Why Hire a Parliamentarians?
“Because Great Meetings don’t just happen” --National Association of Parliamentarians
As General Robert told us, “The presiding officer of an assembly ... should be chosen principally for the ability to preside. The person should be well versed in parliamentary law and should be thoroughly familiar with the bylaws and other rules of the organization.” [RONR (12th ed.) 47:6] The problem inherent with many organizations is that they don’t follow General Robert’s advice and rather choose their presiding officer based on more social matters: likeability, time served, or being well connected. However, again as General Robert points out, “The larger the assembly, the more readily it will detect the slightest weakness in a presiding officer. Efforts to capitalize on any such failing may follow with sometimes disastrous results.” [RONR (12th ed.) 47:14]
So, what does an organization do when faced with a presiding officer who is chosen for attributes beyond the ability to preside? This is where a professional parliamentarian can help.
SCRIPTING
One of the services that a parliamentarian can provide is to create a script for the presiding officer to follow for the meeting. Often the presiding officer can sit down with the parliamentarian to review the agenda and plan out the meeting. Then from such details the parliamentarian can create a script for the presiding officer to follow. Even the weakest presiding officer will find confidence with a written script in front of them.
While many things can be prescripted, deliberative bodies going through the parliamentary process can find it messy and presiding officers often lack knowledge of the more obscure motions. In this case, it is handy for the parliamentarian to have preprepared scripts for situations, motions and scenarios which can be handed to the presider when needed. This is one of the critical reasons why an organization’s parliamentarian must sit next to the presiding officer during the meeting. In this position, the parliamentarian can discretely slide scripts to the presiding officer, or the presiding officer can put the meeting “at ease” and quickly and quietly ask the parliamentarian for the script. For a parliamentarian to explain the process to the presider takes time and is ripe for misunderstanding but the pre-written script prevents those possible issues.
ADVISING
Furthermore, presiding officers may have limited experience with the design of a meeting and the design of a meeting space. Parliamentarians attend many meetings, and they experience meetings differently than most attendees, concentrating on the mechanics of the meeting, in addition to the substance of the meeting. An organization is wise to tap into the experience that a professional parliamentarian can provide by suggesting different ways to arrange a room, where to place the specific meeting functions and seat the audience in order to maximize the effectiveness of a meeting.
COACHING
Sometimes, it isn’t that the presiding officer doesn’t know as much as they haven’t practiced. The proper handling of a motion has certain steps with certain phrases that should be used at each step. Often a presiding officer finds himself distracted, thinking about the issues and dealing with troublesome people, all while trying to remember the phrases he needs to use. Practice is what makes that second nature and to go smoothly. There is no way for a presiding offer to get good at presiding without practice and the society doesn’t always have the patience for him to learn on the job. To resolve this dilemma, the professional parliamentarian can create scripts that run the officer through the likely scenarios repeatedly, until they become that habit. Practicing in front of the mirror can help, but can never replace the coach generated sequences for its surprise factor.
SUMMARY
Of course, it is expected that a Professional Parliamentarian will bring a knowledge of Robert’s Rules of Order, but they bring more than to the table. Beyond the rules, they understand the best methods of managing meetings from neutral moderating to agenda creation to room layout. Many organizations will find it worth the investment when considering the costs of a failed meeting to hire a professional for the task.
take aways:
Presiding Officer:
1) Have you talked to your parliamentarian about help with scripting? Are you aware of whether he has a set of scripts which you could consult?
2) Have you shared the room outlay with the parliamentarian?
3) Do a run through with the parliamentarian?
Parliamentarian:
1) Are you aware of the agenda and business meeting flow enough to help with a script?
2) Have you preprepared scripts?
Resources to help generating scripts:
1) National Association of Parliamentarians: Pathways to Proficiency – Presidentially Speaking
2) Henry M Robert: Parliamentary Practice, 1923
3) George Demeter: Demeter’s Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure