From 1863 to 1876, in response to his acknowledgement that he had no idea how to run a meeting and because of his discovery that meetings across the land were being run in a myriad of different ways, sometimes chaotic and ineffective, Henry Martyn Robert, an engineering officer in the regular Army, set about to write his own set of parliamentary rules for non-legislative organization leaders to follow. From the time of its first publication in 1876, “Robert’s Rules of Order” has been revised to its twelfth and current edition, which was completed in 2020. What Mr. Robert created was a standard manual of codes and rules of ethics for Boards of Directors and Committees to follow in order to govern discussions and decision-making. This set of codes and rules continue to be pertinent today and is considered America’s foremost guide to parliamentary procedure followed by the greatest number of professional associations, fraternal organizations, and local governments.
This information may leave you wondering how Robert’s Rules fits into HOA Board Meetings. To answer that, one must know the laws of the state in which they live as well as the governing documents to be followed by the specific HOA. The state of Arizona does not mandate that HOA Boards adhere to Robert’s Rules of Order. The state, instead, instructs associations to refer to their own governing documents. Our Pointe South Mountain Residential Association governing documents, consisting of our Declaration of Homeowner Benefits and Assurances (aka. CC&Rs) and our ByLaws, do not mandate that our Board of Directors adhere to Robert’s Rules.
So, where does that leave an association and their Board of Directors? Based on research found online that represents the “pros,” the “cons,” (and everything in between), the logical conclusion is that any organization needing to engage in the process of decision-making in a formal setting such as a Board meeting would be wise to follow the basic principles of Robert’s Rules of Order. In doing so, there is a greater opportunity for the organization to: ensure order and efficiency, to ensure a democratic approach to the decision process, reach a consensus that will move a decision forward to action, and provide the opportunity for many voices to be heard and considered prior to the making of an impactful decision.
Complicating things a bit is the fact that Mr. Robert is no longer with us and that many versions of his original work are being followed today, in spite of attempts by his family and associates to keep his Rules pure in form. That said, there are versions of his work that are easy to follow and are applicable in their simplified form. It is, perhaps, these versions that are most in use by organizations such as non-profits and HOAs today. A plethora of examples exist and would be worth a bit of your time to dive into the publications online to learn more and to help you understand what may be happening during Board meetings.
Once you have learned all you can handle regarding Robert’s Rules of Order and the many applied versions of the Rules, you are ready to form your opinion about the manner in which Rules are followed during the Board Meetings of the Directors of the Pointe South Mountain Residential Association. If you believe you are observing deviations from consistency during any meeting or any portion of a meeting, please speak up!
If nothing else is learned from the efforts of Mr. Henry Martyn Robert, it should be that his impetus was consistency! If not consistent, why bother? The more educated you are about the Rules, the quicker you can be at identifying inconsistencies so you can bring this to the attention of the Board in real time to help the Association stay on track!
See you all at the next Board Meeting!