PARLIAMENTARY
PROCEDURE FOR COMMITTEES
“Some look at the world and ask why? I dream of things and ask
why not?”
– Robert Kennedy
Parliamentary procedure
functions a bit differently within a committee or subgroup than it does
for the large group meeting. To serve its purpose effectively, a committee
(especially the chairperson) needs to have the following items:
-
An
up-to-date list of all committee members.
-
A
copy of the motion or problem which has been referred to the committee
for a solution and/or action.
-
Copies
of all documents and correspondence related to the issue assigned
to the committee.
-
A
report of all the rules, policies, regulations or decisions of the
organization which relate to the issue.
-
A
list of any special instructions given to the committee, if applicable. This might include what exactly is expected of the committee and what
action should be taken (discussion, investigation, action, etc.).
-
A
statement of what powers the committee holds.
-
A
deadline or set date of implementation for the action plan.
After the committee
has agreed upon a recommendation, it should submit a report to the appropriate
person(s). This might be the organization’s chairperson, advisor
or higher authority. The report, at minimum, should contain the following
items:
-
Names
of all committee members.
-
A
statement explaining what responsibility was given to the committee.
-
A
description of the methods and strategies the committee utilized to
accomplish the goal.
-
A
summary of the information that was gathered through these methods
and strategies.
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A
statement of the committee’s conclusions and findings.
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The
committee’s recommended course of action, accompanied by an explanation
for that rationale.
-
For
long reports, a brief summary at the beginning is helpful to those
reading the report.
The following guidelines
for processing a committee report are recommended:
-
The
report is usually made by one person (oftentimes, but not necessarily,
the chair or recorder). The report, however, is a group effort, so
all members of the committee should have a chance to review and revise
it before it is submitted.
-
Although
there is no mandatory form for submission, the report should generally
be both written and verbal. It should also be carefully planned and
meet high professional standards (typed, checked for spelling and
grammar, and so forth).
-
The
report does not necessarily need to be long, but it should be long
enough to present the plan and justify it in a competent, persuasive,
logical manner.
-
When
preparing the report, keep these two goals in mind:
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To
persuade the higher authority to adopt the committee’s recommendations.
-
To
make this decision easy to reach through a clear, concise report.
The contents of the
report may vary depending on who your audience is, how much time is
available, the nature of the issue at hand and so on. There are some
basic elements which typically should be included in all reports of
this nature:
-
Executive
summary: This summarizes the entire report in less than one page and
is generally included in longer reports.
-
Preamble:
The preamble is an introduction to the report which includes the basic,
necessary information–including the name of the committee and
its members, the task presented to the committee and a review of the
strategies used to accomplish the task.
-
Background:
This should include background information regarding the task and
why it was presented to the committee, as well as a factual summary
of the problem (causes, effects, etc.).
-
Proposed
solution: This portion of the report details the task and the proposed
action plan. It should include several elements such as: the objectives
and goals of the plan, who is assigned to which tasks, what resources
(time, money, space) will be needed to accomplish the goal and an
evaluation of the impact this plan should have.
-
Rationale:
The committee’s arguments for the proposed action plan are included
in this section. It explains how the plan will solve the problem or
meet the goals established and why it is favorable to other courses
of action.
-
Recommendation:
Finally, the committee should make its formal request for the authority
to adopt this plan.
Cagle,
J.A. (1990). Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised. CA State University
at Fresno: On-Line.
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