Re:Rethinking Robert's Rules of Order
by WorldMaker on Friday October 04, 2019 @08:27PM
(#21163032)
The rules themselves on the subject:
> General Consent or Unanimous Vote. By general, or unanimous, or silent, consent the assembly can do business with little regard for the rules of procedure, as they are made for the protection of the minority, and when there is no minority to protect, there is little use for the restraint of the rules, except such as protect the rights of absent members, or the right to a secret vote. [1915 edition]
Don't forget that key that if there isn't a minority to protect, you don't need all the rules. Split the things that people actually need to discuss out of the stuff that is unanimous, move that the unanimous stuff be won by acclimation, and move on to the stuff that actually needs to be discussed. Even Robert's Rules says to do it. People like processes, and following processes to their logical extremes, but at the end of the day the process exists for a goal ("give minorities a voice", in this case), and outside of that goal/need becomes silly and overbearing, and it knows it which is why it has always had escape valves.
> General Consent or Unanimous Vote. By general, or unanimous, or silent, consent the assembly can do business with little regard for the rules of procedure, as they are made for the protection of the minority, and when there is no minority to protect, there is little use for the restraint of the rules, except such as protect the rights of absent members, or the right to a secret vote. [1915 edition]
Don't forget that key that if there isn't a minority to protect, you don't need all the rules. Split the things that people actually need to discuss out of the stuff that is unanimous, move that the unanimous stuff be won by acclimation, and move on to the stuff that actually needs to be discussed. Even Robert's Rules says to do it. People like processes, and following processes to their logical extremes, but at the end of the day the process exists for a goal ("give minorities a voice", in this case), and outside of that goal/need becomes silly and overbearing, and it knows it which is why it has always had escape valves.