Have you ever sat in a committee spending hours putting into minutes what you could have done in seconds? Have you ever noticed the moderator has way too much power? Well you can thank Bob. Bob who? Well, Bob as in Robert, whose rules of order are generally used. Robert’s Rules of Order, I know you have heard of them and if you are going to do any group participation, well you ought to learn them. You see, mankind has been using them for over a 1,000 years in some variation.
Of course, humankind has not maintained much forward progression of the species and modern civilization has been impeded because of it. How so you ask? Well, let us call it just another form of bureaucracy. The chairperson of the committee uses Robert’s Rules of Order to move the group along and keep them focused on the subject and yet so often these rules are used against innovative thought. Now many might disagree with this actual observation and to those folks I would simply like to point to the US Congress, as an example of how nothing ever gets done.
Should you use Robert’s Rules of Order or should you go out of your way to learn all about them? Well, if you plan on padding your resume with many committees that you have been on then go right ahead and they may even come in handy once you find yourself chairing a committee. Is there a better way to run a committee than using Robert’s Rules of Order? Surely there is, but how can a committee ever figure out a better way using the same old methods? Think on it.