Standard Order of Business - How much variation?

[Aguiberson]

If the organization usually organizes their agenda using the standard order of business, are small variations permitted?  For example at an upcoming meeting, there will be a report from a consultant hired by the group.  They plan to place this report on the agenda following the reports of officers.  Would that still be within the standard order or would they need to adopt the agenda in order to make the order of business binding? 

[Guest Puzzling]

Officially the order of business is the order of business so no variations allowed.

Depending on the situation you can have several motions to do what you want. 

Also I was wondering as It is a  report by a hired consultant is it not a kind of "special committee" report and that comes after the reports of the standing Committee and earlier established (41:17)

So maybe there is no business in earlier categories.

If this all does not help the usual way is by a motion to suspend the rules (25) but that requires a 2/3 vote.

[J. J.]

17 hours ago, Aguiberson said:

If the organization usually organizes their agenda using the standard order of business, are small variations permitted?  For example at an upcoming meeting, there will be a report from a consultant hired by the group.  They plan to place this report on the agenda following the reports of officers.  Would that still be within the standard order or would they need to adopt the agenda in order to make the order of business binding? 

Technically, no.  The rules could be suspended to take the report out of order. 

Also, depending on how the consultant is appointed, and  the rules on who can appoint a committee, Puzzling makes a very good point.  If the president has the authority to create and appoint committees, or the assembly created the consultant a committee of one, this would come under the reports of special committees.

These points only apply to an organization that meets as often as quarterly.  If the society meets less often, they could put this where ever they wish. 

[Atul Kapur]

17 hours ago, Aguiberson said:

If the organization usually organizes their agenda using the standard order of business, are small variations permitted?

If it is truly a small variation, could it most easily be done by unanimous consent?

[Richard Brown]

3 hours ago, Atul Kapur said:

If it is truly a small variation, could it most easily be done by unanimous consent?

I would think so. 

[Guest Zev]

The entire issue, in my opinion, has nothing to do with variations in the order of business. The order of business has everything to do with how business is categorized and which categories are brought up in what sequence. What I think the OP is making reference to it is the question as to what category of business the subject she mentions should be assigned to.

If the OP is doubtful or unhappy with the category of business this report has been assigned to she may at the beginning of the meeting, or at any time, pose a question to the presiding officer as to which category of business the report has been assigned to and if unhappy with the answer she may move a motion to change the agenda and assign the report to a different category that she believes is more accurate, practical, or that may influence the assembly's vote in a more favorable way.

[Shmuel Gerber]

On 1/16/2021 at 4:44 PM, Aguiberson said:

If the organization usually organizes their agenda using the standard order of business, are small variations permitted?  For example at an upcoming meeting, there will be a report from a consultant hired by the group.  They plan to place this report on the agenda following the reports of officers.  Would that still be within the standard order or would they need to adopt the agenda in order to make the order of business binding? 

Presumably the report either would be considered a report from a special committee or it would be received as new business, so the question is then are there any reports from boards and other committees, and are there any special orders or unfinished business?

If there is no business in those other categories, then the question would appear moot (unless there is objection to receiving the report at this meeting at all).

[Dan Honemann]

On 1/16/2021 at 4:44 PM, Aguiberson said:

If the organization usually organizes their agenda using the standard order of business, are small variations permitted?  

I don't know what you mean by saying that "the organization usually organizes their agenda using the standard order of business".  

If this organization has adopted RONR as its parliamentary authority and holds its regular meetings with sufficient frequency so that the standard order of business outlined in RONR (12th ed.) on pages 335-42 is the prescribed order of business for its regular meetings, a two-thirds vote will be required for adoption of an agenda that conflicts in any way with the standard order of business. Absent any such conflict, no agenda need or should be adopted.

On 1/16/2021 at 4:44 PM, Aguiberson said:

 For example at an upcoming meeting, there will be a report from a consultant hired by the group.  They plan to place this report on the agenda following the reports of officers.  Would that still be within the standard order or would they need to adopt the agenda in order to make the order of business binding? 

Odds are that this will conflict with the standard order of business unless, as Mr. Gerber has pointed out, there is no business to be conducted other than new business after all reports of officers (if any) have been made. 

[Gary Novosielski]

On 1/17/2021 at 10:26 AM, Atul Kapur said:

If it is truly a small variation, could it most easily be done by unanimous consent?

Sure; it amounts to a motion to Suspend the Rules and take up something out of its regular order, and unanimous consent satisfies the 2/3 requirement.

[Gary Novosielski]

2 hours ago, Daniel H. Honemann said:

RONR (12th ed.) on pages 335-42 is the prescribed order of business

Mr Honemann is, of course, referring to the usual order of business described in RONR 12th ed, 41:5-36.  🙂