PRP

To save you time and unnecessary work, Robert’s Rules spells out exactly what needs to go into your minutes. Minutes are important because they’re the only surviving record of what was said and done at a meeting. They can be dry and boring. In fact, it’s probably a good sign if they are! Most importantly, they need to be informative and easy to navigate for whatever the reader needs to know six months from now.

According to Robert's Rules, minutes drafted ahead of time aren’t the official minutes until the members approve them. Today's technology has made its mark on meeting minutes. The secretary can now draft the minutes and easily send copies to the members for them to read before the meeting; then members can come to the meeting prepared with any corrections.

Your bylaws belong to your group, and only your group can decide what they mean. Sure, a parliamentarian can help you understand the technical meaning of a phrase or a section here and there. But when you come across something ambiguous (meaning that there's more than one way to reasonably interpret something), then the question remains to be answered by your organization by a majority vote at a meeting.

Robert's Rules offers quite a selection of voting methods, whether you're voting on motions or having elections. The methods range from asking for unanimous agreement to showing how you vote by voice or other physical action to voting by secret ballot. The voting methods recognized by Robert's Rules include Unanimous consent Quite possibly the most efficient way of conducting a vote, unanimous consent is the voting method of choice because it saves so much time.

The motion to Reconsider is a distinct parliamentary motion! When you use the word reconsider in a parliamentary situation, it refers only to this specific motion. All the motions in the class of motions that bring a question again before the assembly assist your group in revisiting previously considered motions.

Under Robert's Rules — or any set of parliamentary rules — your group's bylaws comprise the fundamental rules that define your organization. Your bylaws should include all the rules your group determines are of such importance that They can't be changed unless the members get previous notice of any proposed change and a large majority (commonly two-thirds) is required to enact any proposed change.

Even though it's the nature of meetings to have more said than done, Robert's Rules helps keep things on track by requiring that no discussion be undertaken until somebody proposes an idea for action. It's through motions that everything your group ever accomplishes gets its start. The length of time you discuss something and the ultimate decision your group makes are both based on your members' use and understanding of the nature of the different types of motions, their relationships to each other, and how the different motions are best used as your tools for effective decision-making.

Who doesn't love to hear, "I declare the meeting adjourned!"? The Robert's Rules motion for adjourning a meeting is simple but essential for almost every meeting. Situations in which adjournment can take place without a motion are When the hour adopted for adjournment has arrived. The chair announces the fact, and unless you or someone else is pretty quick to move to set aside the orders of the day, the meeting may be adjourned by declaration.

The election process may be the easiest part of deciding who handles a particular job in the organization. Robert's Rules on elections are very straightforward after what is often a politically charged prequel of nominating and campaigning. An election is really nothing more than the handling of an assumed motion, with the question being on whom to elect to fill a position.