Robert's Rules of Order - bring larger team meetings to order

Not long ago I delved into something put aside long ago: the notion of applying some of "Robert's Rules of Order" to informal technical project team meetings. First published in 1876 by U.S. Army General Henry M. Robert, it was intended to bring the rules of parliamentary procedure to the use of ordinary societies and their meetings.

Thousands of organizations worldwide use Robert's Rules to guide their meetings - civic associations, clubs, charitable organizations, etc. It is also typically known in brief (1) as the Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR). It can be adopted into organization and corporate bylaws, and into team or project charters and other records of authorization and formation. The most recent full RONR 10th edition can be purchased at Amazon.com for only $12.24 as of the time of this writing; an "in brief" version, much shorter and concise for a first time reader, can be had for only $6.95. A CD of the full RONR can be ordered from American Legal Publishing for $59.95.

The web site has a very active RONR user group discussion forum. It's certainly not obscure and has highly active and vocal proponents. For instance, on this date, 26 May 2008, a federal holiday (Memorial Day), as of 215pm ET there have been 12 posts with a total of 67 responses.

Another related organization is the National Association of Parliamentarians, based in Independence, MO (hometown of 33rd U.S. President Harry S. Truman!). Founded in 1930, the NAP is the largest non-profit organization of professional parliamentarians in the world. The NAP helps organizations of all sizes conduct business efficiently through education and advocacy of effective meeting procedures and the accreditation of meeting professionals(1).

So if you need to bring a little more order and process to your meetings, even if you're not trying to make them as staid and formal as a session of the U.S. Senate, take a look at Robert's Rules - its web site, its "in brief" book (197 pages), or its full 10th edition publication (704 pages).

You can also see my notes of recommendation for Robert's Rules on my corporate web site, along with my other suggestions, tips, and ideas for effective meeting management.


(1) "RONR" is the standard abbreviation parliamentarians use to cite Henry M. Robert III and others, Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, 10th ed. (Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Publishing, 2000). The standard citation to particular pages and lines is "RONR (10th ed. [for 'edition'], p. [for 'page' or 'pages'], l. [for 'line' or 'lines']."
(2) Cited from the NAP web site http://parliamentarians.org/index.php; downloaded 26May2008