After the unsatisfactory level of conflict* at this month’s regional committee meeting, I reviewed the constitution to see what avenues were available relevant to introducing rules and protocols to a ensure smooth, conflict-free meeting.
Section 20 of the constitution states:
[quote=“The Constitution”]Regional Director
Responsible for overall running of committee and society for the region…[/quote]
As such, I am going to introduce some rules, and some consequences for breaking the rules. In case anyone is unclear of my intention, here it is:
The meetings will be conducted in a courteous, respectful, orderly manner with a focus on dealing with committee business.
To this end, I have developed the following list of rules:
- All agenda items to be sent to Regional Director one week prior to the meeting
- Regional Director has right of veto over any agenda items submitted after the above deadline (including items submitted at the meeting)
- In the context of disagreement or friction generally, no interjections are allowed. Humorous, good-natured interjections will continue to be encouraged.
- If necessary, a speaking order will used
- If necessary, time-limits will be placed on speaking
- Absolutely no abusive language at all. This includes any language that, in the Regional Director’s opinion, is an attack on someone (whether present at the meeting or not). Examples include (but not limited to) sarcasm, raising your voice, name-calling, abusive swearing.
- If an attendee breaks the above rules, the Regional Director may issue a warning, or the Regional Director may eject the attendee from the meeting.
- Conflict is not the same as disagreement. Disagreement is all good, but conflict (e.g. raised voices, nasty comments, swearing, abusive language etc) is both unnecessary and unhelpful.
P.S. Can an admin turn this post into a Sticky, please ?