ago I attended a non-profit board meeting. The meeting was run by a president whose philosophy was that everyone should have the opportunity to speak, on any topic that they wished, and that even minute details should be discussed by the entire board. There was very little in the way of an orderly agenda. The meeting lasted over three hours with very little accomplished. Had there been an agenda and an orderly manner of conducting the meeting, it probably could have been accomplished in half the time.
Robert’s Rules of order need not always be followed to the letter. However, it is often wise to remember that they were formulated for a reason, that they have existed since 1876 and have served as the accepted standard of most societies, associations and conventions since that time.
Even in a modified form, they provide for the orderly conduct of a meeting, the opportunity for everyone at that meeting to be heard in an orderly fashion and ability to make informed decisions that can be supported by the entire body. It also enabled the taking of minutes of the meeting in an orderly fashion that can be understood in the future, even by those who did not attend the meeting.
At the very least, every meeting should have an outlined agenda that should be followed; the ability to have motions made, seconded and discussed; the ability to refer motions to a committee or other body for further study; the ability to postpone subject matter to a specific time and finally, the ability to vote yea or nay on the subject. Leaders of associations and non-profit organizations would do well to familiarize themselves with the fundamentals of Robert’s – particularly what an agenda should look like, how motions should be made and seconded, the order of motions and the use of time at a meeting. For references, you can go to:
http://www.robertsrules.org – this will give you a summary
http://www.constitution.org/rror/rror–00.htm
or for a training video go to: http://www.robertsrulesmadesimple.com/robertsrules/intro2.html
Have questions? Need help? Contact:
Total Management Solutions, Inc. 1-866-544-0707 or info@totmgtsol.com 0r www.totmgtsol.com
