Notes on Chairmanship

By Martin Hattersley, M.A., LL.B.

OBJECTIVES

For a person to act intelligently, several things are necessary. First is to collect one's thoughts. Second, is to assemble data. Third, is to identify problems to be dealt with. Fourth, is to decide on solutions. Fifth, is to act on the decision.

For a body of people to act together, the same process has to be followed. So the art of chairmanship lies in enabling bodies to take intelligent action, by following the same processes. The route from focus to decision to action by a body of people is ca lled a Meeting. Whether a meeting comes to effective conclusions and whether effective action ensues depends very largely on the skill of the person steering the proceedings - the Chairperson, or "Chair".

The Chairperson is the servant of the meeting. The chair's duty is not to express his or her own opinions - indeed, an impartial Chair should not have such, or at least should not display them. The Chair's duty is to ascertain the "mind of the meeting", a nd then see that steps are taken to translate that mind into effective action. A chairperson who has important and partisan views to express should at least temporarily hand over the chairmanship of the meeting to some other person. If the Chair fails to show impartiality, members lose interest, morale sinks, and a poisonous atmosphere develops from which the organization - and the Chairperson - may never recover.

Meeting rules are a little like traffic rules. On a crowded six lane highway, they have to be observed very strictly indeed. On a driveway or back country road, rules can be stretched a little. So in Parliament or at major conventions, procedure has to be formal and "by the book". Smaller and friendlier meetings can tolerate a certain amount of cutting corners - but the moment it appears that informality is getting in the way of fair play to all persons present, a good chairperson goes back to working by the rule book.

The basic rule of any meeting is this: Every person has a right to be heard. The majority has the right to decide. The chairperson's role is to see that this is what takes place.

MEETING STRUCTURE

All meetings, however informal, should follow the same structure:

1. Focus
2. Information gathering
3. Analysis
4. Decision
5. Implementation

I. FOCUS

Items to be considered in this, the first part of a meeting, are as follows:

CALL TO ORDER

Chairperson gets the attention of all present - as close to the posted time of the meeting as possible.

INVOCATION

[Optional] Opening prayer or meditation to focus on the work to be done at the meeting.

CREDENTIALS

Checking to ensure that the correct persons are present at the meeting. Noting any absences or regrets. This work in a big convention is handled by a Credentials Committee, who look after delegate registration, and report at this stage to the Chair.

APPOINT A SECRETARY

[If this is not provided for automatically by the constitution of the organization] Chairperson may suggest a name and get the general assent of the meeting, or a name may be proposed from the floor and voted on. The Secretary's duty is to main tain a summary of the proceedings (Minutes) for the future information of members.

APPROVE AGENDA

Generally, the Secretary will have prepared a suggested agenda that is laid before the members at the outset of the meeting. Members are then asked for any additions or corrections and their approval is asked for. More formally, a motion to approve th e Agenda may be called for.

II. INFORMATION GATHERING

A meeting generally works in chronological order - from Past, to Present, to Future. To do this, items are generally handled in the following order -

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

These are best circulated to members in writing before the meeting, but otherwise should be read by the Secretary. When all have had a chance to become familiar with the minutes, Chairperson asks "Are there any errors or omissions?" and makes corrections as suggested from the floor. Thereafter, Chairperson asks for someone to make a motion "That the Minutes (as amended if necessary) be accepted". After a seconder for the motion is found, this is voted on. Often, this is so much a formality that in stead the Chair can declare the minutes accepted without a formal vote. However, for the purpose of keeping members alert, a formal vote is recommended.

CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTS

If the organization has received correspondence or reports that need handling by the meeting, these are read by the Secretary, and a decision made as to where in the Agenda to handle them.

III. ANALYSIS

The Agenda is generally divided into items of Old Business and New Business. Each item in turn is "raised from the table". The Chairperson may well make some introductory remarks outlining the subject and the options that might be considered, then call on the meeting for discussion. Often, to begin with, no course of action seems clear. After a while, however, a proposal may take shape. As early as possible in the discussion, the Chairperson should suggest that a person frame a Motion (a succinct expressi on of the will of the meeting) that expresses what he/she ("the Mover") would like the meeting to decide. It is important that the wording be clear and understandable, and a good Chair will try and help the mover make the clearest Motion possible.

IV. DECISIONS

(i) DEBATE

As soon as a motion has been made, the Chair must call for a Seconder. If there is no Seconder to be found, the motion cannot be proceeded with. Once it is seconded, the Motion is "on the floor", and a more formal style of debate takes place.

The Mover explains to the meeting why the motion should be adopted, and the Seconder may also speak. Thereafter, speakers indicate by signalling to the Chair that they want to speak, and are called on by the Chair, if possible so that speeches for and aga inst are alternated. The Chair has the right to insist that a speaker speak only on the subject matter of the motion, and it is useful with less precise speakers sometimes to interrupt them to ask if they are speaking "for" or "against" the motion. Techni cally, a person is only allowed to speak once on any motion, and the Mover or Seconder have the right to "close debate" by a final contribution. If debate gets tedious, a member may move "that the Question be put", and if other members agree, then the que stion is put to a vote. Usually , a vote by a show of hands is sufficient, but with a close vote in a larger assembly, a standing vote may be taken, and the Chair may appoint scrutineers to do the counting.

(ii) AMENDMENTS

If the wording of a motion is not completely satisfactory to any person, that person may, when called on by the Chair, move an amendment. This involves some change in the wording of the motion, though not so extreme (as by inserting the word "not " for instance) as to defeat its original intent. The amendment has to be seconded, just as the original motion had to be.

Once the amendment is "on the floor", the only question to be debated is whether or not the motion should be changed by the words of the amendment. The Chairperson may have to be quite firm with speakers who do not realize that this is the rule: one can e xplain that we will come back to the merits of the actual motion later.

It is allowable to make an "Amendment to the Amendment", but not to go as far as an "Amendment to the Amendment to the Amendment." Instead, members should argue to defeat the original Amendment to the Amendment, and then propose a new one.

Rather than get into a procedural wrangle over sometimes small changes in wording, it is permissible to ask the mover of a motion or amendment, and the seconder, if they would consent to their motion being reworded in the way that the amendment suggests. If they do, and the meeting also agrees, then the original motion can be withdrawn and resubmitted in its amended form. It's worth exploring this whenever an amendment comes up, as it can usually save some time.

Once the amendment (and any amendment to it) has been passed or defeated, consideration of the main motion (as amended, if that is the case) resumes, until it is voted on, and either adopted, defeated, or otherwise dealt with. Note that it is a sign of go od chairmanship for the Chair to encourage less vocal members to voice their opinions, and discourage the more vocal from speaking several times in preference to those who have not yet participated.

(iii) INTERRUPTIONS AND DIVERSIONS

The orderly debate of Motions may be interrupted in a number of ways. In order of priority for the Chair to deal with, these are -

(a) QUESTIONS OF PRIVILEGE

Anyone at any time may interrupt proceedings on the subject of the comfort of members and the tone of debate. If the room is too hot, cold or drafty: if there is excessive noise inside or outside the room to prevent concentration, a member may interr upt "on a point of privilege" and ask the Chair to rectify the situation - and the Chair must stop debate and deal with the situation. Likewise, if offensive personal remarks are made about a member, a question of privilege can also be raised, and the Cha ir ask that the offensive remark be withdrawn. A member refusing to do so may be ordered expelled from the meeting. If the meeting breaks up in disorder, the Chair is justified in ordering a temporary recess in proceedings until matters are straightened o ut.

(b) POINTS OF ORDER

Anyone considering that the Chair is not following proper procedure may raise a "Point of Order". The Chair should ask the member to explain his/her point, and will either overrule it or deal with the situation. An aggrieved member may go so far as to challenge the decision of the Chair, at which time the Chair consults members on the question "Shall the ruling of the chair be upheld?". The members have the right to decide this by a majority vote, and the Chair will act accordingly.

(c) REFERRAL

Debate sometimes bogs down on a question that cannot be brought to a conclusion. At such a point, a member may suggest that the matter be referred to a Committee for further handling. The composition of the Committee is open for debate, but the decisi on as to whether this is done or not done has to be decided on a simple yes or no vote without debate.

(d) TABLING

A rather similar, but more drastic way of dealing with a fussy but unimportant subject that is wasting the time of the meeting is for a member to move "That the matter be Tabled" - sometimes adding "to a (specified) future meeting.". The Chair is then under an obligation (after that motion has been seconded) to put that motion to a vote without further debate. If the motion is carried, the meeting proceeds to the next item on the Agenda.

The Chair does not have the right to initiate the above procedures,but might make the suggestion at an appropriate time that some member would like to propose such a motion in order to keep things moving. As each matter is dealt with, the Chair moves on t o the next item in the Agenda.

(e) RECESS AND ADJOURNMENT

Members who are getting worn out by a long meeting may also interrupt proceedings at any time to move that the meeting "take a recess" or "adjourn". The Chair may comment on the effect that this may have on getting the work of the meeting done, but ju st the same, must put the motion after it has been seconded, to a vote, and abide by the result. The Chair may, of course, also suggest that the meeting either recess or adjourn, and ask for motions to that effect, at an appropriate time. Before accepting a final motion to adjourn the meeting, a wise Chair will make one last call to see if there is "any other business" that any member wishes to raise, and will deal with that as expeditiously as possible. He/she will also make sure that the time and place of the next meeting are fixed before the meeting breaks up.

(f) COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

Some matters, such as settling the text of a detailed proposal or policy statement, can be too complex to be effectively dealt with by the above rather formal procedures. In such a case, a motion can be made that the meeting move into "Committee of th e whole". In such a case, discussion is less regulated, there is no limit on the number of times a person may speak, and amendments are frequently made by agreement or infomal vote, as the text is worked through. The Chair need not continue as chair while the meeting is working in this fashion, and indeed should not if he or she has a desire to give major input into the process. When the specific work is completed, normal procedure and chairing are resumed, and a motion can then be put, "that the proposal , as amended, be adopted." This procedure is similar to the third reading given to Parliamentary bills, after they have passed through detailed examination in "Committee Stage".

V. ACTION

The meeting will be valueless unless steps are taken to see that the decisions taken are carried out. There are two approaches here. One is for motions to be drafted to request specific persons to do specific things - the motion to refer can be extremely useful in this context. Most organizations, however, also have constitutions that require officers to be elected and replaced at regular intervals, and have defined responsibilities for each of them, and the constitution on this point must be followed to the letter, unless there is relaxation by unanimous consent of the membership, or an amendment to the Constitution is made in the manner that the Constitution provides.

(i) ELECTIONS

For elections in any but the smallest organization, a nominating committee to approach suitable candidates is highly advisable. The usual approach then is to call for nominations for the office of President (or whatever the senior vacancy is), and have th e Chair of the Nominating Committee propose its nominee. Then call for further nominations. After three such calls are made with no further nominations, the Chair may declare the one candidate elected. Alternatively, a person may move "that nominations ce ase". After that is seconded, and after calling once more for nominations before putting that motion to the vote, a vote is called, and the sole candidate is declared elected. However, if additional nominations are made (seconders for nominations are not required), a ballot will have to be held.

Voting for positions, where there are more nominations than positions to be filled, is almost universally done by secret ballot, for obvious reasons. Scrutineers are appointed by each candidate, ballot papers handed out, and members are asked to vote for the number of positions to be filled. Ballots are then collected, counted by the scrutineers, and the results later declared to the meeting. These officers then have the responsibility of carrying out the duties assigned to them by the constitution of the organization. Other officers are then elected in the same manner for remaining positions.

It is preferable that elections come as late in the meeting as possible, since that gives the members a chance to see their candidates "in action". It is also good, where candidates are nominated, to have them stand, and the mover or the candidate may be allowed a specific limited time to speak about their vision and their suitability for the office.

(ii) MINUTES

When the meeting is over, it is the duty of the Secretary to prepare and circulate draft minutes to members - perhaps pointing out to specific members any responsibilities placed on them by motions passed at the meeting. Note, however, that these minutes do not become the official record of the meeting, and should not be signed by the Chairman and Secretary, until a motion for their acceptance is passed at the next meeting of the organization.

(iii) ACTION

After which, all that is necessary is that those designated to carry out the motions passed at the meeting carry out the responsibilities assigned to them, and report on their activities to the next meeting of the organization.