meeting ground rules
When I posted this question, Betsy Cawn of Lake County, California wrote a short and pungent response. Much appreciated, Betsy! Thanks to you, Ann, Robert’s Rules DO NOT drive me crazy — but unlearned colleagues who refuse to even discuss the abbreviated set of “simple guidelines” you provide certainly DO. Somewhere between the extreme formality…
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Taking the time to construct a powerful agenda will make a big difference to your meetings. Avoid these agenda mistakes: An agenda that would take two days to get through, not two hours. An agenda that fails to assign suggested time limits for discussion. An agenda that is emailed at 6:00 am for a 7:00…
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Updated July 19, 2021 One of the most useful tools for efficient meetings is a “consent agenda.” This is a single item of business on a regular agenda that includes several items bundled together. The items cannot be discussed or debated. They are approved with a single vote. To learn about agendas in general, read…
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Have you ever wished that you could just throw a member out of your nonprofit organization? Some people are so challenging that we wish we could! Here are some tips for dealing with difficult members. Download PDF Bylaws and policy regarding difficult members In an ideal world, everyone goes along with the rules. In reality…
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Updated November 19, 2022 What can you do when a chair (presiding officer, person running the meeting) refuses to follow Robert’s Rules, abuses their power, or acts in an arbitrary manner? The first step is to make a Point of Order bringing the error to the chair’s attention. If the chair rules against you, you…
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In general, people who serve on nonprofit boards or in local government are peaceful and compliant. But every once in a while, you get a rogue board member. What can be done? We believe that it’s important for boards to be prepared to sanction rogue members when necessary. Download PDF This is an unpleasant subject.…
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Everyone wants effective meeting management, but how do we get there? The secret is to get all the participants on the same page. We suggest that you download our Sample Discussion Guidelines and spend 30 minutes talking about them with your group. We offer Sample Discussion Guidelines for Nonprofit Boards and Sample Discussion Guidelines for…
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This post offers our readers a brilliant paper by municipal attorney Brett Vinson on the dangers of public comment. Anyone involved in receiving comment from the public during meetings will find it interesting and valuable. Read about the Nazi salute in Santa Cruz, singing a Whitney Houston song to express love for a councilmember, and…
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Guest post by Bob Jean, ICMA/WMCA Senior Advisor Got a really hot issue and a divided community? Too often, if you hold a traditional public hearing to deal with it, you run the risk that each side will simply line up and use their three minutes to tell the Council how terrible they are no…
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The simplest way to make board meetings more efficient is to use the Round Robin Method of discussion. In a round robin, each member of the body is given an opportunity to speak once before anyone may speak a second time, commonly by calling on the members around the table in turn. Sometimes, however, it’s…
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