This builtin is not currently supported: Animation
- Book & Article Categories
- Collections
- Custom Solutions
- Main Menu
Book & Article Categories
- Main Menu
Book & Article Categories
PRP
Articles & Books From PRP
Article / Updated 11-24-2021
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.
Article / Updated 10-07-2021
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.
Article / Updated 08-10-2016
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.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
According to Robert's Rules, a quorum is the minimum number of voting members who must be present at a properly called meeting in order to conduct business in the name of the group. A quorum should consist of "as large as can be depended upon for being present at all meetings when the weather is not exceptionally bad.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Much of the business of a group isn't debatable and therefore doesn't come under Robert's Rules for debate. After all, you don't need to debate whether to approve the minutes from the last meeting; you just need to vote yea or nay. By defining a motion as undebatable, Robert's Rules is really just saying, "Take the vote and move on!
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Using the motion to Rescind or to Amend Something Previously Adopted, you can undo or change any decision your group made in the past. Nothing is forever, and that saying is especially true in the world of clubs and organizations. Last year’s good idea can turn into this year’s problem. But thanks to General Robert’s wisdom and foresight, you always have a way out!
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
The motion to amend is perhaps the single most-used of the subsidiary motions allowed by Robert's Rules. You use this motion when you want to change the wording of the motion under consideration. You can use it to make a good idea better or a bad idea more palatable. Amendments are really at the heart of the process of perfecting motions before a final vote, and the importance of understanding the basics of amending can't be overstated.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Under Robert's Rules, the subsidiary motion to lay on the table refers to temporarily setting aside a pending motion (or a series of pending motions) to take care of something else deemed urgent. The motion to lay on the table is less about the business being discussed than about the assembly needing to handle something else immediately.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Some types of meeting are better suited to a not-so-strict enforcement of Robert's Rules of Order. If your group needs to consider an issue that calls for a more freewheeling discussion than close attendance to Robert's Rules allows or you're part of a committee or small board with fewer than a dozen members, some aspects of formality can actually slow things down.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
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.
