Basics of

Parliamentary
Procedures
 Have you ever experienced…
 Meetings that seem endless because the
business could have been completed hours
ago?
 Confusion as to what exactly is being
discussed and voted on?
 Irritation because one person or a small
group of people dominate a meeting?
 The feeling that you never get your voice
heard in group discussion?
 Anger about decisions made that do not
reflect the feelings of the majority of the
group?
End the Frustration! Here’s
How…
 What is Parliamentary
Procedure?
 Why use Parliamentary
Procedure?
 The Importance of an Agenda
 The Role of the Members
 Basic Parliamentary Procedure
Skills

Let’s have some fun!!

What is
Parliamentary
Procedure?
A system
A
of procedure
predetermined that
set of “rules” allows an
that organization to
will be used to effectively
“govern” the conduct its
way business official business
will be in a fair and
conducted democratic
manner
 Why use Parliamentary
Procedure?
 Focus on one item at a time
- no more than one issue will be discussed
 Extend courtesy to everyone
- all members have an opportunity to
participate
 Observe the rule of the majority
- no group decision is granted without majority
 Ensure the rights of the minority
-all members have equal access to
decision- making
The Importance of an
Agenda
▶ An agenda is a formal listing of the business
that is to be conducted at a meeting
▶ The agenda must be approved by the
membership at the start of the meeting in
order to follow it
▶ Whenever possible, an agenda should be
presented to membership well in advance of
the meeting for membership review
▶ REMEMBER – a well-planned agenda is critical
to a well run, organized meeting
Sample Agenda
▶ It is up to each individual organization to adopt
an order of business to be used at every meeting
– if it has not, the official order is as follows:
1. Reading and approval of the minutes of the
previous meeting
2. Reports of standing committees and officers
3. Reports of any special committees
4. Special orders (guest speakers, etc.)
5. Unfinished business
6. New Business
7. Adjournment
The Role of
Members
▶ It is the responsibility of the membership of any
organization to establish and maintain
effective meeting structure
▶ Every member has the right and responsibility
to participate in meetings and the process of
parliamentary procedure
▶ Members must educate themselves regarding
the Constitution and By-Laws of the group
▶ REMEMBER – Strong group discussion and
interaction leads to strong decisions made
by the group
Getting Down to
Business…
 Parliamentary Procedure and the rules that
govern the conducting of business is based
on motions
 The key to Parliamentary Procedure is
learning and using these motions during
meetings
**Refer to handout entitled “Summary of
Motions”
 Do not be intimidated by the list of motions –
anyone can learn to use these motions; the
strongest organizations educate their
members on the use of these tools
 REMEMBER – Using Parliamentary Procedure
correctly takes practice and effort!!
Classification of Motions
▶ Privileged Motions (5) – do not relate to a pending
question, however are of such great importance that
they take precedence of all other questions (motions)
▶ Incidental Motions (8) – arise from another question that is
pending and must be decided before the question out of
which they arise (are made as the result of another
motion)
▶ Subsidiary Motions (7) – applied to other motions for the
purpose of appropriately disposing of them
▶ Main Motion (1) – used to bring up a new subject or idea
to the group
▶ Unclassified (3) – have a definite purpose but are
not classified as any other
Privileged
Motions
1. Adjourn – allows the
meeting to be officially
2. Question of Privilege –
may be a group or
over personal
request from the chair
*gain recognition from Chair
*no recognition needed

“Mr./Madame President, I “M/M President, I rise to a

move group question of privilege
to adjourn the meeting.” – it is difficult to hear you
would you please speak
*second required, not up?”
debatable, not amendable, *no second, not debatable
majority vote or amendable, no vote
 Privileged Motions
(contd.)
3. Fix a Time To Which to Adjourn 4. Recess – a short break or
– allows for a continuance of intermission in the
the current meeting when it is proceedings which does
obvious the meeting will not not close the meeting
end in the allowable time
frame *gain recognition from chair

“M/M President, I move that

“M/M President, seeing we will be
we take a five minute
unable to finish today’s
recess to gather our
business in the time available, I
thoughts on this matter.”
move that when we adjourn
we stand adjourned until 3:00
pm *second required, not
tomorrow.” debatable, is amendable
as to time only, majority
vote
Privileged Motions (contd.)
▶ 5. Call for the Orders of the Day – used when the
group deviates from the agenda and you would
like to follow the agenda

*no recognition needed, not debatable

or amendable

“M/M President, I call for the orders of the

day.”
President then asks the secretary to read
the orders
(agenda)
President then asks members if there are objections
to following the orders of the day
If there are objections, a vote must be taken and
need 2/3 vote of the membership to not follow
the orders of the day
Incidental Motions
6. Point of Order – made when 7. Appeal – used when
a member of the assembly member feels that the
makes a parliamentary error chairperson has made a
decision not in agreement
with the group
*no recognition needed
*no recognition needed
“M/M President, I rise to a point
of order.”
Chairman says the group
President asks member to state was volunteered to clean
his/her point
all of main street
Member states parliamentary
error and chairperson agrees “M/M President, I appeal
or disagrees
the decision of the
chair.”
*no second, not debatable
or amendable, no vote
*requires second, is
debatable but not
amendable, majority vote
Incidental Motions
(contd.)
8. Suspend the Rules – 9. Division of the House –
used to deviate from used when a member
the agenda or allow for disagrees with the vote
special circumstances result stated by the
chair
*need recognition
*no recognition needed
“M/M President, I move to
suspend the rules so “I call for the Division of
the House!”
that our guest speaker
may President then calls for a
speak at this time.” revote – any other than
voice and states result
*requires a second, is not *no second, not debatable
debatable or amendable, or amendable, no vote
2/3 vote
Incidental Motions (contd.)
10. Parliamentary Inquiry – 11. Withdraw – used when
used when there is a a member wishes to
withdraw his/her motion
question
about parliamentary law Member may say “I withdraw
my motion” before
*no recognition needed President restates it and it
is dropped.
“I raise a parliamentary
inquiry.” If the President restates the
President then asks member motion, requires a
majority vote by the
to
members to withdraw it.
state his/her inquiry
“Is this motion *no second, not debatable
debatable?” President or amendable, no vote
responds
*no second, not
amendable or
Incidental Motions (cntd.)
12. Division of the Question - used when a member
feels the motion is really two motions in one

*recognition required

Example: “M/M President, I move that our group have a

bake sale for a fundraiser and we go out for pizza
after our meeting.”

“M/M President, this motion is really two motions in one.

Therefore, I move to divide the question into two parts;
the first stating that we have a bake sale and the
second stating that we go out for pizza after our
meeting.”

*second required, not debatable but is amendable as

to how the question is divided, majority vote
 Incidental Motions
(contd.)
13. Object to the Consideration of the Question –
allows group to avoid a motion entirely if they feel it
would not be in the best interest of the group to
consider it

*no recognition, must be made before

president restates the motion

“M/M President, I object to the consideration of

the question!”

*A 2/3 vote is then required to pass this motion and

if done so, the motion is dropped

*no second required, not debatable or amendable

 Subsidiary Motions
14. Lay on the Table – 15. Previous Question –
used to postpone used when member
decision on the motion wants an
until the next meeting immediate vote
(at the latest)
*requires recognition
*requires recognition
“M/M President, I move
“M/M President, I move the previous
to lay this motion on question (on all
the pending matters.)
table.”
*requires second, not
*requires second, not debatable or
debatable or amendable, amendable, 2/3 vote
 Subsidiary Motions
16.(cntd.)
Postpone Definitely 17. Limit/Extend Debate –
– used to remove an used to increase or
issue from the floor to decrease
be brought up at the debate/discussion
next meeting
*recognition required
*recognition required
“M/M President, I move
to limit/extend debate
“M/M President, I move to five minutes per
to postpone this side/three
motion to our next debates per member.”
regularly
scheduled meeting.” *second required, not
debatable or
*second required, is amendable, 2/3 vote
debatable and
amendable as to Standard debate rules are
time, majority vote twice per motion/ten
minutes per debate
Subsidiary Motions
(cntd.)
18. Refer to Committee – used to allow a committee
to do more research or look into an issue more
**May be a standing committee or special committee
**Must state number of members on committee
**The power the committee is given (to act, or
report back)
**How the committee is selected (appointed,
volunteer, etc.)
**Must address who the chair will be if not a
standing comm.
“M/M President, I move to refer this motion to a
committee of three, appointed by the chair, chair
appointed by the chair, giving them the power to
act.”

*recognition, second, is debatable and amendable,

majority vote required
Subsidiary Motions (contd.)
19. Amendment – used to change a motion, but never the
intent of the motion

** Three ways to amend a motion:

1. Addition – adding a word or phrase
2. Subtraction (striking out) – removal of part of the
motion but not to change the intent
3. Substitution – removing part of the motion and
inserting a
new word or phrase

“M/M President, I move to amend the motion by adding

the words “and we pay our own way.”

**motions can only be amended twice, require recognition,

a second, are debatable & amendable, and a majority
vote
 Subsidiary Motions
(cntd.)
20. Postpone Indefinitely – used to remove an issue
from debate permanently (not postponed,
dropped)

*requires recognition

“M/M President, I feel this motion should not

be considered by our group, therefore I
move to postpone this motion indefinitely.”

*second required, is debatable but not

amendable, majority vote

The motion may be brought up again, but is not

required to be through the power of this motion
 Main
Motion
21. Main Motion – used to bring items of business to the
group; can not be used if any other motion is on the
floor

**The only acceptable way to start a motion is to

say… “I move…”
*recognition required

“M/M President, I move that we take a trip to City Hall

to
learn about our city’s government.”

*second required, debatable and amendable,

majority
vote
Unclassified
Motions
22. Take from the Table – used to bring a motion
that was previously tabled back on the floor

*requires recognition

“M/M President, I move to take from the table

the motion concerning our raffle fundraiser
that was tabled at our last meeting.”

*requires second, not debatable or

amendable, majority vote

**If motion passes, the chair states that the motion is

back on the floor in its debatable and
amendable form. Then asks for discussion
Unclassified Motions
(cntd.)
23.Rescind – allows a
member to remove some
**The member making this
motion must have been on
action previously taken the side of the prevailing
vote
*requires recognition
*requires recognition, is
“M/M President, I move to debatable
rescind the motion which
states we take a field trip
to City Hall.” “M/M President, I move to
reconsider the motion
*requires second, D & A, stating that we hire a new
2/3 vote security
guard.”

24.Reconsider – President would then ask if

allows discussion and a member was on prevailing
side and mention that
revote on action motion is back on the floor
Putting it All
Together…
A common “agenda item” might look like this…

President: “Is there any new business…The chair

recognizes John.”
John: “M/M President, I move that we use Parliamentary
Law
according to Robert’s Rules of Order at all of our
meetings.”
Sue: “I second that motion.”
President: “Is there any
discussion?”
(blah, blah, blah)
President: “Seeing no further discussion, we will now
proceed to vote. All those in favor say ‘Yes’; all
opposed
 Final Thoughts…
 Do not get overwhelmed.
Procedure takes practice, practice, practice
Parliamentary
and patience, patience, patience.
 Make a conscious group decision
meetings
that will be conducted according
Parliamentary Law and those laws will
to
followed
be by every
 member.
Many parts of Parliamentary Procedure can
“modified” to fit the needs of an
be
group.
individual
 Work together to educate your members
the
on rules of Parliamentary Procedure to
effective
ensure
 meetings. – This is only a brief overview of
REMEMBER
how Parliamentary Procedure works – keep
learning
!
Thank you
for
listening!