Have you ever been frustrated when trying to run a meeting, or when attending a meeting? Did you think things weren’t fair, but you weren’t sure whether a rule was being violated? Henry M. Robert, who went on to write the early editions of Robert’s Rules of Order understood those feelings perfectly. He was called upon to run a meeting, and realized that he had no idea how meetings should work. His study of the subject grew into the most widely-used reference on group deliberation procedures in the world.
The rules are based on certain rights: the right of the majority to determine the course of action; the right of the minority to be heard; the right of the individual to be notified, attend, and participate in the meeting; the right of any absentees to know when certain items (such as amendments to the bylaws) will be brought before the meeting; and a delicate balancing of the rights of all of these together. Understanding the rights of the members and a few simple procedures will give you the tools to be an effective participant or an effective leader.
