Have you ever gone to a meeting where you wished you had called in sick? If you have been to a meeting that was disorganized, late in starting, or lacking an agenda, you already know how important meeting procedures are to running effective, efficient and exciting meetings.

In this day and age, when corporations, churches, boards, student governments and more are run by meetings, it is imperative to know parliamentary procedure. You say, “Parliamentary procedure? What’s that?” I’m glad you asked. Parliamentary procedure is a set of rules, most notably contained in the book, Robert’s Rules of Order, written 129 years ago by Henry Martyn Robert. Parliamentary procedure governs everything from student council meetings to proceedings in government.

Simply put, parliamentary procedure is the means by which organizations make decisions. If you feel that learning these techniques is too hard read the words of Henry Martyn Robert, “Why should we study parliamentary law? Why should we undertake any study? Is it not to increase our knowledge and develop our faculties and thus increase our efficiency and our ability to serve our fellow man? In these days, nearly everyone belongs to some kind of club or society and if one proposes to take an active part in the meetings, one is obliged to make motions, and therefore should know enough about them to avoid being out of order…”

Here are the basics of parliamentary procedure:

• Rules of Order are intended to facilitate working together and accomplishing a purpose - not inhibit it.
• The spirit of fairmess and good faith is paramount.
• Only one matter is addressed at a time.
• Only one person can speak at a time.
• No one can speak a second time until all who wish have spoken for the first time.
• All members have the right to understand any question presented during a meeting and to understand the effect of their decision.
  
• Everybody's vote counts.
• The majority vote decides the issue.
• The rights of the minority are protected at all times.
  
  For a cheat sheet chart on parliamentary procedure click here.