C. Alan Jennings, PRP

Robert’s Rules allow members to interrupt a debate when necessary. Most people were taught (or, at least, were told) that it’s never polite to interrupt someone who’s speaking. That etiquette rule works when it comes to interviews, dinner parties, and the like, but not when you’re dealing with Robert’s Rules. During debate in a business meeting, interrupting a speaker is often necessary to protect your rights or the rights of the other members.

Robert’s Rules is very specific about what you should do with reports and recommendations. Consider yourself a prisoner of your words. When the time comes to present a report to your organization, be sure you use terms correctly and in the proper context — you don’t want to do or say something you wish you hadn’t!

Robert’s Rules make it obvious that the secretary is one of the two officers your organization absolutely can’t do without. It needs a presiding officer and a recording clerk to conduct a meeting and have a proper record of it, and the secretary is the recording clerk for the assembly. No other office is more important to the smooth functioning of your group.

When it comes to determining election results using Robert’s Rules — well, you know about the hanging chads of the infamous 2000 U.S. presidential election. Rules for contesting elections are something this country is all about. All that counts is how you handle the challenge. Robert’s Rules has just the answer: more rules!

One sure thing in the world of meetings and Robert’s Rules is that, sooner or later, all motions are disposed of. No, that doesn’t mean they’re thrown out. (Well, some of them are, but that’s not how the term is used here.) Disposing of a motion simply refers to making some decision about the motion so that you can move on to the next item of business — in other words, it’s the end result of all the talk.

The one function of a vice president as provided in Robert’s Rules is to serve in the absence of the president and to automatically succeed to the office of president in case of that officer’s death or resignation. In fact, members can’t elect a new president to fill a vacancy in that office unless the bylaws expressly call for it.

Sometimes called open nominations, this method is probably the most familiar of Robert’s Rules. It’s used in the vast majority of situations when members elect their officers at a meeting. Even if a nominating committee is in place, under Robert’s Rules, nominations from the floor are in order at some point before the election is pending.

You may already be familiar with Robert’s Rules and the motion to Lay on the Table, the highest-ranking subsidiary motion. This motion is used to temporarily set aside a pending main motion, permitting something else to be addressed or done.In most cases, the “something else” carries a sense of urgency, such as the need to allow your guest speaker to address your group at a particular time without compromising his schedule.