Opening the Gateway to a Great Meeting - PowerPoint Presentation

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Opening the Gateway to a Great Meeting

How to make and keep your meetings running smoothly

Dr. Leonard M. Young

Professional Registered Parliamentarian

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Based On

Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised

(

RONR

)

11

th

Edition © 2011

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Parliamentary Pre-Test

1. The

mover of a motion can speak against his/her own motion.

2. A

motion is before the assembly when it has been moved and seconded.

3. The

motion to

“lay

on the

table”

is used to kill a motion without a direct vote on it.

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Parliamentary Pre-Test

4. Amendments

can be applied to any motion regardless of whether or not they are germane.

5. The

minutes of a meeting must be approved by the use of a motion, a second, and a majority vote of the assembly.

6. “Majority”

means

“one

more than half

.”

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Parliamentary Pre-Test

7. The

person seconding a motion must, by definition, be in favor of the motion being seconded.

8. A

presiding officers should say

“you

are out of

order”

when ruling that a motion offered by a member is not in order at the time according to the parliamentary situation.

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Parliamentary Pre-Test

9. When

an election is conducted for a position on a board where six people have been nominated, if no one receives a majority vote, it is proper to drop off all but the top two candidates and hold a run-off election.

10. A

quorum is always a majority of the members in any parliamentary assembly.

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Motions, Motions, Motions

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A Motion Is . . .

A formal

proposal

by

a member,

in

a meeting,

that

the assembly take certain action

.

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Basic Form

Basic form: Main Motion:

the only motion whose introduction brings business before the board!!!

Main motion, once adopted, is the

expressed will of the board

. The minutes should express the exact wording of the motion as adopted.

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Main Motion: Example

I move that we buy the secretary a desk and a chair.

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STEPS IN HANDLING OF A MOTION

A member

makes

the motion

.

Another member

seconds

the motion

.

The Chair

states

the question

The members

debate

the motion

.

The Chair

puts

the question

(takes the vote).

The Chair

announces

the results

of the vote.

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To Amend

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Amend

An amendment is a “

change wording

.”

Amendments, like main motions, require a second, are amendable, are debatable, and require a majority vote.

An amendment should be stated so that indicates

exactly

what is being done to the main motion.

An amendment must always be handled

before

voting on the motion to which it was applied.

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Issue of Germaneness

An amendment must be germane to the motion to which it applies.

Germane means “

Closely Related To

”

An amendment can be

hostile to or complete change the original intent

as long as it is closely related to the subject at hand.

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Main Motion

"That we sponsor a delegate to the National PTA Convention in July."

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AMENDMENT BY

STRIKING OUT:

"

That we sponsor a delegate to NSBA Convention

in March

."

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AMENDMENT BY ADDITION:

"That we sponsor a delegate to NPTA Convention in July

providing, however, that this board shall not be responsible for expenses in excess of $150.00

.

"

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AMENDMENT BY STRIKING OUT AND INSERTING

"That we sponsor

a delegate

two delegates

to the NPTA Convention in March."

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PRIMARY AND SECONDARY AMENDMENTS

▲

SECONDARY AMENDMENT

PRIMARY AMENDMENT

MAIN MOTION

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SECONDARY AMENDMENT

"That we sponsor a delegate to the NPTA Convention in July

providing, however, that this board shall not be responsible for expenses in excess of

$150.00

$100.00

.

"

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SUBSTITUTE MOTION

Whenever it is desired to

change the wording of a motion so substantially that several amendments would be required

, a substitute motion may be used.

A substitute motion has the same status as a primary amendment.

The term substitute is usually used when an amendment applies to a large block of text, one or more paragraphs, or the entire document.

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SUBSTITUTE MOTION

"That we encourage all of our members to attend the Association's National Convention."

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OTHER SUBSIDIARY MOTIONS

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Commit/Refer

To

send a pending motion to a committee

so it can be carefully considered and/or put into better condition for the members to consider.

FORM: “I move to refer the motion to the Finance Committee.”

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Postpone to a Definite Time

To

postpone action until

a certain time or until after a certain event

Majority or 2/3rds

Form: “I move to postpone the motion to the next meeting.”

Form: “I move to postpone the question until 9:00 p.m.”

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Limit or Extend Debate

To set, reduce, or extend

limits on debate

(length of speech, number of speeches, length of debate)

Form: “I move to limit debate on this motion to ten minutes.”

or

“I move to limit debate on this motion to the next four speakers.

”

Requires a

2/3rds vote

to be approved.

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Previous Question

To immediately

close debate and take a vote

.

Form: “I move the previous question (on all pending questions).”

Requires a

2/3rds vote

to be approved.

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Lay on the Table

To

temporarily set aside pending business

because something more urgent needs immediate attention.

Form: “I move to lay the question on the table.”

Often misused – requires only a majority vote, but is not in order unless something more urgent has come up.

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Incidental Motions

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Point of Order

If

a member feels that the rules of the assembly are not being observed

, the member may "Raise a Point of Order."

This

requires the chair to make a ruling

as to whether the point is "well taken" or "not well taken."

Form: “Mr. Chairman, I rise to a point of order.

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Appeal from the Decision of the Chair

Then

if the member disagrees with the decision of the chair

, the member may appeal from the decision of the chair.

A second

Debatable

(unless applies to an undebatable motion)

Majority opposed to chair’s decision

to reverse it

Form: “I appeal from the decision of the chair.”

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Request for Information

If a member

wants to get information

(to ask a question), the member raises a request for information. The chair then directs the appropriate person to answer the question.

Form: “I rise to request information . . .”

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Parliamentary Inquiry

If

a member needs help with parliamentary procedure

, the member raises a point of parliamentary inquiry. The chair attempts to assist the member to do what he/she wishes to do.

Form: “I rise to a point of parliamentary procedure.”

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Question of Privilege

If a member feels that

the comfort of the assembly or anything else is interfering with the decision making process

, the member can raise a point of privilege and ask the chair to correct the situation. (e.g., too hot, can’t hear, etc.)

“I rise to point of privilege and request that the sound system be turned up.”

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Motions That Allow the Assembly to Do Something Again

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Reconsider

“...enables a majority in an assembly, within a limited time and without notice, to bring back for further consideration a motion which has already been voted on.”

(RONR 11th, p. 315)

PURPOSE: to permit correction of hasty, ill-advised or erroneous action or to take into account new information

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Reconsidered (2)

Can

be moved only by a member who

VOTED ON THE PREVAILING SIDE

Time

Limits

:

1 day session—only on that day

Multi-day

session—on the same or next

calendar

day

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Rescind/Amend Something Previously Adopted

“...allows the assembly to change an action previously taken (Rescind) or to partially alter such a decision (Amend Something Previously Adopted).

Vote Required:

2/3rds without previous notice

or a

majority with previous notice

N

o time limit

to be moved and can be moved by anyone regardless of how they voted originally

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Voting

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Methods of Voting

Unanimous Consent

Consent Agenda

Roll Call Vote

Ballot Vote

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Majority

M

eans

more than half

the votes cast.

For example:

if 19 votes are cast, a majority would be 10;

if 20 votes are cast, a majority is 11.

It is commonly used in elections and on most motions.

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Two-Thirds Vote

M

eans

2/3 of the votes cast

.

If 30 votes are cast, a two-thirds vote is 20

.

I

f 31 votes are cast, a two-thirds vote is 21.

It is used normally when a motion would take away certain rights of a person or give another person additional rights.

(Avoid the term "2/3 majority.“)

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Plurality

This is the

largest number of votes to be given any candidate or proposal where three or more choices are possible

.

For example:

Three persons are running for office: A gets 15 votes, B gets 14 votes, and C gets 13 votes. On a plurality basis, A is elected with far less than a majority having voted for him.

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Quorum

The number of board members who must be present in order for business to be legally transacted. In a 7 member board, this is 4 (a majority of the entire board).

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Order of Business (Agenda)

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USUAL ORDER OF BUSNESS

Reading the Approval of the Minuets

Reports of Officers, Boards, and Standing Committees

Reports of Special Committees

Special Orders

Unfinished Business and General Orders

New Business

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Consent Agenda

For

routine, non-controversial

business

Any one member

can remove and item from the Consent Agenda and have it placed on the Regular Agenda

Remaining items approved by

Unanimous Consent

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Special Rules for Small Boards & Committees

RONR, Pages 487-488

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Special Rules for Small Boards and Committees

If these are to be employed, the board must adopt them as special rules of order.

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Special

Rules for

Small Boards

Members are

not required to obtain the floor before making motions or speaking

, which they can do while seated.

Motions need not be seconded

.

There is

no limit to the number of times a member can speak to a question

, and motions to close or limit debate generally should not be entertained.

Informal discussion of a subject is permitted

while no motion is pending.

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Special Rules for Small

Board

Sometimes, when a proposal is perfectly clear to all present,

a vote can be taken without a motion's having been introduced

.

The

chair need not rise

while putting questions to vote.

The

chair

can speak in discussion without rising or leaving the chair; and usually can make motions and usually vote on all questions.

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