What Are the Elements of an Officer Report?

[Niki Lynn]

I have spent quite a bit of time searching and haven't been able to find a simple (or really, any) answer to the question: What is to be included in the standard Officer Report? And extra credit points for what shouldn't be included.

My personal response is, "What has transacted in your office since the last report was given? What has been done?"–that's what makes up the content of an Officer Report. But, heck if I can find any authoritative evidence of that, though, so I am wondering if it's actually anywhere to be found, and if so, what is the official answer?

 

[George Mervosh]

See if RONR (12th ed.), 48:17-27 helps.  Extra credit given for reading each paragraph carefully. 

[Niki Lynn]

On 11/11/2021 at 2:31 PM, George Mervosh said:

See if RONR (12th ed.), 48:17-27 helps.  Extra credit given for reading each paragraph carefully. 

Thanks–I looked at that section and it seems like that would likely be the place–if any–for this information to be included, but it doesn't address the specifics I was after. Since that's likely the only place that would have addressed it, I assume RONR is silent about my particular question(?).

I wonder if others have any best practices or rules-of-thumb, per se, for the officer reports given in their organizations, if they choose to provide more of an "office update" during that section of the Agenda rather than limit reports to only committee business. We have 10 Board Members who each go through the latest business to come through their office during the "Officer Reports" section of each meeting, but lately it has been getting somewhat unruly. We have officers going off into anecdotes, entertaining discussion and debate, repetitive unimportant reminders, and other inappropriate things during their officer report, and as the Secretary and unofficial Parliamentarian, I am trying to heard the cats, so to speak, in regards to keeping their report streamlined and keeping anything appropriate for New Business or Announcements out of Reports and limited to those respective sections of the meeting instead. This task is difficult to do without any supporting document to outline what ought and ought not to be included in a report, other than my say-so. 

[Guest Zev]

Adopt a standing rule to give board members five minutes for their reports unless the board extends their time. That should accelerate things a bit.

[Niki Lynn]

On 11/15/2021 at 5:00 PM, Guest Zev said:

Adopt a standing rule to give board members five minutes for their reports unless the board extends their time. That should accelerate things a bit.

Normally, this would work, but we have too many officers for this to really cull the time spent listening to empty reports. Unfortunately, these same officers can/will give 5 minutes worth of anecdotes and extend our "what-could-have-been" 45-min mtg to a 90-min mtg. We have too many officers giving "reports" that are really just rambling because they have the fear of missing out when they see other officers getting to go up to the big, shiny podium. I would like to provide guidance that shows what IS and IS NOT report-material, as much of our time is spent being held a captive audience to the unnecessary speeches for speeches sake.

[Guest Zev]

Perhaps attention should be drawn to Mr. Mervosh's suggestion and 48:19 in particular. Whenever an officer strays away from what is said in that paragraph the presiding officer should admonish the speaker to observe the spirit of that paragraph. If the speaker then obeys and remains within the boundaries of what discoveries were made and recommendations are offered the assembly can then be better informed and move the motions they feel are necessary. However, if the speaker does not comply it is the duty of the presiding officer to call the reporting officer as out of order and terminate his or her speech. If you cannot find a presiding officer that will exercise the necessary control then this assembly is stuck with this state of affairs until such a time as a member raises a point of order and the presiding officer comes to his senses. I do admit that a moment of levity can be beneficial to put the assembly in a more relaxed mood, however, such occasions should be very brief and not allowed to be drawn out and consume the valuable time of the assembly.

[Tom Coronite]

I once pastored a church where this was a problem. Meetings went on and on because, instead of a focus on business, meetings were focused on informational updates. People waxed eloquently all night about Mildred’s gall bladder operation, the kinds of desserts people favored at the fair, etc. We worked together to try and improve the efficiency and productivity of our meetings using RONR.

One thing I found helpful was increasing the avenues of information dissemination outside the meetings. Using newsletters, email updates, etc., seemed to reduce the time spent at business meetings discussing such things. I wish you luck.

Edited November 16, 2021 at 07:24 PM by Tom Coronite
Typo

[Rob Elsman]

On 11/11/2021 at 2:31 PM, George Mervosh said:

Extra credit given for reading each paragraph carefully.

😆

I think Mr. Mervosh has hit the nail on the head, but benefiting from his response will require a little bit of reading.

[Niki Lynn]

I have read through 48-52 in whole, multiple times, and the only section that comes close to what I was hoping to find is 51:7, but is still not as specific as I'd hoped. I guess I am going to have to hope that I am able to author something descriptive and defining enough to lead the group to a more correct and efficient manner of reporting. If anyone has any language they've used in the past–that they'd be willing to share–to help explain how and encourage officers to deliver focused, efficient, and appropriate reports to the membership, I would happy to receive it. Thanks!

[Guest Zev]

On 11/16/2021 at 1:02 PM, Niki Lynn said:

...51:7, but is still not as specific as I'd hoped.

Perhaps you would be interested to know that the paragraph in question has existed in its current wording since the 7th edition in 1970. You must be the first person in fifty years to suggest that items 1 through 4 are somehow lacking in specificity. I get the impression that the real solution has nothing to do with parliamentary procedure but rather has something to do with the English composition skills of the current batch of officers, except you, of course.

[Niki Lynn]

On 11/15/2021 at 11:45 PM, Guest Zev said:

Perhaps attention should be drawn to Mr. Mervosh's suggestion and 48:19 in particular. Whenever an officer strays away from what is said in that paragraph the presiding officer should admonish the speaker to observe the spirit of that paragraph. If the speaker then obeys and remains within the boundaries of what discoveries were made and recommendations are offered the assembly can then be better informed and move the motions they feel are necessary. However, if the speaker does not comply it is the duty of the presiding officer to call the reporting officer as out of order and terminate his or her speech. If you cannot find a presiding officer that will exercise the necessary control then this assembly is stuck with this state of affairs until such a time as a member raises a point of order and the presiding officer comes to his senses. I do admit that a moment of levity can be beneficial to put the assembly in a more relaxed mood, however, such occasions should be very brief and not allowed to be drawn out and consume the valuable time of the assembly.

Agreed on all accounts–and yes, we may be stuck.

[Niki Lynn]

On 11/16/2021 at 5:32 AM, Tom Coronite said:

I once pastored a church where this was a problem. Meetings went on and on because, instead of a focus on business, meetings were focused on informational updates. People waxed eloquently all night about Mildred’s gall bladder operation, the kinds of desserts people favored at the fair, etc. We worked together to try and improve the efficiency and productivity of our meetings using RONR.

One thing I found helpful was increasing the avenues of information dissemination outside the meetings. Using newsletters, email updates, etc., seemed to reduce the time spent at business meetings discussing such things. I wish you luck.

Thank you. As is sometimes the case with parliamentary procedures and the attempted enforcement of such (as the unofficial parliamentarian and Secretary) my attempts to keep the train on the tracks is often met with hesitation because "no one is gonna go to jail over this kind of stuff," and other excuses of the like. Sigh.

[Niki Lynn]

On 11/16/2021 at 7:38 PM, Guest Zev said:

Perhaps you would be interested to know that the paragraph in question has existed in its current wording since the 7th edition in 1970. You must be the first person in fifty years to suggest that items 1 through 4 are somehow lacking in specificity. I get the impression that the real solution has nothing to do with parliamentary procedure but rather has something to do with the English composition skills of the current batch of officers, except you, of course.

Something like that //content.invisioncic.com/r127373/emoticons/default_smile.png