[6045] in APO-L
Re: about Sgt at Arms...
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (EDK)
Thu Apr 22 13:36:49 1993
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 13:12:00 LCL
Reply-To: EDK <EDK.LASPAU@MHSGW.HARVARD.EDU>
From: EDK <EDK.LASPAU@MHSGW.HARVARD.EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list APO-L <APO-L@PURCCVM.BITNET>
To: APO-L
>One of the biggest problems our 100 brother chapter has is long meetings
>(sometimes up to 2 - 2 1/2 hours). Since the (weekly) meetings are
>mandatory, some brothers show up in the beginning and then leave after an
>hour or so, causing us to lose quorum so we cannot conduct business
Well, for one thing if you are using Robert's Rules:
Once you've counted quorum and confirmed that it exists, it is assumed to
exist until the point when someone actively calls for a quorum count. At
this point, it needs to be counted again and business can't go on if quorum
doesn't exist.
Business means debate and voting on motions. Usually, officer reports can
be given without quorum present. Look under quorum in the index in
Roberts. Somewhere there is a list of things that can be done without
quorum. (I don't have my copy with me so I'm doing this from memory.)
What this all means is that if nobody calls for a quorum count, you can
keep going.
But on to the deeper problem: Is a 2 - 2 1/2 hour meeting too long? If
so, what can be done to shorten it?
Possible ideas for shortening a meeting:
- Written officer reports. Officers can distribution a written report to
the people at the meeting or via the chapter's newsletter. Then at the
chapter meeting, the officer only needs to summarize the most important
points. This can be a *BIG* time saver. (Ask the National Board how much
shorter their meetings got when people stopped reading their entire written
reports at the meeting.)
- Time limits on debate.
- Don't let people repeat points that have already been made in a debate.
- Try to reach consesus on issues before you even get to the chapter
meeting. Encourage people to do their arguing in committee meetings or in
bull sessions so that by the time you get the chapter meeting most people
know how they are going to vote and you don't need to spend time debating.
- If you are debating an issue, having the chair say "Is there anyone here
who hasn't made up their mind?" can be a useful tool for determining
whether debate needs to continue. If everyone has made up their mind, it's
time to vote. If one or two people are undecided, the chair might want to
ask them the question "what would help you decide?." That focuses the rest
of the discussion on issues that actually might effect someone's vote.
- If you have brothers who tend to ramble rather than making their points
concisely, you might want to point out to them to improve their
presentation style. That can help shorten meetings or, at least, make what
is being said more interesting for the listeners so they are less likely to
duck out on the meeting.
Y.I.S.
Ellen c.c. Kranzer
Region I Parlimentarian (among other things)
email: ekranzer@harvard.edu U.S. Mail: Ellen Kranzer
ccrazy@athena.mit.edu 18 Riverdale Street
BITNET: ekranzer@harvard Allston, MA 02134
Phone: (w)617 495-5255
(h)617 254-0057
