Robert’s Rules of Order Ranks #2…
On a list of why one man enjoys the General Assembly of his denomination (the Presbyterian Church in America – PCA): 2. Robert’s Rules of Order—I know….I know…it is sick, but there is something beautiful about hearing it wielded like a sword cutting everything to precision. On this list, Robert’s Rules of Order ranks right [...]
When Should You Close Nominations For an Election?
Well, if you are the presiding officer, and someone nominates you for a particular office, you probably shouldn’t close nominations before anyone else has a chance to nominate another candidate. Kind of makes sense, right? Not to everyone: In January at the first meeting of the year, [Stacey Mounce] Arnold presided over the board’s election [...]
Should You Follow Robert's Rules or Your Own Customs?
It is quite common for associations, boards, and committees to run things by custom (“This is how we have always done it!”) rather than by the rules. Generally, this really isn’t a big deal, and only the nit-pickiest parliamentarian would say anything about it. Every once in awhile, however, it becomes a problem, such as [...]
Debate Decorum — One Board's Special Rules of Order
The Greenport Village Board (New York) voted to adopt a special rule of order that specified the exact steps they would take if an audience or fellow board member interrupted someone speaking, and then refused to come to order: Stricter Order The new motion states that further refusal to come back into order will result [...]
How a Church Should NOT Deal with Bad Bylaws
In many ways, the 9Marks organization commands a great deal of my respect. For those who might be unfamiliar with them, 9Marks works to provide churches with resources to reform their ministries toward the the kind of ministry that the Scriptures represent. The “Marks” refer to the nine areas that healthy churches must work ceaselessly [...]
Tips & Strategies: Three Problems to Avoid in Your Bylaws
From yesterday’s post about using boilerplate bylaws, I wanted to provide a few tips on how to write bylaws. Specifically, as I help people to write their bylaws and other governance documents, I often see three of the same problems happening over and over again. 1) Micro-Managing from the Bylaws I often compare bylaws to [...]
Why Informality is Dangerous
When I tell people that I am a Certified Professional Parliamentarian, and that I get paid to help people run their association meetings, I often hear a very familiar response: “Well, we wouldn’t ever need something like that. We never do much at our meetings, and the little that we do decide is pretty uncontroversial.” [...]
Sounds Like a Party to Me…
Sometimes, parliamentarians get to witness really exciting things at meetings. Take a recent student government meeting at the University of Minnesota, for example. The editorial tone of this news article is sufficient commentary on this story: The controversy started a couple weeks ago when two students, one of them being former chairman Kenny Kapphahn, lost [...]
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