“Parliamentary procedure exists for a reason,” Stacey McCullough told a group of 24 representatives of Eureka Springs city hall and city commissions at a Dec. 4 workshop. McCullough is Assistant Director of Community and Economic Development and Director of the Public Policy Institute at the University of Arkansas.
Alderman Bob Thomas arranged the workshop at the Aud as a reminder for commissioners and city officials of protocol for facilitating successful meetings. Every commission and city hall had at least one representative in attendance.
McCullough began by asking what typical problems they faced at meetings. One response was difficulty talking across the table if rules are strictly followed, which precipitated a corollary concern of not being called on in a timely manner. Other issues raised were multiple people speaking at once and the instances when one person disrespects opinions of others.
McCullough pointed out there are different kinds of meetings, and protocol for small groups might be more flexible, but the group would still need to agree on what rules to abide by. She commented an effective leader makes a meeting run more smoothly, but not everyone is an effective leader, and regardless the leader is not the boss, but a facilitator. The goal would be to give everyone equal status, but it is important not to get caught up in procedure and forget what the group is trying to accomplish.
She mentioned Robert’s Rules of Order was not the only guide for conducting meetings though it certainly is the thickest. There are also Rosenburg’s Rules of Order, and the Arkansas Municipal League has its own set of rules for meetings, plus there are others. A small group could adopt its own standing rules, but regardless of the rules, participants still need to abide by them in order to protect the minority while following the will of the majority to achieve the overall purpose of the meeting.
Alderman Mickey Schneider told McCullough that in spite of her best intentions she gets angry during meetings and talks over others, and asked what McCullough would do to keep a person in check. McCullough said that as a moderator, she has worn a rubber band around her wrist and when someone begins to cross the line she would snap the rubber band to get the person’s attention.
Schneider said the workshop was valuable although she anticipates she still might get rubber-banded. She also liked the confirmation from McCullough that small groups, like council or the commissions, could agree on their own standing rules.
Mayor Butch Berry commented the workshop provided excellent information, and he was pleased to see two dozen in attendance. He will be interested to see if the presentation makes a difference, and would like to arrange a follow up at some point.
Thomas stated RRO is like a speed bump for speakers who ignore that there are other folks on the road. A speaker might angrily view the rules as a nuisance, but “RRO provides the structure or framework for a meeting. When the meeting is moving along, when behaviors and procedures are appropriate, RRO is never mentioned. RRO is only ‘invoked’ when behaviors are inappropriate or when someone is choosing to disregard procedures.”
He added the rules are sometimes viewed negatively because they can be viewed as one person preventing someone else from stating a point of view, but he saw the workshop as an opportunity for participants to understand “the impartiality and objectivity of the presenter and the situation… that good parliamentary procedure ensures justice to everyone, prescribes order, reflects kindness and generosity, provides constructive use of limited time and gives one a sense of self-confidence.”