Some people think that following parliamentary procedure wastes time at meetings. I usually find that those people are slowed down as they cannot move their ideas through as others are given the full right of participation. Parliamentary procedure works to give all members a fair chance to participate and to do things based on a majority vote.
Some organizations have a tradition of not following a parliamentarian authority. New people are often left out of the decision making process and the organization is run by a click. The click only lets those who agree with it advance to positions of authority. The organization starts to eat it self apart from the inside as new potential members don't want to be part of the group. Others leave as they never have a chance to present their ideas or to advance.
Groups need to have a fresh perspective coming in or they die of stagnation. Following parliamentary procedure can never guarantee that such freshness will be available. Lack of parliamentary procedure does guarantee that such freshness will never exist.
Saturday 14 November 2009
Friday 6 November 2009
Changing Procedures
If an organization wants to change some procedure, it had better take a good look at its bylaws. That is often where a change in procedure needs to be made. But many organizations do not want to do that. They think that they can just decide on the change and let it go at that. What do I mean? below is an example.
Imagine that an organization wants to add a permanent committee to handle publicity. They have never done this before. Publicity had been handled informally but members were finding that this was not working. So they pass a resolution creating the committee and say that it is permanent.
One member looks at the bylaws and sees that there is a provision for certain standing committees and the bylaws are silent about adding new standing committees. This member points out that it is improper to establish a standing (permanent) committee for publicity. This member is right. Since there is a definite list of standing committees, a new one can only be created by adding to the list in the bylaws -- amending the bylaws to do so.
Even if a majority want the committee to be a standing one, they have to follow the procedures in their bylaws to amend them. Caution in making changes is important. You need to follow the rules as they are the rules that your society adopted.
Hope this helps.
Imagine that an organization wants to add a permanent committee to handle publicity. They have never done this before. Publicity had been handled informally but members were finding that this was not working. So they pass a resolution creating the committee and say that it is permanent.
One member looks at the bylaws and sees that there is a provision for certain standing committees and the bylaws are silent about adding new standing committees. This member points out that it is improper to establish a standing (permanent) committee for publicity. This member is right. Since there is a definite list of standing committees, a new one can only be created by adding to the list in the bylaws -- amending the bylaws to do so.
Even if a majority want the committee to be a standing one, they have to follow the procedures in their bylaws to amend them. Caution in making changes is important. You need to follow the rules as they are the rules that your society adopted.
Hope this helps.
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