Federally Employed Women DFC Chapter

1. Federally Employed WomenDFC Chapter Tips on Running Effective Meetings What “Robert’s Rules” Can Do for Your Meetings September 13, 2006

2. Meeting? What Meeting? Do We Need to Meet?Agenda, What’s That? When was the last time you participated in a meeting where there was no organization, no facilitator, or an agenda?

3. Tips for Running Effective Meetings

4. Why Meetings Are Important • When three or more people work together face to face this is called this a meeting • Governments, businesses, schools, clubs, families ---are all built up from groups of men, women, and children • We are a meeting society—a world made of small groups that come together to share information, plan, solve problems, criticize or praise, make new decisions or find out what went wrong with old ones

5. Why Meetings Are Important • The more successful you become in your organization, the more time you spend in meetings • Middle management spends 35 percent of their time in meetings; top management increases to 50 percent; bottom line you spend over half of your organizational life in meetings • Most organizations spend 7 to 15 percent of their personnel budgets on meetings; this does not include time spent preparing for meetings

6. Why Have Meetings At All • Your time is your most valuable resource so you want to spend it wisely • Most organizations can’t function without meetings because they must communicate in groups to get things done • A meeting is a tool and is often the best way to communicate information to others in a group when face-to-face interaction is necessary • Meetings are a way of involving others in solving problems and making decisions to ensure support and buy-in

7. Types of Meetings There are four types of meetings: • Problem Solving • Decision-Making • Planning • Reporting and Presenting • Evaluating

8. When to Have a Meeting Calling a meeting may be good when: • You want information or advice from your group; • You want to involve your group in solving a problem or making a decision; • There is an issue that needs to be clarified; • You have concerns you want to share with your group as a whole; • The group itself wants a meeting; • There is problem that involves people from different groups; or • There is a problem and it’s not clear what it is or who is responsible for dealing with it

9. When Not to Have a Meeting A meeting is generally not a good idea when: • You have to deal personnel issues like hiring, firing and negotiating salaries; • There is inadequate data or poor preparation; • Something could be communicated better by telephone, memo, or a one-to-one discussion; • The subject matter is so confidential or secret that it can’t be shared with some group members; or • The subject is trivial; or there is anger and hostility in the group and people need time to calm down before they begin to work collaboratively

10. When Does a Meeting Work • How do you know if a meeting works? What’s an effective meeting? • There are two ways of judging the success of a meeting. What are they?

11. Always prepare an agenda An agenda is a pre-determined sequence of items of business to be covered at a specific meeting Get members involved in agenda preparation and you will soon find that members are taking ownership of the agenda and the meeting Do You Have an Agenda?

12. More on Agendas • Prepare the agenda in advance Parliamentary Pearls E-mail can be a very effective tool in agenda preparation. For example, if you are going to prepare the agenda next weekend, e-mail members during the early part of the week and ask them to e-mail agenda items to you by Friday • Follow the agenda conscientiously. If you don’t follow it, you can’t expect members to follow it. And, if the group decides not to follow the agenda, do it in an orderly fashion – suspend the rules

13. More on Agendas • Create a “Template” that can be used and revised accordingly • Include on the agenda • Name of the Group • Title and/or Topic of the Meeting • Date, Place and Time • Agenda Items • Designate a time when an agenda item will be discussed (optional)

14. Why Do You Need a Facilitator • Brings organization, structure, and order to a meeting • Helps develop ground rules (unless using Roberts Rules) for the group to follow • Gets consensus on ground rules and enforces them • Keeps time so the meeting begins and ends on time • Record actions and gets clarity of what, who, when on actions • Must stay neutral

15. Minutes not hours – make them short, sweet and to the point The Secretary prepares the minutes immediately after the meeting and sends them out to the members – either by e-mail or regular mail – before the next meeting. When the minutes are printed and distributed in advance of the meeting, there is no need to have the minutes read during the meeting and the members can quickly move to approve them Do You Have a Minute(s)?

16. Approval of the minutes can be simple: The presiding officer says “You have received the minutes of the last meeting. Are there any corrections to the minutes? [Pause]. Hearing none, if there are no objections, the minutes are approved as printed Gavel Gaffs You might have heard presiding officers ask “Are there any additions or corrections to the minutes as printed?” It is not necessary to ask for addition as well as corrections because an addition is a correction. Do You Have a Minute(s)?

17. Parliamentary Procedure • Organizations using parliamentary procedure usually follow a fixed order of business, such as: • Call to Order • Roll call of members present to determine quorum • Reading of last meeting minutes • Officers Reports • Committee Reports • Special Orders—important business previously designated for consideration at this meeting • Unfinished business • New business • Announcements • Adjournment

18. Roberts Rules 101

19. History of Robert’s Rules • Henry M. Robert (1837-1923) was a general in the U.S. Army and began researching the subject of parliamentary procedure after he was elected to chair a group but found limited technical books available. • “Robert’s Rules” refer to a lot of different books • First edition released in 1876, titled, “Pocket Manual of Rules of Order for Deliberative Assemblies” • Nine subsequent editions followed, many with substantial revisions. TheTenth Edition was released in 2000.

20. Parliamentary Procedure is a system of conducting business… Allows a group of people to come together and make a decision Comprised of basic principles & rules that determine how the group will proceed through the decision-making process Parliamentary Pearls You can find the parliamentary authority for your organization in your by-laws. If the by-laws are written following the format prescribed in “Robert’s” you will find an article titled “Parliamentary Authority” That article should be one of the last articles in the by-laws. (See page 11 of the DFC FEW Chapter By-laws) Robert’s Rules 101

21. Helps the group stay focused on a single issue until the members resolve it Manages your meeting by giving it structure Shortens meeting when tools are used properly Gavel Gaffs Just saying you are following parliamentary procedure doesn’t shorten the meeting. It is the discipline of following the procedures that makes the meetings shorter. Robert’s Rules 101

22. Robert’s Rules 101 • Robert’s is all about protecting the rights of the minority, ensuring legality, and expediting business • Various meetings serve different parliamentary purposes, all of them, however, should follow parliamentary procedure • It is essential to establish a quorum before any meaningful business is conducted

23. Robert’s Rules 101 • A quorum, as defined in the DFC-FEW bylaws, is the majority of the Executive Committee • The level of formality that you use at your meeting depends on how many people are involved, the purpose of the meeting, and how much time and money is available • Robert’s provides for less stringent rules for meetings with 12 or fewer members

24. Robert’s Rules 101 Points to Ponder… • One of the reasons that some people don’t like parliamentary procedure is that they think it must be all or nothing --- they believe that you have to use all of it or you should ignore it completely. • Robert’s Rules can be adapted to meet the needs of the group

25. Making Motions • Members express themselves in the form of motions. • A motion is a proposal that the entire membership take action or take a stand on an issue. Individual members can: • Make a motion • Second a motion(s) • Debate motions • Vote on motions • Call a point of order

26. Four Basic Types of Motions • Main Motions: The purpose of a main motion is to introduce items to the membership for their consideration. They cannot be made when any other motion is on the floor, and yield to privileged, subsidiary, and incidental motions. • Subsidiary Motions: Their purpose is to either amend a main motion or affect how a main motion is handled. They are voted on before a main motion.

27. Four Basic Types of Motions • Privileged Motions: Their purpose is to bring up items that are urgent about special or important matters unrelated to pending business. • Incidental Motions: Their purpose is to provide a means of questioning procedure concerning other motions. They must be considered before the other motion(s).

28. Obtain the floor by waiting until the current speaker has finished Rise or raise your hand to address the Chair, and wait to be recognized Speak clearly and concisely Always state a motion affirmatively. Say “I move that we….” rather than, “I move that we do not…” Wait for someone to second your motion Another member will second your motion or the Chair will call for a second. How to Present a Motion

29. If there is no second to your motion, it is lost. If your motion is seconded, the Chair will say, “it has been moved and seconded that we…”, thus placing your motion before the membership for consideration and action The membership either debates your motion or may move directly to a vote Once your motion is presented to the membership by the Chair, it becomes assembly property and it cannot be changed by you without the consent of the members How to Present a Motion - Continued

30. Expanding Motions • The time for you to speak in favor of your motion is during the debate of the motion, rather than when you present it • The mover is always allowed to speak first • All comments and debate must be directed to the Chair

31. More on Motions Putting the question to the Membership… • Keep to the pre-determined time limit for speaking, if a limit as been set • The mover may speak again only after other speakers are finished, unless called upon by the Chair • The Chair asks the membership, “Are you ready to vote on the question?” If there is no more discussion, a vote is taken

32. Voting • Five voting methods used by organizations are: • By Voice: The chair asked those in favor to say “aye”, those opposed to say “no”. Any member may move for an exact count. • By Roll Call: Each member answers “yes” or “no” as her name is called. This method is used when its required to record each person’s vote. • By General Consent: When a motion is not likely to be opposed, the Chair says, “if there is no objection…” The membership shows their agreement by their silence, however if one member says,, “I object,” the items must be put to a vote.

33. Voting Continued • By Division: This is a slight variation of a voice vote. It does not require a count unless the Chair so desires. Members raise their hands or stand. • By Ballot: Members write their vote on a slip of paper. This method is used when secrecy is desired.

34. Use Rules Properly Parliamentary Procedure is the best way to get things done at meetings. But, it will only work if used properly. • Allow motions that are in order • Have members obtain the floor properly • Speak clearly and concisely • Obey the rules of debate • BE COURTEOUS!!

35. Sources “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Robert’s Rules” by Nancy Sylvester “The New Interaction Method – How To Make Meetings Work” by Michael Doyle and David Straus

36. Next Meeting Wednesday, October 11, 2006 League of Women Voters Understanding the Upcoming Ballot Issues