Components to a Good Meeting

Two primary components to having a good meeting are the key players and the agenda. The body’s chair and secretary help to ensure that the meeting runs smoothly and efficiently while the agenda keeps everyone on task and provides a roadmap for the whole meeting.

The Chair and the Secretary

It is the job of a body’s chair to facilitate the meeting procedurally.  It is the job of the secretary to record the minutes of the meeting. The roles are expanded upon below.

The Role of the Chair.  Chairing a meeting is a political leadership role.  A good chairperson can greatly enhance the quality of a meeting.  Conversely, a poorly chaired meeting can be inefficient and even undemocratic.

• The Chair should come to the meeting well-prepared, having thought through the goals of the meeting before it is convened.
• The Chair should endeavor to maintain a cordial, comradely and respectful tone throughout the meeting.
• In large meetings, the Chair generally does not speak to motions on the floor. In smaller and less formal meetings, the Chair may participate in discussions.  However, the Chair must never use their position to dominate the discussion.
• The Chair should tactfully encourage participation by all members, particularly those who are shy, modest or generally reluctant to speak. The Chair should use the power to recognize speakers to facilitate a rotation of speakers on each issue.
• The Chair should become familiar with the Rules of Order, but not be heavy-handed in their application except when necessary to protect good order and democratic decision-making.

The Body’s Secretary. The secretary’s primary job is to make a record of the meetings so that the minutes can be presented at the next meeting, shared with absent members as well as other bodies, and used to ensure that the assignments that the group decides to work on for the next meeting are clear. Each body should choose a secretary who is responsible for carrying out these responsibilities at every meeting. The secretary may work with the chair to prepare the agenda before meetings, shall read the previous meetings minutes at the beginning of the meeting, record the exact wording of motions that are proposed, and the vote outcomes on the motions.

The Agenda

Every good meeting has an agenda. An agenda helps to ensure that the meeting runs smoothly and efficiently to allow the body to conduct the business that it is tasked with completing. Below is an outline of how each meeting should be conducted.

1. Call to Order. The Call to Order may include a roll call to note who is in attendance. This marks the beginning of the meeting and is initiated by the Chair.
2. Read and Review Minutes of Previous Meeting. The body’s secretary should read the minutes from the last meeting.
3. Read, Amend, and Approve Agenda. Following the review of the last meeting’s minutes, the current meeting’s agenda should be read by the Chair. This agenda should have been sent out by the Chair prior to the meeting. Members may propose changes to the agenda at this time.
4. Announcements and Communications. Any Party-wide announcements, such as a date for a webinar for example, would be relayed. Communications from other committees or bodies would also be presented at this time.
5. Reports consist of updates on any work that was delegated to be done by the meeting at hand. If a document was supposed to be created by this meeting, then that should be shared with the body. If an event was supposed to be finalized, the planners should share the event. This is a good time for members with tasks to also get feedback on projects or work that is ongoing.
6. Old Business. Any proposals for action, events, documents, projects, motions, or proposed elections that were made in the previous meeting but that were postponed, should be discussed and voted upon at this time. It is important that this part of the meeting only consist of matters that were postponed at a previous meeting.
7. New Business. Matters that have not been discussed and that are on the agenda should be brought up at this time. All matters should be discussed and be approved, amended, declined, or postponed for the next meeting by the body. Each individual matter should conclude before the next matter is taken up.
8. Good and Welfare. Members can take this time to discuss issues that may be affecting them or other comrades in their personal lives, bring the body’s attention to something happening within the Party or in the world more broadly that they feel the body should be aware of, or just bring up thoughts as to how the meeting went.
9. When the agenda is completed, the Chair should make a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion should be seconded and then voted upon by the body. If the motion carries the Chair will declare the meeting adjourned.

Business, Motions, and Elections

Depending on the body, one can break down the items that would fit into the new and old matters portions of an agenda into three categories: business, motions, and elections. Below some of the differences are discussed.

Business

While there is certainly not necessarily a fine line between the business and motion categories, much of what clubs, state executive boards, collectives, or committees will be deciding upon has to do with the tangible work being performed by a body. Thus, this can be deemed “business”. A proposal to organize with another local leftist group around something. A motion to work on a document or project for party-wide use. A vote to hold a recruiting event for one’s club. All of these constitute examples of actionable and plannable business.

When considering business, members should discuss a variety of matters relating to the proposal. Will this proposal represent a significant human or material resource commitment? What are the costs and benefits of this commitment? Is the body the appropriate body to handle this project? If not, should the body make a plan to prepare a plan/proposal to another, more relevant body. A body should discuss and debate these issues openly and the one who proposed the business to the body should be prepared to answer questions and discuss what they had in mind.

If a body approves of a plan of business, it should then move to answer all of the relevant questions. For one, who will be carrying out the work? How many members of the body will be carrying out the work? If there are no volunteers, the body should make an authoritative decision to delegate members; the body decided to move forward with the business, just because it may not be fun does not mean that the body should just abandon the business. Additionally, how will this work be done and what are the tangible things that need to be figured out and acted upon? If the business is holding an event, for example, determine what needs to be scheduled, who needs to be contacted, what venue needs to be booked, etc. Finally, what is the deadline for the completion of this business? The deadline is one of the most important parts in so much as a body’s completion of tasks on time is a testament to how effective that body truly is.

Motions

Motions represent an entirely different category of matters. Motions are used to do various things such as propose a change to a procedure or rule, affirm or mandate the implementation of a tactic, democratically identify and decide upon a strategic goal, or move to initiate and internal procedure. A key trait of a motion is that it can be considered without having to deal with a who, how, where, and what following the approval of a motion. When evaluating a motion, a body should primarily be concerned with the reason for its proposal as well as the implications of the passage of the motion itself. Motions are likely to be more prevalent at conventions since they deal with structures of authority and organization in addition to statements on policy, such as the approval or amendment of a party platform.

Within the Party, there are a few constitutional procedures that can be deemed as motions. They are listed below.

1. A motion before a club to bring before all the clubs in its district a motion for a special district convention. (Article V, Section 4)
2. A motion before a club to approve or disapprove of a special state convention. (Article V, Section 4)
3. A motion before a state executive committee to propose a constitutional amendment to other state executive committees. (Article X, Section 1)
4. A motion before a state executive committee to approve or disapprove of a constitutional amendment proposed by another state executive committee. (Article X, Section 1.)
5. A motion before a state executive committee to approve or disapprove of a proposal to call for a special national convention sent to other state executive committees. (Article VI, Section 4)
6. A motion before a state executive committee to approve or disapprove of a proposal by another state executive committee to hold a special national convention. (Article VI, Section 4)
7. A motion before the national committee to approve or disapprove of a constitutional amendment. (Article X, Section 1)
8. A motion before the national committee to approve or disapprove of the convening of a special national convention. (Article VI, Section 4)
9. A motion to remove a member of a body from the body. (Article VII, Section 2.)

While these are explicitly mentioned in the CPUSA Constitution, a range of other things would often qualify as motions. Proposals at state conventions to create a state constitution or bylaws, motions declaring a policy or organizing strategy for a state/district or the Party, changes to the party platform, or motions before a body to endorse proposal submissions or requests for action or information to and from a higher body.

Motions often are made in a formal manner and those that are proposing a motion should have the exact wording of their motion prepared prior to its presentation at a body. The syntax and procedures surrounding the making of motions will be discussed later.

Elections

Elections are a specific type of business in that they occur infrequently and have a process to them of their own. Elections can either be scheduled, such as regular elections for positions such as the party chair or a club chair, or follow a motion, such as an election of an officer position that flows downstream with that position’s creation at a district/state convention. There are a few elections that are explicitly mentioned in the party constitution.

1. Club chair and officer positions at the annual club conference. (Article IV, Section 2)
2. The election of delegates by clubs to a district/state convention. (Article V, Section 3)
3. Election of officers to the district/state executive committee. (Article V, Section 4.)
4. The election of delegates to the national convention by the district/state convention delegates. (Article VI, Section 3)
5. The election of members to serve on the national committee by national convention delegates. (Article VI, Section 6)
6. The election of party officers by the national committee. (Article VII, Section 3)

Elections for delegate, committee, board, or officer positions should always be done by secret ballot if there are contested positions.

How a Meeting Flows: Formality and Informality

Depending on the body and the type of business that the body considers or works on, differing levels of formality can be expected. Conventions, motions, and elections all lean on the formal side of things while working bodies/committees, clubs, or matters of business as a category of work lend themselves to informality more easily. Regardless of where a body or agenda item fits on that spectrum, there are minimum levels of procedure that should always be kept in mind and carried out. The tradeoffs between the two meeting styles should be noted. While informal, well-structured meetings can allow for greater efficiency in dealing with matters of business, so that the body doesn’t get bogged down with some of the slower elements of parliamentary procedure, formality offers a definite level of democracy that can be used when things get contentious or hostile as it offers clarity on the process of dealing with the matter than will instill confidence in the way in which a contentious matter was decided upon. Below, meeting flow and procedures as well as informal and formal parliamentary rules of order are discussed below.

The Basic Parliamentary Elements

The key characteristic of a good meeting and an effective body is democracy. Thus, voting is the engine that moves the meeting forward. The basic procedure for a meeting is to initiate/propose, discuss/debate/carryout, and vote to conclude. This process can be translated over to basically every part of the meeting with some appropriate augmentations. Regardless of formality or informality, below are some of the actions that can be taken during the process of a meeting.

1. The adjournment of a meeting
2. Take a break
3. Complain about noise, environment, technical difficulties
4. Table a motion
5. End debate/discussion
6. Postponing a matter for discussion at another time
7. Amend a matter
8. Propose a matter

These actions are akin to those in Robert’s Rules and have an order of precedence. If an action is above another on the list, it takes precedence and means that it can be dealt with before those actions that are being dealt with or taken that sit below it on the list given above. There is also a list of actions that can be taken that can be initiated at any time during the meeting, taking precedence that is listed below.

1. Point of order (a procedural objection)
2. Request for information
3. Ask for a person by person voice vote to have everyone on record and provide an exact vote total
4. Take up tabled matters
5. Reconsider a disposed matter
6. Suspend certain rules/procedures
7. Appeal a chair’s procedural ruling

While these may seem highly technical, an effective body should be able to malleably use these procedures to achieve the same democratic goals that the length Robert’s Rules strives for, while not relying on their express utilization at all times.

Formality When Using the Parliamentary Scaffolding

Despite the formal nature of the parliamentary procedure used by some bodies, strict adherence to these procedures can bog a body down. Parliamentary procedures are designed for governing bodies (hence the parliament part of parliamentary) which means that they are meant to manage a conflicted and divided body in an orderly fashion. Thus, in the context of a working body within the communist party, wherein there is a significant amount of agreement when working on practical organizing/work as well as an organization-wide dedication towards reaching consensus and unity, rules designed for adversarial bodies cannot be directly copied.

A good example of some of the actions that would likely get melded in a meeting would be the motion, amendment, and debate procedures. In a non-adversarial body, this would more accurately be described as the proposal of an idea, goal, or plan, the discussion and brainstorming that would surround that proposal as well as the debate or pushback that could come from it, an attempt to reach a compromise and formulate a workable plan, and the decision to move forward with the plan and make the agreed upon changes or to drop it all together. The goal should always be consensus, free discussion, and incorporation where it is possible.

One issue that may arise is the problem of changes, or amendments. Our goal as a party and as communists should be to build consensus around projects and proposals. Often this means incorporating suggestions and other’s ideas into an initial proposal. Thus, we see amendments as friendly in so much as they aren’t meant to change the “spirit” of the proposal. In parliamentary procedures, amendments are never seen as friendly. This is because an amendment is meant to change a proposed motion or matter and thus is inherently hostile to the member bringing forward the motion. If there is significant disagreement over a particular proposal within a body or if the member proposing a plan or motion is adamant about not changing its structure or form, a body is best suited by falling back on more formal procedures to ensure a decision is reached democratically concerning the matter at hand.

A good chair should take note of these instances and move to institute more formal proceedings. However, more formal does not equate to full parliamentary procedure. For example, if a proposal in the process of discussion has been successfully amended by the collective through discussion, but there is a stark disagreement over one specific change, the chair should move proactively to call for a vote on that amendment. Thus, rather than devolving into a scenario where the process becomes rigid and all suggested changes are done through the rigid amendment process laid out in parliamentary procedure, the contentious matter has been diffused through a clearly democratic decision and the meeting can proceed as it had before. This encourages the body to continue to work collaboratively and reach consensus through the remainder of the discussion on the proposal and during the meeting more broadly.

If things get more contentious, the chair should continue to suggest more formal proceedings as they see fit and members always reserve the right to request that more formal proceedings take place. While smaller bodies might get more formal due to escalations, some bodies, such as conventions, should start out with more concretely formal parliamentary expectations as they are much more likely to become contentious and, as higher party bodies, need to follow rules of order that would also be able to be held up and evaluated in a court of law. As far as the most formal procedural rules are concerned, the CPUSA Constitution is the highest procedural authority with Robert’s Revised Rules of Order (11^th Edition) being the most formal version of parliamentary procedure.[1] For those times when the occasion calls for it, this document contains embedded links to the full version of Robert’s Revised Rules of Order and a Robert’s Rules cheat sheet for times when only some formality is necessary.[2]

Conclusion

If even necessary.

2/26/20

[1] Robert, Henry M., and Robert, Sarah Corbin. Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised. 11th Ed., a New and Enlarged Ed. / by Sarah Corbin Robert … [et Al.]. ed. Philadelphia, PA: Da Capo Press, 2011.

[2] Ibid.