Chances are, you will encounter a situation in which you find yourself either participating in, or leading, a meeting, at some time in your life. Depending on the formality of the meeting, you might need to develop some form of order to prevent chaos incarnate from occurring. It doesn't take much for a meeting to descend into disarray. Fortunately, there are ways in order to keep a meeting fresh and productive using parliamentary procedure.
Steps
Procure or create a manual to develop a working format for proper parliamentary procedure. Nearly every formal body has different rules and regulations, but most tend to derive from Robert's Rules of Order. You can get a copy of this book at your local book store.
Create a agenda. If there is no agenda, it becomes quite difficult to conduct your meeting, and it won't be long before the meeting becomes uncontrollable. An agenda will safeguard you against this. Make sure that your agenda includes a proper placement and time for all items of business to be discussed, and ensure that at the minimum you include a time for reading of the minutes, officer/board member reports, old business, new business, and announcements.
Devise a "minutes" document. This step is not applicable to your first meeting. The minutes will contain a brief, but comprehensive review of the immediate previous meeting. This is exceptionally important because without the minutes, people can and will forget what happened at the previous meeting, especially if there is a long period of time that elapsed between the two meetings. Human memory is never perfect. If your officers cabinet includes a record-taker or secretary, this should become one of their tasks. If not, appoint a permanent member to do so.
Appoint a chair. This could be a parliamentarian, but it is wise to have another person that is knowledgeable about the rules you have devised, so that a second opinion is always available.
Appoint a member to be a parliamentarian, if the chair is not one already. A parliamentarian is a person who is very knowledgeable about your procedures - so make sure that person has a copy of the manual you are using. There will be a time in which questions of procedure will arise, and a parliamentarian will be able to render a solution quickly and effectively if the chair is unable to do so.
Ensure that members understand the parliamentary procedure. If everyone that regularly participates or votes on issues does not have a fundamental grasp of your group's policies, you will find that conducting your meeting will be impossible at worst, and at best, those who do know the policies will dominate the meeting.
Tips
- If your group is a body of government or leading a major business, enact a constitution and by-laws for your organization. These documents will serve as the "house rules" of business that do not change easily.
- Hold a clinic or non-business meeting that encourages members to learn your group's parliamentary procedure. This will help to ensure equal footing for all members.
- Any changes to the policy should be voted upon by all members entitled to vote.
Things You'll Need
- A Copy of the Parliamentary Manual used for the meetings
- Agenda
- Minutes (second meeting and subsequent ones)
- Members of your group willing to take on additional duties