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Need for a motion


Guest Peter

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I believe I understand the need for and value of having motions to help direct a group’s actions. I am a member of a Board of 25 members. An issue has arisen about the absolute need for motions if the Board wishes to begin a discussion of an important issue where the actual direction to be taken is not yet clear. We believe that after a reasonable time for discussion, it would then be more feasible to formulate a motion which can be then further discussed and voted upon. We feel that such a discussion is actually part of the organization’s business and should not be done outside of the meeting. Is it consistent with RRO to have such a discussion? Thank you. Peter

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An incidental motion to have discussion without a motion requires only a majority vote, not a suspension of the rules.

However, the rule that a motion be provided exists for a reason and I strongly encourage you to use it. If a member wants to raise an issue without knowing exactly what outcome they would like, they can pick something arbitrarily as a starting point, and make the motion. The board can then tweak the motion as it desires and as the discussion progresses. This provides a useful focus to discussion; without a proposal on the table, people have a tendency to get stuck in loops where everyone has their own idea of what they want, but since no motion is made and no votes are taken, nothing encourages the holders of the less popular positions from abandoning them---whereas if they make a motion to amend, and it is defeated, then they have to move on to other contributions. In this fashion, the discussion will likely come to a close sooner rather than later, which, in my experience, is the one thing that everyone loves in a meeting.

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We feel that such a discussion is actually part of the organization’s business and should not be done outside of the meeting.

This might be your bigger stumbling block. Having an informal pre-meeting discussion, even perhaps only between a few members who are most interested in the general topic, may help whittle down the idea(s) to something resembling a motion that only then needs a bit more perfecting at the meeting through debate and/or amendment before the vote. This allows for a more efficient use of the entire boards time, and offers no contrariness to the rules in RONR. There may be some consideration if your organization is subject to open meeting or "Sunshine" laws, but otherwise not.

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I believe I understand the need for and value of having motions to help direct a group’s actions.

Perhaps, your understanding is not complete. The purpose of a meeting is to transact business. A member makes a motion, which is a proposal for an exact action to be taken. That motion is then subject to amendment by the assembly to conform to its will. Debate is discussion on the merits of a pending question--that is, whether the proposal under consideration should, or should not, be agreed to. Without a proposal, there is no guideline for debate, and members may very well be discussing completely different concepts. And time should not be wasted in a meeting by idle discussion. Preparation should be done before the meeting, and ideally members would arrive with clear motions to make.

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