Parliamentary Procedure Quick Start

Who ever reads the bylaws of the organizations they belong to? Most likely very few members. Yet, if you realize bylaws contain the most important rules of an organization and they are essentially the organization's contract with its members, you might feel differently about it.

Even at a minimal level, bylaws will tell you who can be a member and what the conditions of membership are. They will tell you about financial matters such as dues -- when they are due and what happens if you don't pay them. Honestly, your association or group does not make these things up as they go along. They have to follow the rules the members voted on when the bylaws were adopted.

Bylaws are voted upon by the membership. Usually it takes two-thirds of those present and voting (as long as a quorum is present) after previous notice has been given, to make changes to the bylaws. They are expected to be permanent and somewhat stable; therefore extra steps are required to amend them.  In fact, your bylaws will tell you exactly how they can be amended.

Anything that is in the bylaws has to be followed. No one has the right to waive any provisions of the bylaws. So if your bylaws say your membership will be suspended if dues aren't paid by a certain date, don't ask for a waiver -- no one can grant it. If your bylaws state that election of officers shall be by ballot, you have to vote by ballot even if there is only one candidate for each office.  That rule cannot be set aside even by a unanimous vote. The only way to set aside bylaws is to do it through the process mentioned above.

The next time you question what your organization is doing and how they are doing it, read your bylaws first.  The answer may well be in the bylaws.

At a recent meeting a member made a motion and another member seconded the motion. Aftera spirited discussed, the vote was taken and the motion was lost. After the meeting was over two members met in the parking lot.  Unhappy about the decision, they decided at the next meeting to move to reconsider the motion. 

Many times members want to bring an idea up again and are unsure about what can be done.  The motion to reconsider must be made at the same meeting where the motion in question was made. The motion to reconsider may also be made at the next session of a convention or meeting that has more than one session. After that, it is too late to make it.

It is possible, though, that a motion to introduce the subject again at the next meeting may be made as a new item of business. If the motion was lost at the previous meeting, it may be brought up again at a subsequent meeting. If the motion was adopted and the provisions of the motion were not carried out, it is possible that it might be introduced again to defeat it the second time.  If any of the provisions were carried out, it is too late to bring it up again, unless some of the actions could be separated and dealt with separately. 

To summarize:  the motion to reconsider must be made at the same meeting the motion was originally disposed of, assuming it is a motion that can be reconsidered.

A motion that was lost may be brought up again at a later meeting as a new topic.

Every organization needs to have at least two officers. The minimum essential officers are the presiding officer (usually called the president or the chairman) and the secretary (sometimes called recording secretary or clerk).

The presiding officer conducts the meeting and makes sure the rules are followed.  The secretary makes a written record, or minutes, of the meeting.

If the president is absent from a meeting, the vice-president will usually preside in the absence of the president. If the vice-president is also absent, the secretary should call the meeting to order. Then the group immediately elects a president pro tem to preside for that meeting only.

When the secretary is absent from a meeting, it is necessary for the group to elect a secretary pro tem. The secretary pro tem will sign the minutes of that meeting because minutes are signed by the person who takes them.

A new, exciting online course, “Parliamentary Procedure Made Easy,” is now available for persons beginning their study of parliamentary procedure.     The unique course is designed for those who have no experience with parliamentary procedure or those who are just beginning to learn about the basics of parliamentary procedure.                    

The online course is now available through NAP at the cost of $110 through May 31. After that date, the cost of the course will be $125. The fee includes unlimited use of the online course for 60 days. Learners may exit the course at any time and then log back on and resume their study where they left off. A novice should take about five to seven hours to complete the interesting and educational course.

Learning is made fun through the use of lessons on a variety of subjects including:

• Rules of Organizations
• Conducting Business in Meetings
• Handling Motions
• Debate
• The motions to Amend, Commit or Refer, and Postpone to a Certain Time
• Changing Your Mind through the Motions - Reconsider, Rescind, and Amend Something Previously Adopted
• Voting;
• Enforcing and Suspending Rules

Each lesson is followed by a short quiz to help check on how the learner is doing. There are a total of 100 questions. A certificate will be awarded to those to achieve an overall score of 70 percent or above on the quizzes.    

Anyone interested in this new and interesting online course, “Parliamentary Procedure Made Easy,” call the headquarters of the National Association of Parliamentarians toll free at 888-627-2929 or go to the NAP website at www.parliamentarians.org.

Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised provides a lot of helpful information about minutes. Here are a few tips to help you out:

• Be sure your minutes inlcude only what was done; not what was said. Leave out the discussion, comments, and other information. Minutes are not supposed to be a great American novel. They are just supposed to remind members what happened at the meeting. They also just happen to be a legal record of your organization.
• In the first paragraph, include the following items:
1. the kind of meeting (regular or special)
2. the name of the organization
3. the time and date of the meeting
4. the location if meetings are not always held in the same place
5. whether the chairman and secretary were present or absent, and, if they were absent, the names of the substitutes
6. whether the minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved or corrected
• In the body of the minutes:
1. include all the main motions and the name of the person who made the motion.
2. Do not include the name of the seconder.
3. If the motion was amended, write the final version of the motion.
4. Also indicate if the motion was referred to a committee or if it was postponed to the next meeting.
• Put each individual topic in a separate paragraph. It will so much easier to find it when months later, you have to look up what happened on a subject.
• Motions should be written exactly as they were stated right before the chairman took the vote.
• When you have a program or a guest speaker, include only the name of the speaker and the title of the program.
• The person who took the minutes should sign them, but it is not necessary to use "Respectfully submitted."
• If you send minutes out to the members to read before the meeting, be sure to mark them "draft." That will help eliminate confusion about which set of minutes is the official set. 
• When the minutes are approved by the members, they become the legal, official record of the organization.