Leadership Letter
December 2021
ASK COUNSELOR TARA
ASCE’s General Counsel Tara Hoke responds to legal questions posed by Sections and Branches here each month. Send Tara an email with your question.
What is the role of a meeting’s chair in controlling a lengthy debate?
Readers of Robert’s Rules are often surprised by the book’s guidance on the limits of debate; in the absence of special rules adopted by a board or other deliberative body, Roberts permits each member to speak twice on each motion under debate, and each time the individual is permitted to speak a maximum of ten minutes. In practice, it is most common for meetings to adopt neither of those limits; there is no set limit on how many times a speaker may speak up during debate, but they are unlikely to be permitted to hold the floor for more than a few minutes at a time.

Neither Robert’s rule nor the common practice is particularly effective in controlling the length of a debate. In the first, if speakers in a large group may each speak for 20 minutes, a debate could go on for hours; in the second, even a small group of members could potentially debate back-and-forth with no end.

Robert’s Rules does offer a few methods for a group to vote on ending an unproductive discussion (e.g., motions to limit debate or to “call the question”); however, it is generally far more effective for the chair to move the discussion along. For example the chair might (tactfully):

  1. Suggest that the debate is beginning to repeat the same points: “It seems that we’ve all made our points clear; are we ready for a vote?”
  2. Point out that a discussion has begun to stray off-topic: “This is a great discussion for another time, but is there anyone else who’d like to speak on the motion?”
  3. Discourage situations in which a few voices are dominating the discussion: “We still haven’t heard from many of you; is there anyone new who’d like to contribute?”
  4. Remind members about time constraints: “I want to give people time to comment on this, but I’m aware that we have several other times on the agenda. Let’s try to wrap this up in the next few minutes?”

Of course, the “art” of running a meeting includes recognizing when even a prolonged debate is necessary—for example, to ensure that members feel that their opinions have been heard and acknowledged, even if they are on the losing side of a vote.  But in general, chairs should be mindful that an efficient meeting is usually the most productive meeting, and it is their responsibility to provide encouragement but also structure to their group’s discussions.