Parliamentary procedure benefits informal meeting too!

by Jason V. Morgan, PRP, CP-T

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Developing skills in parliamentary procedure has benefits outside formal conventions, meetings of elected government official, and other meetings that demand attention to formalities. The basics of parliamentary procedure benefits informal meetings too. Whether you manage or participate in informal meeting at work or in your community, you can help make the proceedings more fair, efficient, and effective by learning a little bit of parliamentary procedure. Understanding why many rules of parliamentary procedure exist—rather than just what the rules are—is especially helpful.

For example, Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised (12th ed.) 42:9 notes that no "member who has already had the floor in debate on the immediately pending question is entitled to [the floor] again on the same day for debate on the same question so long as any member who has not spoken on that questions claims the floor." In other words, don't let the microphone hogs keep talking if there are other members who have something to say! Giving others a chance to be heard means that the meeting benefits from multiple perspectives, not just the perspectives of those most interested in sharing their thoughts.

A meeting chair can apply this rule even in informal settings. If a member keeps trying to speak on the same subject (perhaps without even being recognized first), the meeting chair can say "hold on a moment, we want to make sure everyone has the opportunity to be heard; is there anyone else who has not yet spoken who wishes to comment?" Asking another member, a parliamentarian, or staff to keep track of who has spoken to each subject can help the chair keep track of who has already had a chance to be heard.

Most commonly used bodies of parliamentary procedure have a rational basis that can be traced back to basic principles and the goals of making meetings fair, efficient, and effective. The authors have put forth not just rules that must be followed in formal meeting settings, but techniques that have value in informal meeting settings as well. Thus, you can become a more effective leader, whether presiding over or participating in meetings anywhere along the formality spectrum, by studying parliamentary procedure to internalize these techniques.

Supporting an inexperienced chair from the floor

Mary, who has some basic knowledge in parliamentary procedure, noticed that Charles is making basic mistakes chairing meetings of their bridge club executive board. The bridge club is supposed to follow the most recent edition of Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised, according to the club's bylaws. But the bridge club does not have the budget for a paid parliamentarian and Charles has admitted he never studied parliamentary procedure. Few of the other members have studied parliamentary procedure either.

Mary believes sharing the occasional tip, not just with Charles, but with the entire executive board, would help them functional more effectively as a team. She believes that sharing the tips when they are most pertinent to pending business would be especially effective. How can Mary share such tips?

Share your ideas and then come back next time to find out what Mary chooses to do.