Penalty: Chair was in Motion

A director at a board meeting questions the actions of his chair. At a recent meeting, the chair made a motion, and later, seconded another motion. "Can she do that?"

The Answer is, "Maybe."

To know the answer, we need to know what rules of order govern the meeting. Many organizations' bylaws refer to a version of Roberts Rules of Order. However, if your organization's bylaws are silent on rules of order, then order is up to the elected leader of the board.

As an alternative to the often stifling, confusingly detailed Roberts, boards can and should adopt rules of order that make sense for the size and scope of their board's business. One can find within Roberts, "Rules for Small Boards." These rules make a board meeting flow more freely and easily. One example is not requiring a motion be seconded in order for it to be discussed.

Influenced by Roberts, most organizations at least adopt unofficial rules, unwritten rules, that the Chair does not make or second motions. The Chair’s role is to facilitate orderly discussion and debate. Limiting what the chair can do helps to keep a Chairperson from getting too strong, wielding too much power, and frustrating the democratic process.

An informal model of rules of order is available -- click this link -- http://www.danclark.com/articles/index.shtml